Arizona Football has ‘Battle for Bottom of the South’ with UCLA

It wasn’t a great week of Arizona Football (3-4, 2-2) nevertheless, the show must go on as the Wildcats battle UCLA (1-5, 1-3) for the bottom of the South.

It was a short week for Arizona Football, but coming in, we knew it was going to be a difficult challenge heading into Salt Lake City.

Fresh off a win against the Golden Bears, perhaps it would provide a little confidence in this group that has been inconsistent, to say the least. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Arizona Wildcats

From the first series on Friday, it looked like it was going to be a long night. The Utes went 75 yards in 15 plays on a drive that lasted over seven minutes and led to an early touchdown to make it 7-0.

Not long after, the Utes would score again, making it 14-0 early in this one.

Arizona’s offense would continue to be stagnant throughout the first half, with Utah taking advantage of every opportunity. Before we knew it, the Wildcats would be down 28-0 just before the half.

Things would continue that way into the second half as well. Utah would score again early in the second, to make it 35-0. Finally, Arizona would score, but on a field goal in the third.

The Utes would eventually pace themselves to a 42-10 victory and once again we are feeling a bit confused by this team.

The offense is a mess, the defense has looked a bit better this year, but hasn’t been helped much by the offense. Beyond that, Khalil Tate has continued to look shaky and even left the game early versus Utah, so his status is unknown moving forward.

While the game against UCLA is still a little ways away, perhaps Arizona can get healthy and a few things figured out, but who knows.

So far for 2018, UCLA hasn’t been much better. However, they got their first win last week in a 37-7 throttling of Cal. Perhaps the beast has awoken in Pasadena.

The Bruins have the talent, but so far they just haven’t lived up to the hype. While they have been wildly inconsistent, I think this will be a tough game for Arizona to win, especially if Tate doesn’t play, or isn’t fully healthy.

Plus being on the road against a Bruins team fresh off a victory could be a tough thing to overcome if you’re Arizona

With that said, here is our preview for week eight!

Know Thy Foe:

Team: UCLA Bruins (1-5, 1-2); won 40-21 over No. 14 Stanford last week in Palo Alto.

Conference: Pac-12 Conference

2017 Record: 6-7 (4-5); lost 35-17 to Kansas State in the Cactus Bowl.

Head Coach: Chip Kelly is 47-12 (34-5) as head coach at the Division 1A level, and enters his first season with the Bruins. Over his career, he has been known to be one of the most innovative offensive coaches in college football, running an efficient system that put up video game-like numbers while at Oregon.

In his four seasons in Eugene as a head coach, Kelly led the Ducks to four-straight BCS Bowl Games, including the National Championship in 2010. His coaching stint in the NFL failed, but it’ll be interesting to see if he can get his Mojo back, and achieve that same level of success in Pasadena.

Key Returners/ Starters: The Bruins run a spread offense, led by main signal caller, freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson. He has also been playing some better ball of late. In the backfield is where the Bruins tend to excel. Joshua Kelly has been their main runner, totaling four touchdowns on the year. Additionally, UCLA uses Bolu Olorunfunmi heavily in goal line situations as well as Kazmeir Allen.

UCLA likes to spread the ball out, and has quite a few talented pass catchers. Theo Howard has done well in 2018 thus far, additionally, the Bruins like to utilize tight end Caleb Wilson heavily. Together, the two of them have over 600 yards and three touchdowns.

Defensively is where UCLA has struggled, ranking 101st overall in the NCAA in total defense. Regardless, they do have some talent, and Adarius Pickett has been a big part of that. So far, the senior defensive back leads the team in tackles with 70. Linebacker Krys Barnes has been a force in opposing backfields, having seven tackles for loss this season.

Linebacker/ defensive rusher Keisean Lucier-South leads the team with three sacks and Osa Odighizuwa has two. In the defensive backfield, Darnay Holmes, Quentin Lake and Nathan Meadors have been pretty efficient.

Key Injuries/ Missing Players: 

Arizona: (According to SportsReference)

OL- Nathan Eldridge (out for season).
QB- Khalil Tate left the game versus Utah and his status is unknown
OL- Layth Friekh is recovering from an ankle injury and his status is unknown
OL- Alex Kosinski still out.
DL- Justin Belknap is done for the year.
DL- Dereck Boles has an undisclosed injury and could miss the game against UCLA.
CB- Jace Whittaker didn’t suit up for the third straight game and it’s unclear if he will play vs Utah.
DE/LB- Jalen Cochran is nursing an arm injury and could miss the game with UCLA.
RB- Darrius Smith has been dealing with a foot injury and is questionable versus Utah.

UCLA:

LB- Josh Woods has suffered a season-ending knee injury
DB- Octavius Spencer will miss 2018 due to disciplinary reasons
LB- Mique Juarez will miss 2018 with an unspecified injury
QB- Wilton Speight has a back injury and it is unclear when he will return to action
LB- Je’Vari Anderson been out due to undisclosed reasons and there’s no word of his return
WR- Kyle Phillips has been out with an unspecified injury and is unknown for 2018
DB- Keyon Riley sidelined by a foot injury and it is unclear when he will return to action.

*DB- Kenny Churchwell III (knee), OL- Justin Murphy (unspecified reasons), RB- Soso Jamabo (unspecified injury) and DL- Jaelen Phillips (unspecified injury) are all questionable for Saturday.

Game Information: 

When: Saturday, October 20th, 2018

Time: 7:30 PM PST – ESPN2

Where: Rose Bowl Stadium (Pasadena, CA)

Spread: -7 UCLA

Overall Series Record: 24-16-2 UCLA

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: Arizona won the last match-up between these programs in which Tate ran for 230 yards in a 47-30 Wildcat win!

Our Prediction: UCLA 27 Arizona 21. I think this is a tough one to call. UCLA isn’t very good this year, but they still have talent. Also, I think a lot is dependent on Arizona having Tate and Friekh back.

If those two return, I could see Arizona possibly winning this one, but a road game without those two doesn’t exactly spell success for a squad that has struggled mightily on offense.

Beyond that, the Bruins open as a 7-point favorite.

I think if Arizona can find stability at quarterback, especially if it happens to be with Rhett Rodriguez as opposed to Tate and the Wildcats are able to run and move the ball I think they can win, however, that’s a lot of ‘IF’s’. Ultimately, I think the Wildcats struggle, UCLA’s talent will prove too much to overcome and their confidence carries over from last week during this homecoming game.

Listen to head coach Kevin Sumlin in the teams’ annual press conference just ahead of their game versus UCLA:

Hopefully Arizona can bounce back and find a way to win in Pasadena where the Wildcats are winless since 2010. Bear Down, Arizona!