Tag: arizona football

Arizona Wildcats: CFN College Football Preview 2021

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Arizona football season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Arizona football season with what you need to know.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Arizona Football Schedule Analysis
– Arizona Wildcats Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

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2020 Record: 0-5 overall, 0-5 in Pac-12
Head Coach: Jedd Fisch, 1st year (1-1 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 90
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 64
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 105

Arizona Wildcats College Football Preview 2021: Offense

– The entire team is going to be a work in progress. New head coach Jedd Fisch spent the last few years in the NFL, working with the LA Rams before coaching the quarterbacks last year at New England.

This might be his first head coaching gig – at least in a full-time role – but the guy knows how to get an O going, and offensive coordinator Brendan Carroll – son of Pete Carroll – comes in after working with the Seahawks.

Expect a whole slew of new ideas and creativity, partly because the personnel isn’t there to do anything conventional.

– The coaching staff has to figure out the quarterback situation, and that might take a while. Grant Gunnell appeared to be the guy to work around after battling through the miserable 2020 season, but he transferred to Memphis.

No. 2 man Will Plummer is back after getting in a little work – he threw three picks with no touchdown passes. 6-5, 224-pound former Washington State transfer Gunner Cruz is a wild-card with his passing upside, and on the way is Jordan McCloud from USF.

The receivers are going to need a bit, too. Jamarye Joiner might be the best of the bunch, but he’ll possibly miss part of the season after undergoing foot surgery. No. 2 target Ma’jon Wright left the team for Middle Tennessee.

Stanley Berryhill led the way with 23 catches for 227 yards, and with three of the team’s six receiving touchdowns, but he averaged under ten yards per catch.

Boobie Curry is a big target who can move, but he only caught ten passes – they didn’t go anywhere – and Tayvian Cunningham averaged 15.4 yards per grab on his nine grabs, but the real find might be Bryce Wolma, a 6-4, 239-pound tight end who can catch. The new coaching staff is almost certainly going to use the position.

– The ground game struggled, and the line had problems in pass protection. Other than that, the front five did just fine.

Three starters are expected back, but only 6-5, 322-pound Donovan Laie is a good one – he’s a versatile all-star caliber blocker who can work at guard or tackle on the left side. The hope is for Baylor transfer Davis DiVall to be a factor at one of the guard gigs.

The Cats lose leading rusher Gary Brightwell, and returning back Michael Wiley only ran for 222 yards – but he led the team with over seven yards per carry and three scores. On the way to provide an instant boost is Drake Anderson from Northwestern – he ran for close to 1,000 yards with five scores with the Big Ten Wildcats.

– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Arizona Football Schedule Analysis

NEXT: Arizona Wildcats College Football Preview 2021: Defense

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Arizona Football Schedule 2021, Analysis

Arizona Wildcats 2021 football schedule, analysis, and what American Athletic Conference teams they miss.

Arizona Wildcats 2021 football schedule, analysis, and what Pac-12 teams they miss.

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Arizona Wildcats Football Schedule 2021

– 2021 Pac-12 Football Schedule

Sept. 4 BYU (in Las Vegas)

Sept. 11 San Diego State

Sept. 18 Northern Arizona

Sept. 25 at Oregon

Oct. 2 OPEN DATE

Oct. 9 UCLA

Oct. 16 at Colorado

Oct. 22 Washington

Oct. 30 at USC

Nov. 6 Cal

Nov. 13 Utah

Nov. 20 at Washington State

Nov. 27 at Arizona State

Arizona Football Schedule Analysis: There isn’t a sure-thing win on the slate other than, possibly, Northern Arizona. Going to Las Vegas to play BYU isn’t a given, and hosting San Diego State is going to be an issue.

Oregon State and Stanford aren’t on the slate from the North isn’t necessarily a plus – not playing Oregon or Washington would be better – but at least the road date against the Ducks is out of the way fast.

There aren’t two road games in a row until the end,  and that’s with the finish up the road to Arizona State after going to Washington State the week before. Going to USC isn’t fun, but the Wildcats get UCLA, Washington and Utah in Tucson.

Pac-12 Conference Teams Missed: Oregon State, Stanford

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Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch will reportedly interview for Arizona job

Oklahoma is right in the middle of the Big 12 Championship, but that doesn’t stop coaching news from breaking.

In the middle of a game.

Oklahoma is right in the middle of the Big 12 Championship, but that doesn’t stop coaching news from happening. Sooners’ assistant Shane Beamer was actually hired during the middle of Oklahoma’s game against Baylor two weeks ago.

Now, it’s one of the Sooners’ prominent staff members.

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has re-energized the Sooners’ defense. Oklahoma is a top-25 defense by efficiency and analytics, and the Sooners are getting off the field on third down, getting sacks and tackles for loss at a much higher rate than the defenses Lincoln Riley had prior to 2019.

Grinch received some buzz last offseason, but that tide quickly receded. Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator is making more waves in 2020 as he is reportedly set to be interviewed for the Arizona head coaching position, per 247Sports’ Arizona affiliate. According to the report, the interview will take place in the next 48 hours.

