Major Takeaways in the Arizona Football loss to Washington

Falling to 3-4 (1-3) on the season after their loss to Washington, we look at the major takeaways from the Arizona Football defeat. 

We are now into the bye week for Arizona Football, and despite the Wildcats putting forth a competitive effort on Saturday in their loss to Washington, Arizona falls to 3-4 (1-3) on the season.

Returning to action to resume Pac-12 Conference play against Washington, Arizona was competitive, putting up 526 yards of offense and scoring 39 points.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats were outgained by the Huskies who put up 595 yards and 49 points. Their 516 yards passing and four touchdowns would help pace the Huskies in their 49-39 win.

So with Arizona Football now falling to 3-4 (1-3) on the season, we look at the major takeaways following the Wildcats’ loss to Washington.

Arizona has Zero Pass Rush

This week, Arizona’s defense improved by holding the Huskies to just 79 yards rushing on 29 attempts. Unfortunately, Washington’s offense still threw for 516 yards and four touchdowns.

A big reason for the Cats’ demise was their lack of a pass rush (a common theme for a greater part of the last decade). Through seven games, Arizona has just 9.0 sacks on the season which ranks 117th out of 131 FBS teams.

Because of Arizona’s inability to generate pressure and rush the backfield, they will continue to let opposing offenses pick them apart.

The Offense is Exciting when its clicking

Among a myriad of the issues facing this team currently, rest assured, the offense isn’t one of them. On Saturday, the Wildcats’ offense was firing on all cylinders as it generated 526 yards of offense (400 yards passing and 126 yards rushing) and 39 points.

Unfortunately, the performance would ultimately be for naught as the Wildcats fell to the Huskies by a 49-39 final; however, through seven games, Arizona’s offense ranks Top 25 in the nation currently which is a stark contrast from last season.

The Defense is Historically bad and has made Zero Improvements

Week-to-week, you are generally supposed to see some kind of marked improvement with football teams. Unfortunately, since week one, it seems as if this defense has regressed.

Through seven games, the Wildcats statistically have the worst defense among power five teams, and while some of it may be personnel, it appears that there’s a bit more to Arizona’s struggles.

Hopefully, Arizona will be able to use the bye week to their advantage this week, but either way, something needs to happen, because their effort on Saturday was subpar.

Pac-12 Refs are still hot garbage

Not a new revelation by any means, but once again on Saturday, the conferences’ porous officiating was on full display.

Look, I am not blaming the refs for the loss, after all, they did not give up 595 yards of offense and 49 points; however, a couple of crucial, blown calls did not help this one either.

You would hope that Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff and the conference would say enough is enough, but then again, this conference has been committed to mediocrity for 10-plus years now.

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