It’s all coming together now for Arizona. Football has continued to roll and will face its stiffest challenge of the season this weekend. Basketball has been able to get back to some sense of normalcy having its Red-Blue Game over the weekend and getting ready for its season to begin. Recruiting continues to move forward and the Wildcats are right in the thick of things. There is plenty to get to this week once again, so let’s get right into this week’s War Room.
Football
Arizona faced gut-check time in Berkeley Saturday night as Justin Wilcox’s team came storming back from a two-score deficit to tie things up with UA before the two teams went to overtime. The Wildcats came up with the big play to end the game with Wilcox opting to go for two points rather than kick an extra point field goal and were able to leave the game victorious. It was a big win for UA capped by the monster pass breakup from freshman linebacker Colin Schooler.
The win meant Arizona moving on to 5-2 on the year and one step closer to bowl eligibility. It wasn’t perfect by any means with two players being ejected for targeting and Cal making a mess of UA’s defense on third down throughout the night, but the ‘Cats were able to secure a win to continue an improbable string of games this month.
- Quarterback: Khalil Tate has set the bar so high that when he doesn’t go completely insane in a game it doesn’t look as good. His performance Saturday night in the win was far from poor, but it certainly wasn’t at the pace he had been on over the last two weeks. Not having his full array of running backs available (more on that next) certainly made it more difficult to find the room to run that he has become accustomed to. Cal stacked the line of scrimmage and cut down on the running lanes proving to be a difficulty for Tate. He still made difficult plays look easy early in the game with another big touchdown run and he finished the win with two touchdown throws including the eventual game winner to Bryce Wolma. He looked hesitant at times and was less effective as Cal made its comeback, but he was still the best player on the field Saturday and was a big part of the victory.
- Running back: Nick Wilson went down early with an injured ankle leaving JJ Taylor to carry the workload Saturday night. He jumped out to a hot start with a long 30-yard touchdown to get things going for UA, but his time on the field wouldn’t be long. The coaching staff had a plan to get Taylor involved more in the offense and on his way to a more productive game, but on a play in the first quarter he was called for a targeting penalty that forced him out for the rest of the game. When he was in, Taylor looked quick and like the player we all saw a season ago which made it even more difficult a loss for UA. He ended his night with 44 yards on just four carries.
That meant the workload went to redshirt senior Zach Green who turned in his best performance at UA when the team needed it most. The most impressive thing about Green’s night was that there were no frills about what he was doing. It was straight-ahead running for the most part with Green just being too much for the Cal defense to handle. The injury doesn’t sound like it will be too significant for Green, but UA at least knows it has someone who could carry the load if it gets in a similar position again.
- Receivers: As it has been for the entire season the primary job for Arizona’s receiver group has been to block for the running backs and quarterbacks. That means making the most of those 15 or so passes they get thrown to them each game. It was again the number Saturday with Tate tossing the ball 15 times meaning fewer opportunities to really shine, but the Wildcats have been good about making the most of those chances. Shun Brown continues to be UA’s most effective receiver adding another touchdown to his stats for the season on a 56-yard bomb that Tate connected with him on in the third quarter to push Arizona’s lead back up to two scores.
Tony Ellison had a couple important catches to keep the chains moving while Shawn Poindexter had his most significant catch in his two years at UA on a 25-yard fingertip grab. He couldn’t quite get to a deep throw from Tate at the end of regulation leading to an interception, but his lone catch in the game was a big one as it set up points for the Wildcats when they took the 31-28 lead in the fourth quarter.
Only three receivers caught passes in the game and the rotation continues to be tight, but the group has done a good job of delivering when it has been called on.
- Tight ends: Similar to the group above a lot of what the tight ends are doing throughout the game is to help running the ball, but they too have made the most of their limited opportunities. Trevor Wood got the start again and while he didn’t have a catch his partner in crime, and really Arizona’s co-starter at the position, Bryce Wolma made a few impressive grabs. His best play came in the second overtime period as Tate hit him on a 22-yard touchdown pass that took a big effort from the freshman tight end to get in the end zone. It would be the score that eventually helped the team win the game and the freshman from Michigan continues to be an impactful newcomer for the ‘Cats and a real safety blanket for Tate and the quarterbacks.
- Offensive line: It was yet another strong effort for the Arizona offensive line in the win over Cal. Ever since Tate has taken over it has brought a new sense of concentration from the unit in terms of holding its blocks longer and being more aware of its job. Having a running quarterback doesn’t hurt when it comes to sacks allowed the group went another game without the quarterback on the ground. Arizona’s runners went for nearly 350 rushing yards in the game and while the lanes weren’t all there for Tate, Cal was doing a good job of limiting that element of the offense. There were some miscues, but Arizona’s group up front did another strong job in the win.
- Defensive line: Arizona had to work without Parker Zellers for the first half, but there continues to be strides made with the rest of the unit. Finton Connolly came up with the only sack of the game as he continues the upward trend in his development. Dereck Boles was injured toward the end of the game, but he has been Arizona’s best defensive lineman this season and makes a difference up front. Luca Bruno, back from a concussion, had the best stats of the night up front coming up with five tackles and one tackle for loss in the win.