The Sooners are having one of their best defensive performances in a season in over a decade. It’s Grinch’s mentality and culture that’s helped Oklahoma get to where its at. He spent three years at Washington State and then a year at Ohio State before coming to the Sooners.

Oklahoma is beating Iowa State 24-7 in the Big 12 Championship game with just over seven minutes to go in the third-quarter.

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Want encouraging COVID-19 football news? Arizona offered it

This is a real ray of hope

We hasten to say — before laying out the details of this next story — that what seems like good news for college football could be problematic for students. The contentious, confusing, and always-shifting politics of COVID-19 will create a fierce debate on virtually every topic or individual theater of drama.

We do have an obligation to note that this next story could reasonably be viewed as an irresponsible act by a Pac-12 university president. That piece of context can’t be ignored or swept under the rug. We are mindful of that.

However:

We also need to point out that as a college sports site whose school, USC, treasures college football, there is a considerable desire to see college football played this fall. We want it to happen safely. We DON’T want it to happen at any cost, because even one life is too much of a price to pay for college football. We can acknowledge that… and yet still say that if college football can happen this fall without any lives being damaged in the process, that would be a great thing.

Thursday afternoon, something happened which increased the odds that college football might be able to occur this fall:

If a state school from a Power Five conference — in Arizona, a state which has been a recent COVID-19 hotspot — is willing to have some in-person instruction for the fall semester, that is significant news.

If that same state school in an area which has been noticeably affected by COVID-19 is able to begin its fall semester on time, that also rates as a notable statement of confidence by Arizona President Robert C. Robbins, a man who is a doctor.

Robbins — from 2012 through 2017 — was also the president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center in Houston. 

If he is starting the fall semester on time with some in-person classroom instruction, that shows how intent Robbins is on wanting to play football.

We can debate how responsible the decision is, but we can’t debate that it shows a considerable willingness to play college football.

Keep in mind: This is the University of Arizona, a basketball school with a meager football history. The Wildcats are the one original Pacific-10 Conference member (the Pac-10 began in 1978) which has still not made the Rose Bowl.

If the Wildcats are this desperate to play college football, it certainly offers some reason to believe that college football will happen. It’s hardly a guarantee — schools and states need to get COVID-19 under control, which is anything but a given. Yet, it certainly moves the needle in the direction of playing.

For anyone who wants to see college football in September, that’s encouraging news.

First Look: Hawaii vs. Arizona Game Preview

Hawaii takes on Arizona in Week 0 of this year and on the road. Find out who this Wildcats team is.

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First Look: Hawaii vs. Arizona

Warriors open up against the Wildcats in Week 0.

Contact/Follow @JeremyMauss & @MWCwire

Hawaii is back at it in Week 0

Hopefully, the 2020 game can be as exciting as last year’s game that came down to the final play in a Hawaii win. This time the game is on the road and the Warriors have a new head coach with Nick Rolovich heading to Washington State and Todd Graham taking over on the islands.

Location: Tucson, Arizona

Mascot: Arizona Stadium

Conference: Pac-12

2019 Record: 4-8

Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin is squarely on the hot seat with a 9-15 record in two years in Tucson and a third losing season very likely could have him looking for a new job. He did good things at Texas A&M and there have been some signs of his offense doing well at Arizona but not enough to take advantage of the talent he has.

Offensive players to watch:

This offense did move the ball well overall last year and ended up finishing third in the Pac-12 in total offense, passing, and rushing, but they were not able to convert that offense into touchdowns. In league play, they had four times where they failed to score more than 14 points.

Quarterback Khalil Tate was either good or bad, so not having him around could lead to some more consistency in the Wildcats offense. Sumlin tried to play two quarterbacks in the second half of 2019 but that failed miserably with the scoring seemingly decreasing every week.

The quarterback should be Grant Gunnell‘s job and all to himself. He played in eight games and was part of two wins. His most impressive game was against UCLA in which he completed 29 of 44 passes for 352 yards and a touchdown. For the season, he completed 65.2 percent of his passes and had just one interception in 155 attempts, so clearly, he is an accurate thrower.

The receiving group is loaded with nine of their top 10 pass-catcher back and that includes Jamarye Joiner who caught 34 passes for 552 yards and five scores as a freshman. The passing game should take a step forward.[lawrence-related id=24822]

In the ground game, they do lose J.J. Taylor who led the team running the ball for 721 yards. Plus, there is Tate’s loss in rushing game production with his 413 yards. Stepping in to be the top back is Gary Brightwell who was third in rushing last year with 390 yards and tied for the team in rushing touchdowns at five. Having four of the five starting offensive linemen back from last year should be a plus.

Defensive players to watch:

The defense has been a real struggle as they allowed 35.8 points per game last year and that was dead last in the Pac-12 and 118th in all of FBS. To fix this defense is new defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads.

He is familiar with the Pac-12 South and Arizona as he was leading the UCLA secondary over the past two years. The Bruins overall defense was not that much better than the Wildcats and in the passing game, UCLA was dead last in the Pac-12 in interceptions, yards per game allowed, quarterback rating, and allowed the most passing touchdowns.

