Arizona vs. UCLA: Can the Wildcats Exorcise Their Demons?

44-41 2OT

In this life, or the next, they will all pay for their sins.

Current students at the University of Arizona may not recall the score that still haunts the football program to this day, but those of us who were at the last Wildcat game to host ESPN's Game Day crew will never forget it. Arizona had Oregon on the ropes when many in the Zona Zoo prematurely jumped onto the sidelines in preparation of rushing the field, angering the football gods with their hubris*, & bringing the team's Rose Bowl hopes crashing down. More rational people may argue that the students didn't really cause the team to lose that day, & that the existence of football gods is a ridiculous attempt to bring order to an inherently chaotic sport. The Ducks quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli would agree with, at least, the first half of that sentiment, saying in regards to the students crowding the field, "I saw it and I actually smirked. It was kind of funny. I wasn't really worried about it." But football, with its Hail Mary's, Immaculate Receptions, & touchdown celebrating deities, is clearly a place of the spiritual, if not the downright supernatural, & Masoli was an asshole. Thus there is no doubt in my mind that the loss belongs squarely on those students who attempted to celebrate early, & the rest of my feelings regarding those kids can best be summed up by the great Samuel L. Jackson:

The players, coaches, & students at today's game are not the least bit responsible for that tragedy, but it is a legacy that they are tasked with putting to rest for the sake of the Arizona fan base, less that anguish follow us the rest of our lives.

*Less anyone accuse me of only chastising the students' actions because of the end result I want to be clear that I was at that game, I refused to leave the stands, & I warned my friend not to jump onto the sideline. I would never claim to fully understand the will of the football gods, but I knew that claiming victory before it was bestowed upon us could only have calamitous consequences. 

Can Rich Rod finally beat Jim Mora?

That said, Rich Rodriguez & his team are carrying their own demons into the game tomorrow. In his three years at Arizona Rodriguez & his staff have won two-thirds of their games against PAC-12 South opponents not hailing from Westwood. UCLA is the only Southern division school Arizona hasn't beaten in that time & it hasn't been close. The combined score of the three games the teams have played is an astounding 114-43. In the first two games the Wildcats held the lead for a mere seventeen seconds, & last year's game saw them drive for a touchdown on their opening drive & never score again. The sixty-six points UCLA scored in the first game is the most given up by Arizona in the Rich Rod era, & the aforementioned seven scored last year pales only in comparison to the shutout pitched by a third ranked Oregon team in Rich Rod's first PAC-12 game. To say Jim Mora's crew has bested Rodriguez's staff would be a massive understatement.

The good news? First, the Bruins' star quarterback in all three games, Brett Hundley, is now in the NFL, replaced by true freshman Josh Rosen –– who's looked shaky the last two games. Secondly, the one game that was close was played in Tucson. Granted UCLA had that game in hand for the most part but, it's the only game Arizona was a score away from winning, & they achieved that with the passing challenged B.J. Denker at quarterback. Even more importantly, the star of that game, UCLA linebacker Myles Jack* who somehow had eight tackles, two passes defended, & 120 yards rushing on only six carries, is out for the season. Lastly, the Wildcats will see the return of the best defensive player in college football in Scooby Wright after he missed the last two games with a knee injury. Make no mistake, UCLA is still the more talented team, & their number nine ranking is no joke, but all those factors give Arizona their best chance for a win over the Bruins in the Rich Rod era.

*Jack was am 18-year-old freshman at the time, which is fucking insane.

So how does Arizona actually beat UCLA? It all starts, as it often does, at the line of scrimmage. Rosen tore up a less than stellar Virginia team before struggling against UNLV, who's terrible, & BYU, who's pretty good. In those latter two games UCLA made up for his poor play by running for over five hundred yards combined. For Arizona to win the game they'll need to force Rosen into some mistakes, an area where having Scooby back is vital, but that will only do so much good if the Bruins are running all over the Cats. It's a tall task but the defense was ready for everything but Hundley's scrambling last year, & they won't have to deal with that this time round, so there's reason to be optimistic.

Scooby Wright may be back but tonight,
Anu Solomon is the most important player for the Cats.

It was the offense that was a disaster last season's matchup. It was one of only two games where Arizona failed to run for one hundred yards, & Anu had his least accurate game, completing only thirty-eight percent of his passes. So the team can only play better.* The offense has been humming thus far, however it hasn't been much of a challenge against one of the weakest schedules in college football. Nick Wilson has been fantastic, yet there's no way to know if the line will be able to continue to produce the holes he's been running through. I wouldn't expect more than moderate success in the running game which means offensive production will very much be in the hands of Anu Solomon. Anu's consistently been making good initial reads & been solid through his progressions, but his accuracy issues have occasionally flared up & he sometimes forgets to put enough air under his deep ball to allow his receivers to run under them. He'll need to continue to avoid turnovers, as he has thus far this season, but he'll also need to convert a number of third downs & produce a few big plays if Arizona is to have a chance.

*If we get shutout feel free to blame me.

Who wins in the end? A week ago I'd have said UCLA, but with Jack out & Scooby in I'm going to ride with the home team.

Arizona 31, UCLA 30

Though if we're lucky it'll be more like this game.