Utah welcomes No. 15 Arizona for a Top-20 showdown at Rice-Eccles Stadium this Saturday. We caught up with James Kelley, who covers Arizona for the The Daily Wildcat, to get the lowdown on the Utes’ next opponent.
RM: Utah’s strength this season has been its ability to get to the quarterback. How effective is the Arizona offensive line? What will Arizona do offensively to try to limit the Utah pass rush?
JK: Generally, Arizona’s offensive line has been a strength. They have a lot of continuity, and the offense had been outstanding up until recently. However, they’re a little banged up, and UA quarterback Anu Solomon was under constant pressure last week against Washington. They’ll probably try to run more. Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez says they try to be balanced offensively, but not to force, and lately, they’ve been throwing so much that defenses might be more open to being run against.
RM: Will Utah be able to run on Arizona’s defense? What is the biggest weakness the Wildcats have on the defensive side?
JK: Probably. Arizona’s run defense is eighth in the Pac-12. They haven’t been that bad this season as a whole, like when they shut down Oregon, but lately they’ve struggled. UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley had a field day running against them, and last week they struggled mightily against Washington’s run game on some drives. Arizona’s biggest weakness on defense is depth. The defense is designed to sub a lot, and they’re not at that point yet.
RM: Arizona has performed well at the end of game. What about the Wildcats makes them able to win close contests?
JK: Solomon is very poised and doesn’t get rattled. He could be off for three quarters and then forget about it in the fourth. They also practice hard. They practice for a shorter time than allowed, but when they do, they sprint around the field, and practices are timed to keep up that speedy mentality. They’re in great shape. They’re also used to scoring quickly and coming back from games. In Rodriguez’s first year here, they scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes to win the New Mexico Bowl.
RM: What is the key to stopping Anu Solomon and the Arizona offense? What other offensive players should Ute fans look out for on the Wildcats?
JK: The best way is to get Solomon off his game, like getting pressure on him or blanketing receivers. Rodriguez doesn’t care about time of possession, but if they get three and outs they could be off the field in less than a minute, and that hurts their rhythm. Freshman running back Nick Wilson is just behind Devontae Booker on the Pac-12 rushing list and he was first or second before he injured his ankle. He looks better, though. Sophomore receiver Cayleb Jones, who transferred from Texas, is Arizona’s best receiver, but they’re pretty deep there. That’s their deepest position group.
RM: What does Arizona have to do to get the victory on Saturday, and what is your prediction?
JK: Arizona needs to either run the ball well or get a lot of yards passing from Solomon to win. They need long drives because the cold will be hard to deal with. In Tucson, people bundle up when the temperature drops to the 60s. Last week, ASU lost to a pretty bad Oregon State team in the cold. Utah will win 28-20.
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