That makes this hire seem questionable for Arizona. Rhoads was a head coach at Iowa State for six years from 2009-15, so maybe that leadership is why Sumling brought him in.

Expect the leader and best player on this defense to be Colin Schooler. He had 98 tackles and is expected to be in contention for an all-conference slot. They do bring back a lot of the front seven that includes Tony Field, Anthony Pandy, and Jalen Harris.

Harris has some potential as he had four sacks last year but overall there was little to no pass rush for this defense. That is an area to watch because Hawaii is likely to throw a lot and if there is time to throw look for the Warriors offense to shred the Arizona secondary.

With that pass rush being so bad, it made the secondary look worse than they really were. Arizona does return Lorenzo Burns who led the team with four interceptions, and Scottie Young is back to take over one of the safety spots.

Overall:

This Arizona team will struggle in the Pac-12 and likely finish near the bottom of the South division in the Pac-12. They are replacing a lot of talent on offense and they have a really bad defense as well. There are some areas where this team could improve and it begins with playing just one quarterback and having a new face in charge of the defense.

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College Football News Preview 2020: Arizona Wildcats

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Arizona Wildcats season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Arizona Wildcats season with what you need to know.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Arizona Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

2019 Record: 4-8 overall, 2-7 in Pac-12
Head Coach: Kevin Sumlin, 3rd year, 9-15
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 66
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 105
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 41

No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.

5. College Football News Preview 2020: Arizona Wildcats Offense 3 Things To Know

– It was a weird year for the Arizona offense. It could move the ball just fine at times – it finished third in the Pac-12 in total offense, passing, and rushing – but it seemed like it forgot to score enough points.

The wheels came off late against the elite – the O didn’t do much of anything against Oregon and Utah – and now it’s up to offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone and head coach Kevin Sumlin to crank up the attack again.

The offense that closed out 2018 scoring 40 points or more in three of its last four games didn’t hit the 40-point mark against any FBS team in 2019, but there’s hope.

CFN in 60 Video: Arizona Wildcats Preview
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– Not to be harsh, but the graduation of Khalil Tate should be addition by subtraction. He was so explosive and was so amazing when he was on that it was almost as if the offense waiting for him to be healthy and consistent before it could get going again. The two-quarterback system over the second half of the year didn’t fly, but now it should be Grant Gunnell’s job without any real concerns.

The 6-6, 225-pounder hit 65% of his passes for 1,239 yards and nine touchdowns with an interception – rocking for 352 yards in the win over UCLA – but he has to win games and get the offense moving.

He’s got the receivers in place to push the ball down the field. Jamarye Joiner is back after leading the team with 552 yards and five scores, Brian Casteel returns after leading the way with 45 catches, and in all, nine of the top ten wide receivers are expected to be back along with Oregon transfer Brenden Schooler.

– JJ Taylor and Khalil Tate combined for over 1,100 rushing yards – they were the team’s top two rushers. 6-1, 210-pound senior Gary Brightwell will be the main man after finishing third on the team with 390 yards and five scores, and 6-2, 207-pound Nathan Tilford and 176-pound Bam Smith both add a little pop. Now they all need to someone to pave the way.

The Arizona offensive line that was so banged up and such a problem under Sumlin struggled in pass protection, but it was decent for the ground game. It has two good parts to work around in C Josh McCauley and OT Donovan Laie. Four of the five starters are back.

NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Arizona Wildcats Defense 3 Things To Know

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Arizona 2020 Preview: CFN in 60

Arizona Wildcats 2020 Preview: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead with what you need to know

Photo Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Wildcats 2020 Preview: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead with what you need to know

Photo Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Oklahoma has ‘at the very least’ reached out to Arizona for running back coach DeMarco Murray, per report

The first real name to fill the void left by former running backs and special teams coach Jay Boulware has emerged. 

The first real name to fill the void left by former running backs and special teams coach Jay Boulware has emerged.

Former star Oklahoma running back DeMarco Murray dipped into the coaching ranks prior to the 2019 football season for Kevin Sumlin at Arizona. According to a report from Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star and Tuscon.com, the Sooners have “at the very least has reached out to Arizona in regard to Murray”.

According to Lev, Murray was out on the road recruiting with the rest of the Arizona football staff and that it was unclear if contact from Oklahoma was anything more than exploratory, but Arizona is “preparing for that possibility” of losing him.

Murray played at Oklahoma under current inside wide receivers coach Cale Gundy from 2007-10. A Las Vegas, Nevada, native, Murray was a major piece to the Sooners’ 2008 team that went to the national championship game and the 2010 team that won the Big 12 Championship and Fiesta Bowl. He accounted for 5,256 yards from scrimmage in his Oklahoma career and 63 touchdowns.

Murray would go on to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. In 2014, he was named the NFL AP Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns. Murray finished his NFL career with the Tennessee Titans in 2017.

Boulware was making $470,000 a year as Oklahoma’s running back and special teams coach in 2019. Murray was making $235,000 as Arizona’s running back coach in 2019.

He is the first true name to have any traction to Oklahoma’s running back coach opening.