There weren’t enough sacks, but the group continues to put up a fight and make the types of plays it needs to to win games. Boles’ health will be crucial to this week’s game as the passing offense from Washington State will present another opportunity for some big stats.
- Linebackers: Arizona’s win would not have been possible without the play from freshman linebacker Colin Schooler making a play on the ball in the second overtime and it was the capper to a monster night for the California native. He finished with 15 tackles in the game, which is a season high for the Wildcats. He also had a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and 1.5 tackles for loss in his best performance so far.
Tony Fields II injured himself trying to make a tackle knocking him out of the game, but he still finished his night with 10 tackles. Brandon Rutt and Anthony Pandy quietly had impressive games as well combining for eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the win. Injuries were the story for UA at linebacker though, outside of Schooler’s big play, with Kylan Wilborn also going down in the game with an injury. Both Wilborn and Fields have been critical to UA’s play on defense this year and it will be important to get them back.
The other issue is the tackling particularly in the open field. The trend continued Saturday night and it allowed several explosive plays out of plays that should have been for far less yards. Cal rushed for 170 yards on the night and UA has to be better against the run.
- Safeties: It was an interesting night for the UA safety group. It started the game shorthanded with starting free safety Scottie Young Jr. out with a knee injury. Fellow freshman Troy Young stepped in and quickly exited the game in the first quarter on a targeting call causing him to get ejected from the contest. It meant going to a redshirt freshman on the back end as Jarrius Wallace moved in and had an impressive debut at the position. He ended the night with nine tackles, two pass breakups and a big interception in the end zone to thwart a Cal scoring opportunity. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles had to move around a bit but he continued his strong season with 10 tackles while the other starting safety Dane Cruikshank had nine tackles and a pass breakup.
Where Arizona had problems was in the passing game once again as the group was exploited on third down in particular. It is a soft spot in the defense and the Bears continued to go back running plays right at the safety unit and coming up with some big plays to keep drives alive. It seemed to not matter how far Cal was from the marker it came up with the right play time and time again with 13 of its 19 third-down attempts being converted. It is something the staff just has to live with hope it gets better as things move forward.
- Cornerbacks: There are still some miscues from redshirt freshman Lorenzo Burns, but he is steadily improved as this season has moved along. He was called for a pass interference again that could have forced Cal into a tough spot since it had its own penalty on the same play. Instead it was an offsetting penalty and kept things moving forward. Burns is positioning himself much better to make plays now midway through the season than he was earlier in the year. It led to an interception first quarter for the redshirt freshman.
Football
Arizona faced gut-check time in Berkeley Saturday night as Justin Wilcox’s team came storming back from a two-score deficit to tie things up with UA before the two teams went to overtime. The Wildcats came up with the big play to end the game with Wilcox opting to go for two points rather than kick an extra point field goal and were able to leave the game victorious. It was a big win for UA capped by the monster pass breakup from freshman linebacker Colin Schooler.
The win meant Arizona moving on to 5-2 on the year and one step closer to bowl eligibility. It wasn’t perfect by any means with two players being ejected for targeting and Cal making a mess of UA’s defense on third down throughout the night, but the ‘Cats were able to secure a win to continue an improbable string of games this month.
- Quarterback: Khalil Tate has set the bar so high that when he doesn’t go completely insane in a game it doesn’t look as good. His performance Saturday night in the win was far from poor, but it certainly wasn’t at the pace he had been on over the last two weeks. Not having his full array of running backs available (more on that next) certainly made it more difficult to find the room to run that he has become accustomed to. Cal stacked the line of scrimmage and cut down on the running lanes proving to be a difficulty for Tate. He still made difficult plays look easy early in the game with another big touchdown run and he finished the win with two touchdown throws including the eventual game winner to Bryce Wolma. He looked hesitant at times and was less effective as Cal made its comeback, but he was still the best player on the field Saturday and was a big part of the victory.
- Running back: Nick Wilson went down early with an injured ankle leaving JJ Taylor to carry the workload Saturday night. He jumped out to a hot start with a long 30-yard touchdown to get things going for UA, but his time on the field wouldn’t be long. The coaching staff had a plan to get Taylor involved more in the offense and on his way to a more productive game, but on a play in the first quarter he was called for a targeting penalty that forced him out for the rest of the game. When he was in, Taylor looked quick and like the player we all saw a season ago which made it even more difficult a loss for UA. He ended his night with 44 yards on just four carries.
That meant the workload went to redshirt senior Zach Green who turned in his best performance at UA when the team needed it most. The most impressive thing about Green’s night was that there were no frills about what he was doing. It was straight-ahead running for the most part with Green just being too much for the Cal defense to handle. The injury doesn’t sound like it will be too significant for Green, but UA at least knows it has someone who could carry the load if it gets in a similar position again.
