Arizona Football prepares for ‘Dog Fight’ against Washington

Arizona Football (0-6, 0-3) was embarrassed in Boulder, but the Cats resume Pac-12 play against a physical Washington Huskies (2-4, 1-2) squad. 

It is officially week 7 of the college football season, and Arizona Football is still seeking their first win of the season as well as the Jedd Fisch era.

Coming in, the Wildcats own the nation’s longest active losing streak at 18 games, and unfortunately for Arizona, the challenge this week doesn’t get any easier.

Beleaguered with several injuries, particularly at quarterback, once again the Wildcats will have to shuffle things around as Jordan McCloud AND Gunner Cruz have both suffered season-ending injuries in back-to-back weeks.

Arizona will turn to Will Plummer again, and given Arizona’s offensive struggles, things will be even tougher this week as they face a big and physical Washington team.

The last time the Wildcats faced the Huskies, things were not pretty, but it is a new year and the Wildcats are at home to face a Washington team that has been inconsistent this year. We will see if Arizona can shock the world and snap the losing streak.

Getting to Know the details with Arizona Football’s matchup against the Washington Huskies

Team: Washington Huskies

Conference: Pac-12

2020 Record: Finishing with a 3-1 (3-1) record in the abbreviated Covid season, Washington ended the year with a 31-26 loss to Stanford before their last two games were canceled.

Head Coach: Jimmy Lake enters his 2nd season with the Huskies as the head coach has compiled a 5-5 record. Jimmy took over after Chris Petersen left, and despite seeing some success last year, Washington has run into some trouble this year, starting the year 2-4 (1-2).

Key Returners/ Starters:

Offense

This is a group that has not been stellar by any means as they are just averaging 23.5 points per game. However, opposing teams’ offensive woes can always be remedied by playing Arizona.

Largely led by quarterback Dylan Morris, this is a kid that lit up the Wildcats last year in Seattle throwing for 230 yards and two touchdowns. This year, he has had some inconsistencies, but still is serviceable in the Pac-12.

In the backfield, the Huskies have three talented runners in Sean McGrew, Richard Newton, and Kamari Pleasant, as all three have combined for over 550 yards rushing and seven touchdowns.

Receiving, the Huskies have a few different talented pass catchers, however, Taj Boyd, Terrell Bynum, and Jalen McMillan lead the way with 21, 20, and 19 pass catches respectively with a combined 824 yards and six touchdowns.

Defense

On defense, the Huskies are a rather stout group, holding teams to just 20.3 points per game, and are holding opponents to an average of 343.8 yards per game.

This group has plenty of playmakers everywhere, but sophomore linebackers Edefuan Ulofoshio and Jackson Sirmon seemingly lead the way with 51 tackles (25 solo) and 43 tackles (26 solo) respectively.

Outside of those two, the Huskies have a solid pass rush, and with Faatui Tuitele out due to injury, look for them to try and generate pressure in other areas. Brendan Radley-Hiles and Ryan Bowman have done a nice job in creating that pressure, accumulating two sacks each.

In the secondary, Kyler Gordon, Asa Turner, and Trent McDuffie have been some of their best players in the defensive backfield.

Key Injuries/Absences: 

Washington

• DL – Faatui Tuitele (Achilles) – Suffered a torn Achilles, and will miss all of 2021.

Arizona 

• LB – Jabar Triplett (Knee) – Still recovering from offseason knee surgery.
• QB – Jordan McCloud (Leg/Knee) – Suffered a leg injury against UCLA and should be out for a while.
• QB – Gunner Cruz (Thumb) – Suffered a hand injury against Colorado and will miss the rest of the 2021 season.
• DL – JB Brown (Opt-Out) – JB has decided to sit out the rest of the 2021 season.
• LB – Treshaun Hayward (Personal) – Treshaun is once again out due to personal reasons.

Game Time Decisions:

• C – Josh McCauley
• OG – Josh Donovan
• DT – Kyon Barrs
• RB – Drake Anderson

Game Information: 

When: Friday, October 22nd, 2021

Time: 7:30 PM MST (Arizona Time)

Watch: ESPN 2, FuboTV 

Spread: +16.0 Arizona (Also, don’t forget to use WynnBet to enhance your betting experience)

Where: Arizona Stadium – Tucson, AZ (57,400)

Overall Series Record: 23-11-1 Washington. The Huskies control this series easily after experiencing a dominating period in which Washington won 13 of their first 18 matchups. Arizona has seen some success, but the Huskies have won five of the last six meetings.

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: The last time these two teams met, Arizona lost big, falling 44-27 to Washington in Seattle in 2020.

My Prediction: Washington 34 Arizona 10 – Disregard their record coming into this one, this is a bad matchup for Arizona. Washington is a big, physical, and athletic football team, and given Arizona’s challenges to move the football, this one could be ugly. I see the Huskies controlling the tempo and putting a lot of pressure on Plummer to come away with the win.