Being the defending champs has many perks to it. You get respect, people know who you are, you win games, and have a chance or are picked to repeat as champs. However, something interesting has happened with the University of Arizona Wildcat football team. Nobody is talking about them. At all. Little reminder for everybody... they ARE the defending champs of the Pac-12 South, beat Oregon, and played for the Pac-12 Championship. What's going on here?
Some people say, "it's not how you start, it's how you finish." There is definitely some truth in that saying. Especially in college sports and in this case, college football. The buzz in the conference is being taken up by USC and their hated rival Arizona State. Some fans do feel like their team is being slighted and it's easy to see why. Not only did they win the Pac-12 South, not only did they beat Arizona State and Oregon, they also played for the conference championship. Rich Rod is building a team that needs to be reckon with by every team in the conference, but is getting no love from the media. Like I said "it's how you finish..."
Let's take a look at how they finished. They got by their rival in the Sun Devils to win the south and set up a rematch with the Oregon Ducks. To say that Oregon wasn't wanting the Cats would be an understatement. The Ducks wanted to show that the Cats victory was a fluke, and it turned out that may have been. Oregon took Arizona out to the woodshed and beat them soundly. Ok, bad game, the Ducks were stacked. They also had the Heisman winner running the show. Next up, their bowl game with Boise State. Boise State was a good team, good enough to invited to the Fiesta Bowl with Arizona. However, Boise State ran the ball almost at will against the Cats defense. At the end of the game, the Cats had a chance to pull out the win, however their quarterback Anu Solomon did not make the plays needed to get that win.
When your team ends with a big, fat thud then the media is not going to think positively about your teams chances about winning the conference. The sample size for the Wildcats is very small and when you are in the same division with the likes of the Trojans and the Bruins, schools with a lot of tradition and media cred built up, so when you are the new team on the block you have to keep building that tradition and cred with fans and media. With Rich Rod calling the shots for Arizona, they will. I really think he is building a monster down in Tucson.
Going into the 2015, the Cats will certainly have some weapons at their disposal. With a backfield of quarterback Anu Solomon, running back Nick Wilson, Lombardi Award winner Scooby Wright, and their Head Coach Rich Rod heading up the whole program you certainly have to put the Wildcats into the conversation. They have to be in the talk, much more than they are right now.
Quarterback Anu Solomon, who threw for over 3,700 yards and 28 touchdowns is certainly the front runner to stay the quarterback. Solomon doesn't have the speed that is extremely elusive or have the cannon of an arm, but right now he has showed that he can compete on a Power 5 level. There is no replacement for that experience Solomon gained in 2014. He will continue to get better and his stats just may get better as well.
Nick Wilson just may be one the most underrated running backs in the country. Not many fans or media really know of this guy. Which is how Wilson just might want it. As a freshman, he needed little "break in" time. He can make something out of nothing, hit an opening and break it for a touchdown or a big gain, and he did that in 2014 to the tune of 1,375 yards. He is the clear number one guy for the Cats and he is certainly looking forward to improving those freshmen stats. You have to have a threat on the outside to keep the defenses from loading the box. They have just that in Tucson.
In fact, they have two threats to keep the defenses honest. They have Cayleb Jones, who in his first year, caught 73 balls for 1,019 yards. Jones is being considered as one of the top receivers in the college game. He has the ability to stretch the field and that big play ability that all football coaches look for. Secondly, they have Samajie Grant who caught 45 balls and six of those balls were touchdowns. This group of receivers is also considered the best group on the team. With the ball being thrown around like they have opportunity to do, it could be a very special year for the Wildcat offense.
However, you need to be able to stop somebody. In the Pac-12 where offenses are scoring points at the speed of light, defense is sometimes considered an afterthought. They have an anchor on defense with Scooby Wright, who showed that a two star athlete can develop into something special. Wright had 163 tackles, 29 tackles for a loss, and he also "threw" in 14 sacks. The one thing Scooby will have is experience next to him. Cody Ippolito, Jake Matthews, Derrick Turituri all started a minimum of six games for the Wildcats. Up front, Arizona will have a solid three man front in returning D-Linemen Reggie Gilbert, Parker Zellers, and Sani Fuiaono. Zellers is a unique kind of DT, he is listed at 247lbs and gets his job done on speed rather than plugging the hole like Fuiaono would be doing. Reggie Gilbert, who is a senior, will be the rock of this line. He brings experience and tenacity to a defense that will be looking to make a statement in 2015.
The secondary will be tough too. They had to replace three players in the defensive backfield. They will have Seniors Jamar Allah and Tellas Jones back as safeties. They combined for 47 tackles in 2014. At the corner spot, they will have DaVonte' Neal, who they converted from tailback during spring ball and by all accounts won the job. Last years starter Jarvis McCall Jr may not get his job back because of this. At the other corner will more than likely be Cam Denson who is also a converted offensive player. Like I said, McCall will have his work cut out for him to return as a starter.
In the end, the lack of attention that the program is getting may serve the team better than if they were getting all the publicity in the division. Let the media and other teams not take the Wildcats seriously and see what happens. The Pac-12 South is anybody's guess as to who comes out on top, but you absolutely can not leave the Arizona Wildcats out of the conversation. Bear Down Arizona!
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