- Receivers: As it has been for the entire season the primary job for Arizona’s receiver group has been to block for the running backs and quarterbacks. That means making the most of those 15 or so passes they get thrown to them each game. It was again the number Saturday with Tate tossing the ball 15 times meaning fewer opportunities to really shine, but the Wildcats have been good about making the most of those chances. Shun Brown continues to be UA’s most effective receiver adding another touchdown to his stats for the season on a 56-yard bomb that Tate connected with him on in the third quarter to push Arizona’s lead back up to two scores.
Tony Ellison had a couple important catches to keep the chains moving while Shawn Poindexter had his most significant catch in his two years at UA on a 25-yard fingertip grab. He couldn’t quite get to a deep throw from Tate at the end of regulation leading to an interception, but his lone catch in the game was a big one as it set up points for the Wildcats when they took the 31-28 lead in the fourth quarter.
Only three receivers caught passes in the game and the rotation continues to be tight, but the group has done a good job of delivering when it has been called on.
- Tight ends: Similar to the group above a lot of what the tight ends are doing throughout the game is to help running the ball, but they too have made the most of their limited opportunities. Trevor Wood got the start again and while he didn’t have a catch his partner in crime, and really Arizona’s co-starter at the position, Bryce Wolma made a few impressive grabs. His best play came in the second overtime period as Tate hit him on a 22-yard touchdown pass that took a big effort from the freshman tight end to get in the end zone. It would be the score that eventually helped the team win the game and the freshman from Michigan continues to be an impactful newcomer for the ‘Cats and a real safety blanket for Tate and the quarterbacks.
- Offensive line: It was yet another strong effort for the Arizona offensive line in the win over Cal. Ever since Tate has taken over it has brought a new sense of concentration from the unit in terms of holding its blocks longer and being more aware of its job. Having a running quarterback doesn’t hurt when it comes to sacks allowed the group went another game without the quarterback on the ground. Arizona’s runners went for nearly 350 rushing yards in the game and while the lanes weren’t all there for Tate, Cal was doing a good job of limiting that element of the offense. There were some miscues, but Arizona’s group up front did another strong job in the win.
- Defensive line: Arizona had to work without Parker Zellers for the first half, but there continues to be strides made with the rest of the unit. Finton Connolly came up with the only sack of the game as he continues the upward trend in his development. Dereck Boles was injured toward the end of the game, but he has been Arizona’s best defensive lineman this season and makes a difference up front. Luca Bruno, back from a concussion, had the best stats of the night up front coming up with five tackles and one tackle for loss in the win.
There weren’t enough sacks, but the group continues to put up a fight and make the types of plays it needs to to win games. Boles’ health will be crucial to this week’s game as the passing offense from Washington State will present another opportunity for some big stats.
- Linebackers: Arizona’s win would not have been possible without the play from freshman linebacker Colin Schooler making a play on the ball in the second overtime and it was the capper to a monster night for the California native. He finished with 15 tackles in the game, which is a season high for the Wildcats. He also had a forced fumble, a quarterback hurry and 1.5 tackles for loss in his best performance so far.
Tony Fields II injured himself trying to make a tackle knocking him out of the game, but he still finished his night with 10 tackles. Brandon Rutt and Anthony Pandy quietly had impressive games as well combining for eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss in the win. Injuries were the story for UA at linebacker though, outside of Schooler’s big play, with Kylan Wilborn also going down in the game with an injury. Both Wilborn and Fields have been critical to UA’s play on defense this year and it will be important to get them back.
The other issue is the tackling particularly in the open field. The trend continued Saturday night and it allowed several explosive plays out of plays that should have been for far less yards. Cal rushed for 170 yards on the night and UA has to be better against the run.
- Safeties: It was an interesting night for the UA safety group. It started the game shorthanded with starting free safety Scottie Young Jr. out with a knee injury. Fellow freshman Troy Young stepped in and quickly exited the game in the first quarter on a targeting call causing him to get ejected from the contest. It meant going to a redshirt freshman on the back end as Jarrius Wallace moved in and had an impressive debut at the position. He ended the night with nine tackles, two pass breakups and a big interception in the end zone to thwart a Cal scoring opportunity. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles had to move around a bit but he continued his strong season with 10 tackles while the other starting safety Dane Cruikshank had nine tackles and a pass breakup.
Where Arizona had problems was in the passing game once again as the group was exploited on third down in particular. It is a soft spot in the defense and the Bears continued to go back running plays right at the safety unit and coming up with some big plays to keep drives alive. It seemed to not matter how far Cal was from the marker it came up with the right play time and time again with 13 of its 19 third-down attempts being converted. It is something the staff just has to live with hope it gets better as things move forward.
- Cornerbacks: There are still some miscues from redshirt freshman Lorenzo Burns, but he is steadily improved as this season has moved along. He was called for a pass interference again that could have forced Cal into a tough spot since it had its own penalty on the same play. Instead it was an offsetting penalty and kept things moving forward. Burns is positioning himself much better to make plays now midway through the season than he was earlier in the year. It led to an interception first quarter for the redshirt freshman.
