Arizona Football opens Pac-12 Play with Oregon State
Fresh off their first win of the season, Arizona Football (1-2) opens up Pac-12 play with a road game versus the Oregon State Beavers.
The season is quickly flying along as the Arizona Football team enters week four of 2018! At 1-2, I think it’s fair to say that the start to this season hasn’t quite gone the way that some Wildcat fans had hoped and wanted, but it is still early and things can easily be salvaged!
Fresh off their first win of the year, and their first under new head coach Kevin Sumlin, perhaps that momentum can carry into their game against Oregon State.
Arizona Wildcats
Luckily for this week, the Beavers are not that great of a football team either, so perhaps Arizona and its offense can put together another strong showing again.
Versus Southern Utah, it took an explosive second half to put away the visiting Thunderbirds, but the best part of that game was the offense getting into a nice rhythm in the second half. Hopefully, that gives the team some much needed confidence moving forward.
While we figured it may be a bit of a learning curve for some of these guys on the offensive end to start the year, keep in mind the Wildcats had to break in quite a few new pieces to their line, plus, getting Khalil Tate to play as more of a pocket passer.
Nonetheless, I think they have enough talent to get it done this year still, but similar to many previous Arizona teams, they will have to help the defense immensely.
Against the Thunderbirds, the Wildcats’ defense still looked out of sorts for portions of the night, struggling on third and fourth down conversions, and finding ways to get off the field.
Hopefully, another week to get some guys healthy and adapted to Sumlin’s style of play will bode well for them!
With that said, here is our preview of Oregon State!
Know Thy Foe:
Team: Oregon State Beavers (1-2, 0-0); lost 37-35 last week to Nevada in Reno, NV.
Conference: Pac-12 Conference
2017 Record: 1-11 (0-9); lost 69-10 to rival Oregon Ducks in the annual Civil War match-up to end the season.
Head Coach: Jonathan Smith (1-2) enters his first season as head coach and first with the Beavers. Smith was a former standout quarterback for Oregon State from 1998-2001 and spent the past few seasons at the University of Washington most notably, serving as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the Huskies.
Key Returners/ Starters: The Beavers run a rather efficient offense, ranking 28th overall so far in 2018. However, that may be a bit hard to gauge since they have played Southern Utah and Nevada following their opening season loss to Ohio State. Nonetheless, it appears this is a pretty talented group led largely by redshirt sophomore quarterback, Conor Blount.
In addition to Blount, Oregon State also gets great production from two solid backs in Jermar Jefferson and Art Pierce.
Their receiving corp seems to be a bit top heavy though, as the Beavers like to go to wide receivers Trevon Bradford, Isaiah Hodgins and Timmy Hernandez the most.
Where Oregon State tends to struggle is in pass protection. So far, the Beavers rank tied for 99th in most sacks allowed, at six on the season. Perhaps this could be good area for Arizona to try and take advantage of to slow down their attack.
Much like Arizona, defense is their weakest area. Ranking 127th in the nation currently, there is not much to highlight here.
Freshman linebacker Isaiah Tufaga leads the team in tackles, and is one of the few bright spots for the Beavers. However, senior linebacker Jonathan Willis seems to be the heart and soul of this group. A four-year player, Willis has put together a terrific career in Covallis.
In addition to those two, watch for defensive backs Jalen Moore and Shawn Wilson as well as their massive defensive line.
Key Injuries/ Missing Players:
Arizona: Nathan Eldridge (out for season), Alex Kosinski is still out, with his status being unknown. Defensive lineman PJ Johnson missed action versus Southern Utah and his status is unclear for Oregon State, Jace Whittaker also left the game versus Southern Utah and his status is unknown.
Oregon State: Will be without Pierce versus Arizona (elbow). Additionally, the Beavers will most likely be without David Morris, Omar Hicks-Onu and Noah Togiai most notably.
Game Information:
When: Saturday, September 22nd, 2018
Time: 1:00 PM MST/PST – Pac 12 Network
Where: Reser Stadium (Corvallis, OR)
Spread: Arizona -6.5
Overall Series Record: 23-15-1 Arizona
Last Meeting vs. Arizona: Arizona won 49-28 in Tucson.
Our Prediction: Arizona 41 Oregon State 36. In short, Oregon State isn’t very good, but the spread seems a bit high for this one. It’s a road game, which is never easy, plus the Beavers have shown they can score. After all, they put up 31 against Ohio State.
Where the Wildcats should be able to win is on the offensive side of the ball. Hopefully, another week with Friekh back in the lineup, should help this offensive line gel a bit more. Also, confidence is everything, and the Wildcats accounting for 62 points this past week is good production that needed to happen.
The Beavers have struggled mightily on defense, so look for the Cats to find some success here in moving the ball. I do think that this one may be a bit of a shootout, with the Wildcats sneaking out of Corvallis with a win!
Listen to Kevin Sumlin and the team following their win over Southern Utah:
More. On Arizona Football. light
Hopefully the Wildcats can put together another strong performance this weekend and come away victorious for the second-straight week! Bear Down, Arizona!