The Wildcats opened 2024 with many expectations following a year they put up a 10-win season and won impressively over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl. All the hype seemed warranted as Arizona put up an offensive explosion racking up 61 points and 600 yards of offense on New Mexico. Since, the offense looks nothing like that shown in week 1 and instead has fallen flat the last two weeks giving Arizona three losses in the last four games played.
Turnovers are the key factor hurting UA's offense as of today and offensive play caller Matt Adkins along with the players have been trying all week to find ways to make things easier on QB Noah Fifita, who's been taking too many hits and not seeing the field as well as he usually does.
Luckily for the Wildcats, there is clear proof that the stars of the team underperforming didn't forget how to play football and instead it may’ve been undervalued how difficult a coaching change can be.
As the coaching staff continues to pry at these issues, a talented Colorado team comes to town for kickoff on Saturday where the Cats are favored by a slim -2.5 points with an O/U of 58 points.
This is a game that could go either way as Arizona matches the star power of Colorado and is arguably more well rounded than the Buffs, it just depends which team comes in coached better and more prepared.
Both teams are in similar situations standings wise and will need the win in what'll be a sold out and packed Arizona Stadium, and here are three key difference makers in Arizona vs. Colorado that can help their teams over the hump.
Arizona
QB Noah Fifita - stats vs. BYU: 275 passing yards, 50% comp. percentage, one passing touchdown, three interceptions, one fumble
Two weeks in a row the Arizona offense has faltered due to the turnover bug and there's not much worse that could have been on display than what the offense looked like against BYU.
Moving the ball isn't so much the issue like punching in touchdowns has been because it's the plus territory area that has eluded the Wildcats in terms of scoring consistent points as since the massive 61-point bomb the offense put on New Mexico, they haven't scored more than 23 points in all five following games.
It's not easy to score when the offense is turning over the ball so frequently and that's been what is aching QB Fifita at the moment as he's given his first games with multiple turnovers in his career the last two weeks against Texas Tech and BYU.
Fifita turned the ball over four times in against a relentless Cougars defense where case could be made that none of the interceptions were a really on him as he was hit on one of the throws, tipped and picked on another throw, and than the last one in garbage time trying to make something happen.
Regardless of how they looked, it is incredibly difficult to win in college football or really any level at all when the ball is turned over that frequently but good news for Fifita is getting the chance to face a middle of the pack defense that allows 386.8 yards per game along with the pressure to really get things turned around fast.
There's no one feeling the mistakes more than Fifita who takes the accountability every press conference he attends post game or during the week and he is poised for a bounce back.
LB Jacob Manu - stats vs. BYU: two tackles, ejected in the first quarter
A rather stellar defensive unit led by coordinator Duane Akina has overperformed in recent weeks but really broke in the bend but don't break sentiment last Saturday.
Although a pick-six accounted for one of the Cougars touchdowns, 41 points is a season high allowed which can be attributed to the amount of times the defense was on the field from the offensive mistakes as a group simply can't be asked to be on the field that often.
Injuries in the unit have also contributed to the inefficiencies but mostly, the defense missed it's man in the middle in Jacob Manu.
Manu is the leader of the defense and his early absence for getting ejected off of a targeting call truly showed his impact on that side of the ball as the group looked lost at times and let multiple big plays happen in both the run and passing games.
It's not so much an inditement on linebackers Taye Brown and Kamuela Ka'aihue as much as it is Manu not being expendable as he is counted on so heavily.
Another thing that's noteworthy is the new helmet communication introduced to college football this season where Manu was the primary communicator where Gunner Maldonado, who was injured for the game, would back him up. Being out your top two communicators is also something that probably didn't show in the gameplan.
Arizona will return it's tackle leader with 43 on Saturday and his presence on the field will be needed against Colorado's high-octane passing offense.
RB Quali Conley - stats vs BYU: 13 carries, 39 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, four receptions, 29 receiving yards
The most consistent player for Arizona so far this year offensively apart from WR Tetairoa McMillan has been RB Quali Conley who's brought a steadiness when needed the most.
In every game of 2024 so far Conley has played a pivotal role in how the offense works even in the games Arizona played themselves out of in the Kansas State and BYU contests where he scored a touchdown in each.
Apart from those two he's ran the ball for 70-plus yards with five-plus yards a carry in really efficient showings that demonstrate the balance Arizona has strived to play with.
As of late the Wildcats have found themselves in negative game script a few times and have been forced to throw the ball significantly more than running it, but as Fifita rallies past some rough performances a way to benefit and support that development would to run the football.
Coach Brent Brennan spoke during the week of preparation that ideally the offense would love to have more equal numbers in pass attempts to rushing attempts but that the offense will do what it needs to do to win the game.
Every game the Cats have been competitive in so far, Conley was involved heavily throughout the game and getting back to that balance while taking some of the load off of the young quarterback may be something Coach Adkins and company strive towards going forward.
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