See your team in your mind's eye -- 24 starters, including specialists.
If you could put an absolute halo of safety -- perhaps a girdle of indestructibility? -- around just one, who would it be?
We're rating each Pac-12 team's most indispensable player. The only rule: Quarterbacks are not eligible for this post.
Nick Wilson
Let's begin by rewinding to examine what Wilson did as a true freshman in 2014: 1,375 rushing yards, 17 total touchdowns -- including one statement of a rumble into Oregon's end zone to highlight Arizona's huge victory at Autzen Stadium. Perhaps it's no surprise that the Wildcats won the Pac-12 South with Wilson serving as their primary offensive star that year before falling to .500 during a 2015 season in which he missed significant action due to injury.
Wilson's health issues, of course, aren't the only reason Arizona tumbled last season. Far from it. The Wildcats suffered a rash of injuries across the board -- from quarterback Anu Solomon to star linebacker Scooby Wright -- so don't think we're writing that Wilson is the lone variable responsible for this team's success.
But we are saying that he is integral pillar of the Rich Rodriguez attack, one whose value cannot be measured by the stat sheet alone, though Wilson left some mightily impressive numbers there back in 2014. Take his defining score at Oregon, for example: Only Ifo Ekpre-Olomu stood in the way of a crucial touchdown, and Wilson made the Ducks' cornerback look like a fly getting slammed by a windshield on his way into the end zone.
A true freshman did that to a senior.
It was the type of play that infused the Arizona sideline with that elusive oomph. It electrified the Wildcats. It made them truly believe they could compete with the big boys. And they did: Arizona vanquished Oregon on the road that season before ripping off several big wins on the way to that Pac-12 South crown.
It takes big-time productivity and a fair share of "wow" moments for a team to go on a special run, and Wilson is the one player on the Wildcats' roster most capable of delivering both. For that reason, Arizona needs him to remain healthy in 2016. Another productive, eye-popping season from Wilson might be exactly what this program needs to correct course after hitting 2015's injury-hampered rut.
If you could put an absolute halo of safety -- perhaps a girdle of indestructibility? -- around just one, who would it be?
We're rating each Pac-12 team's most indispensable player. The only rule: Quarterbacks are not eligible for this post.
Nick Wilson
Let's begin by rewinding to examine what Wilson did as a true freshman in 2014: 1,375 rushing yards, 17 total touchdowns -- including one statement of a rumble into Oregon's end zone to highlight Arizona's huge victory at Autzen Stadium. Perhaps it's no surprise that the Wildcats won the Pac-12 South with Wilson serving as their primary offensive star that year before falling to .500 during a 2015 season in which he missed significant action due to injury.
Wilson's health issues, of course, aren't the only reason Arizona tumbled last season. Far from it. The Wildcats suffered a rash of injuries across the board -- from quarterback Anu Solomon to star linebacker Scooby Wright -- so don't think we're writing that Wilson is the lone variable responsible for this team's success.
But we are saying that he is integral pillar of the Rich Rodriguez attack, one whose value cannot be measured by the stat sheet alone, though Wilson left some mightily impressive numbers there back in 2014. Take his defining score at Oregon, for example: Only Ifo Ekpre-Olomu stood in the way of a crucial touchdown, and Wilson made the Ducks' cornerback look like a fly getting slammed by a windshield on his way into the end zone.
A true freshman did that to a senior.
It was the type of play that infused the Arizona sideline with that elusive oomph. It electrified the Wildcats. It made them truly believe they could compete with the big boys. And they did: Arizona vanquished Oregon on the road that season before ripping off several big wins on the way to that Pac-12 South crown.
It takes big-time productivity and a fair share of "wow" moments for a team to go on a special run, and Wilson is the one player on the Wildcats' roster most capable of delivering both. For that reason, Arizona needs him to remain healthy in 2016. Another productive, eye-popping season from Wilson might be exactly what this program needs to correct course after hitting 2015's injury-hampered rut.
