Across the Ute sideline: Scouting the Arizona Wildcats


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SALT LAKE CITY - Going into Saturday's game against Arizona, it should be no surprise what the offensive gameplan for Utah will be.

Run the ball with John White IV. A lot.

Coming off a 27-8 win over Oregon State, Utah's first Pac-12 win, Juan Blanco el Cuatro ran for 205 yards on 35 carries. He had 161 yards in the first half alone.

Utah (4-4) at Arizona (2-6)
Series Snapshot
Their 36 meetings is the second-most against a Pac-12 school for the Utes, who lead the series 19-15-2. The teams are 2-2 since 2000 with Arizona winning in 2000 and 2002 and Utah winning in 2004 and 2005. Utah's 2005 victory came in the first game of Kyle Whittingham's head coaching career. The series is tied 8-8-2 in Tucson, where Utah snapped a seven-game road losing skid in its undefeated 2004 season.Game 9 Notes
  • Utah (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) vs. Arizona (2-6, 1-5 Pac-12)
  • Date: Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011
  • Time: 4:00 p.m. MST/5:00 p.m. MDT
  • Site: Arizona Stadium (56,100/Grass) Tucson, Ariz.
  • TV: KJZZ (Utah only), KBWA, FS Arizona Plus & FCS Central
  • Radio: ESPN700, SIRIUS 117, XM 203
  • Series Record: Utah leads 19-15-2
  • Last Meeting: 2005 (Utah 27-24)
  • Kickoff Weather: Partly cloudy, temps in the mid 60s

"We had a great week of practice and great passion and energy during the game and that was showing in our play. The offensive line did an outstanding job," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "When a running back runs for over 200 yards, there is great blocking going on."

Heading into Tucson for a showdown with the Wildcats, expect the Utes to rely heavily on White. Arizona ranks 113th in the nation in total defense.

Here is an inside look at Arizona and some of the key players to watch on Saturday.

Arizona Wildcats
University: University of Arizona
Enrollment: 38,767
Established: Chartered 1885
Conference: Pac-12 South
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Mascot: Wilbur and Wilma
Nickname: Wildcats
Colors: Cardinal Red & Navy Blue            

Season to date

Facing the second toughest schedule in all of college football, the Wildcats are much better than their record indicates.

After an easy 41-10 win over FCS Northern Arizona to kick off the season, the Wildcats faced Murderer's Row: at #4 Oklahoma State Cowboys (L 14-37), vs. #3 Stanford (L 10-37), vs. #6 Oregon (L 31-56) and at USC (L 41-48).

An embarrassing loss at Oregon State ended the Mike Stoops regime in Tuscon, and interim head coach Tim Kish got the Wildcats back on track, trouncing UCLA and losing respectably in a competitive matchup with Washington.

The Wildcats can score a lot of points, but just didn't have enough on the defensive side to keep up with the cream of the crop in the Pac-12.

Coaching Staff

This is interim head coach Tim Kish's first assignment as a head coach, taking over the program after Mike Stoops was fired. The former defensive coordinator is 1-1 this season, beating UCLA but falling to Washington. The 36-year veteran of the college ranks has coached at Pac-12, Big Ten (Illinois, Northwestern), the Ohio prep ranks, Mid-American Conference schools (Ball State, Bowling Green State, Ohio) and a service academy (Army).

Offense

#9 Nick Foles
Senior/Quarterback/Austin, Texas
  • Ranks No. 2 in UA history with 8,611 career passing yards in just 31 career games (29 starts)
  • Ranks No. 2 in UA history with 59 career passing TDs
  • School record 208 pass attempts without an interception
  • School record-holder for career pass completions (805). Holds three of top four single season completion totals.
  • 67.13% completion percentage in 2010 No. 2 in UA history and 63.41% completion percentage in 2009 is No. 3.
  • Finished 2010 ranked No. 3 in nation for active career completions per game (23.7)
  • Finished 2010 ranked No. 8 in nation for active career completion percentage (65.4%)
  • Finished 2010 ranked No. 10 in nation for active career passing yards per game (246.8)
  • Has 14 games with at least 300 passing yards and ! ve 400-yard games in career
  • Has thrown 3+ touchdowns in a game 11 times

Technically the Utes have entered the easier part of the schedule, but the Arizona Wildcat offense is no easy task. They like to chuck the ball around, and with Nick Foles at quarterback, they do it exceptionally well. The Wildcats are ranked 1st in the Pac-12 and 3rd in the country in passing offense, averaging 376 yards per game through the air. Foles completes a NCAA best 32 passes per game.

"He's extremely accurate," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "He has an excellent touch on the football. He doesn't try to gun the ball all over, but he has a great feel to put the ball where receivers will be open. That's a great attribute for a quarterback."

The more I read on Nick Foles, the more I like him. According to NCAA.org, he is the 5th ranked quarterback in the NCAA statistically. There are certainly some elements of the Wildcats always being behind in games and being forced to throw the ball every down, but at some point, as Utah fans have recently realized, it helps to be able to complete the forward pass and Nick Foles can certainly do that. Foles is ranked ahead of Brandon Weedon of Oklahoma St., Brock Osweiler of ASU, Andrew Luck of Stanford, Matt Barkley of USC, and Kellen Moore of Boise St. Many of these offenses are much more balanced than that of the Wildcats. While there is certainly a different story to each of these quarterbacks, the simple point is that Foles is a good one, he will play on the next level, and the Utes will have their hands very full on Saturday.

Something will have to give with Arizona's 465 yd/game offense against the Utes' defense. Keep this in mind, Arizona has completed more passes (265) than Utah has attempted (225). One thing that looks to be glaring in the statistical category is the scoring offense. While the yards and all of that is great, it fits into Utah's bend but don't break defense. Arizona is ranked 46th in the country in scoring, and they cannot run the ball.

The moral of the story is that Nick Foles will have the football is his hands all game long with basically no threat to run the ball, setting it up perfectly for Joe Kruger and Trevor Reilly to tee off.

Wide receiver Juron Criner is one TD shy of matching the school record of 30. Ryan Lacy, Conroy Black, or (holy) Mo Lee will get a chance to have their name called on Saturday. The ball will be coming their way often. Criner is ranked 7th all-time in conference history with 2,462 career receiving yards and 181 career receptions. Criner's 29 receiving TD's rank 5th most among active receivers, trailing only Oklahoma's Ryan Broyles (45), Notre Dame's Michael Floyd (33), Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon (32), and Texas A&M's Jeff Fuller (31).

Defense

The Wildcats gave up 244 total yards to Washington's Chris Polk last week, and although John White IV isn't as powerful as Polk, he could have a big day unless they put 8-9 guys on the line and dare the Utes to try and throw the ball.

Arizona allows 467 yards per game, enough to rank 113th out of 120 teams in college football. And as good as Arizona is at putting up points on the board, the Wildcats have given up a ton on defense, allowing 35 points a game. One thing that does benefit Arizona is that they are significantly better at stopping the run compared to the pass.

In reality, the battle in the trenches will decide the outcome of this matchup. Arizona knows what the Utes' gameplan is, and if they can win the battle up front Utah will have a hard time keeping the chains moving.

True freshman DB Tramyane Bondurant has seen more playing time as of late due to injuries, but is playing exceptionally well for the Wildcats.

Special Teams

Kicking woes have led Arizona to try three placekickers, but John Bonano has finally settled in as the starter. Bonano is 5-5 with a long of 47 in his two starts.

Email: rojackson@ksl.com Twitter: @rojackKSL

Email: mgrant@ksl.com Twitter: @mikegrantksl

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