By now, you’ve heard: Arizona’s a team coming off an emotional 24-20 upset of then-No. 8 California, a team that took the Ducks down 45-24 in early October.
But who are these Wildcats, who stand at 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the Pacific-10 Conference?
There’s Willie Tuitama (a.k.a. “Tui,” “Future,” “Ill Will” – we’ve got a bunch of them for him down here in Tucson). There’s Antoine Cason (a.k.a. Mr. two-time defending Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week), and there’s Syndric Steptoe (a.k.a. “I’ve caught a pass in 27-straight games”).
But then there’s the running game.
Though Arizona’s established some momentum in that department of late with four touchdowns on the ground in the last two games, it still isn’t quite there, averaging just 2.3 yards-per-carry over that same stretch.
Arizona head coach Mike Stoops would like to be able to rely on the ground game (see running back Chris Henry’s school-record 35 carries in Arizona’s 27-17 win over Washington State a few weeks ago), to set up the play-fake and the rest of the passing game.
But it’s too inconsistent to allow him to do so, forcing Arizona’s co-offensive coordinators, Mike Canales and Dana Dimel, to open the running game up with the pass.
What Stoops can rely on is Arizona’s defense. There’s no question that it’s been the most consistent facet of the team the entire season, and outside of possibly USC, it’ll be stingiest the Ducks face all season.
The defensive secondary is among the best in the conference, picking off Cal’s Nate Longshore three times last weekend, including Cason’s interception that went 39-yards the other way for a score.
Take a look at some of Arizona’s opponents’ season scoring averages and what they did against Arizona’s defense – not including interception or special team returns for scores.
BYU averages 36.5 points-per-game but scored just 13 against Arizona. USC averages 32 and scored 20, Stanford averages 10.3 and was shutout, Oregon State averages 25.5 and scored 17 and Cal’s offense averages 34.7 points but scored just 13 against the Arizona defense.
Here are some other quirky stats that stand out about the Cats:
-Arizona is 10-of-13 (77 percent) on fourth down, but just 43-of-143 (30 percent) on third down.
-The Wildcats haven’t returned a kickoff for a score since Chris McAlister, now with the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, did so in 1998.
-Arizona’s 3-1 when passing for 150 yards or less, but just 2-4 when exceeding that same mark.
-No Wildcat quarterback has had a multi-touchdown game this season.
-Arizona’s 0-2 when tied after the first quarter.
Ryan Casey is an assistant sports editor at the Arizona Daily Wildcat.