Arizona head coach Brent Brennan discussed the anemic rushing offense on Saturday versus Central Florida. Central Florida held Arizona to five rushing yards in a 56-12 win in Orlando. That was the lowest rushing total for Arizona since they had minus 13 in 2006 versus UCLA. Brennan stated that is unacceptable.
The Arizona head coach has not thrown any of his assistants under the bus. Brennan has hinted that big changes could be coming on the Arizona coaching staff. With three games left do not expect those changes during the season. It is not unusual for coaches to make significant staff changes after their first seasons in a new position.
Brennan changed play-callers from offensive coordinator Dino Babers to pass game coordinator and Tight Ends Coach Matt Adkins following the first bye week in September. Arizona lost 34-7 at Kansas State to drop to 2-1 before the first bye. Arizona won 23-10 at Utah in the first game Adkins called plays.
The Wildcats have lost five consecutive games and are now 1-5 with Adkins calling plays. Arizona is 14th in the Big XII averaging 16.6 points per game versus conference opponents. Arizona is 11th in the Big XII averaging 412.1 versus conference opponents in 2024. That includes versus Kansas State which wasn't a conference game.
"It's unacceptable across the board so we have to really dig into that and see what we're doing schematically. Are we giving our players the best chance to effectively run the football and...that's...personnel, that's scheme, that's coaching...It starts with us as coaches and we have to give ourselves a chance to be more effective running theArizona head coach Brent Brennan
football."
Arizona has mostly regressed offensively throughout the 2024 season with the West Virginia game being an outlier. The Wildcats averaged 28.3 PPG in August and September. That included the 61-39 win over New Mexico in the season opener. Arizona averaged 18.5 PPG in October and lost 56-12 to Central Florida in their lone November game.
Arizona averaged 417.5 total yards in August and September, 360.5 in October and had only 261 versus Central Florida. That included five yards rushing versus UCF. The rushing output versus UCF was the lowest for Arizona since they had minus 13 against UCLA in 2006.
Arizona is 13th in the Big XII averaging 115.00 rushing yards per game. The Wildcats averaged 152.50 rushing yards per game in September, and 105 in October before the five-yard game versus UCF. Running backs coach Alonzo Carter has been with Brennan in the same position since 2017 at San Jose State.
It's unlikely that Carter will be fired. Babers seems almost certain to not be retained following the 2024 season. With the ineffeciency and regression of the offense, it seems more likely than not for Adkins to be replaced following the 2024 season. The upcoming offseason will be a critical one for Brennan's tenure and the Arizona football program.