Arizona Football: Jordan McCloud shines, but needs a lot more polish

It wasn’t a pretty performance by any means, but Jordan McCloud showed plenty of promise for Arizona Football against No. 3 Oregon. 

All week there was plenty of build-up for Arizona Football, especially as the Wildcats were still marred by a quarterback controversy week four into the season. And with a marquee matchup against No. 3 Oregon looming, the question was whether it be Jordan McCloud starting, or someone else?

Well, making his first start with the Wildcats since transferring from South Florida, there was at least some optimism for McCloud, especially as he finished the game against NAU with 6-7 passing with 66 yards and a touchdown.

However, the tone was set early against No. 3 Oregon. In their first offensive series of the game, McCloud threw a pick, leading to three more points by the Ducks that made it 10-0 Oregon in the first five minutes of the game.

He then led Arizona on a 10-play, 91-yard drive that lasted 4:36 and made it 10-7 after McCloud threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to the sparsely used tight end, Bryce Wolma.

Unfortunately for Arizona Football and Jordan McCloud, the rest of the game had inconsistent but promising results.

Finishing the game with a respectable passing stat line of 21 of 36 for 233 yards and a touchdown, that performance would largely be overshadowed by five (yes, you read that correctly, five) interceptions.

If McCloud showed us anything on Saturday, it is that he has plenty upside, but still has a long way to go to get better.

Chalk it up to being rusty and overzealous on some of his throws, perhaps some of it can also be attributed to playing the No. 3 team in the country.

Either way, even with the interceptions, McCloud showed some confidence and poise, and more importantly, the ability to move the football with any sort of effectiveness… something Arizona wasn’t able to do in their first three games.

Take away a couple of those forced throws by McCloud in the red zone, and this one is probably closer.

Hopefully, with more reps, McCloud will be able to continue to lead this team and in turn, get more production out of the offense!