On Saturday, the Buffaloes (1-4, 0-2 Pac-12) host Arizona (0-5, 0-2) at Folsom Field. With both teams currently on a multi-week (and for Arizona, multi-year) losing streak, the matchup represents a prime opportunity for the Buffs and Wildcats to get their 2021 seasons back on track.
Matt Moreno, publisher of GOAZCats.com, the Rivals affiliate covering Arizona athletics and recruiting, provided an in-depth look into Arizona's season and what the Buffaloes can expect offensively and defensively.
Q: Colorado fans can certainly relate to watching an offense struggle to put up points, although, for as bad as the Buffs have been in that regard, Arizona undoubtedly has been even worse, failing to score 20 points over its last eight games dating back to midway through the condensed 2020 campaign. What the heck is going on with that offense?
Matt Moreno: Well, for starters, the quarterback position has been anything but settled this year. Arizona came out of camp without naming one starter.
Instead, Jedd Fisch decided to use a two-quarterback system featuring Washington State transfer Gunner Cruz and second-year freshman Will Plummer.
In reality, Cruz was the starter but he didn’t do enough to separate himself in camp to earn the job.
He performed admirably against BYU but struggled against San Diego State in the second game. Plummer eventually replaced him in that game and was named the starter the following week.
Plummer then struggled against FCS opponent, Northern Arizona, leading to South Florida transfer Jordan McCloud finishing that game. McCloud started games against Oregon and UCLA, and the offense actually looked to be making progress.
However, he suffered knee and ankle injuries in the game against the Bruins that brought his season to an end.
Arizona is now turning back to Cruz as its new permanent starter.
Inconsistency has been the biggest issue for the offense. The team has been able to move the ball well at times, but has struggled in the red zone.
Things started to finally click a bit more with McCloud at quarterback, so it will be up to Cruz to continue that trend in his second crack at being the starter.
Q: The Wildcats haven't won a football game since 2019, going 0-5 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season as well as an 0-5 start to this year. Has it been a bumpy transition from the Kevin Sumlin era to the Jedd Fisch era? In your opinion, what factors are to blame for the state of the program right now?
MM: There’s a clear talent issue at Arizona right now. Fisch did what he could to add some talent to the roster in the offseason, but he was a bit handcuffed because most of the class had been filled by the time he arrived on campus in January.
The three years Sumlin had at Arizona were among the worst years in recruiting during my time covering the team over the last decade.
The program took far too many chances on lower-level prospects and wasn’t able to make the type of impact it thought it would in Texas, where Sumlin has a ton of connections.
The team largely avoided recruiting California during that time, leading to a big talent deficit when it comes to the rest of the teams in the Pac-12.
Fisch is a first-time head coach who is still learning how to maneuver that role, in my opinion. He’s implementing an offensive system that is a pro-style scheme featuring a ton of plays and some differences compared to what the current players have learned previously.
The Wildcats will huddle more than any Arizona team in the past, and the quarterback is under center more than I have seen in my time covering the team.
There was always going to be an adjustment period through the transition from Sumlin to Fisch, but it has certainly been more difficult than imagined from the fan and media perspective.
Q: I'd wager that both the Buffs and Wildcats, players and coaches, have circled this game thinking that it represents both of their respective best shots to get a victory for the remainder of the season. Do you think that's how Fisch, his staff and players are viewing Saturday?
MM: I think Fisch is more realistic in the current situation than the players, but I do think there is a sense of optimism heading into the matchup.
Losing McCloud last week definitely hit the team in a big way, and you could immediately see a shift in the mood of the players.
The team has exhausted its options at quarterback and Cruz has been the most ineffective of the three players used at the position this year.
That isn’t going to give the team a lot of confidence, but I think there is a feeling of positivity knowing that the opponent this week has had its own struggles as of late.
Oddly enough, Arizona has performed better against some of the more challenging teams it has faced this year, so playing a team that has just one win might not actually be a good thing.
Though, I do think Arizona will head into the game with some confidence.
Q: Colorado could probably be best described as having a good defense whose contributions and solid play is overshadowed by the ineptitude of the offense. Would that be a fair assessment of Arizona? Because it seems that many of the Cats' losses have been games that appeared manageable late into things, before ultimately the defense has been overwhelmed and offensively, Arizona has failed to get things going.
MM: That’s a strong assessment of what has happened this year at Arizona. The defense has not been great, by any means, but it has been the stronger of the two sides of the ball.
Explosive plays have gotten the better of the defense, but there has been clear progress in terms of keeping the team in games. There is more talent across the board on that side for Arizona, but like the offense, the defensive staff is working in a new system that doesn’t quite have all the pieces to run efficiently yet.
The strength of the defense is against the pass with two of its most talented players being the secondary, cornerbacks Christian Roland-Wallace and Isaiah Rutherford.
Rutherford is a former top-110 recruit who transferred to Arizona from Notre Dame this offseason. Roland-Wallace is the team’s top NFL prospect.
Defensive coordinator Don Brown, who came over to Arizona from Michigan, wants to play an aggressive style but the roster limitations have kept him from doing that as much as he would like.
Still, there will be a number of moments when the Wildcats will bring pressure. The biggest negative for the defense this season has been its play against the run.
Arizona surrendered over 300 yards rushing to UCLA last week, and that type of performance has become the norm this season.
The Wildcats just aren’t quite big enough up front to do well against the run, and the easiest way to beat them is to stick to the ground game.
Q: Gunner Cruz will start against CU in light of Jordan McCloud being out for the remainder of the season due to injury. What does Cruz bring to the table and what is this Wildcats offense capable of?
He checks nearly all the boxes any team is looking for in a starting quarterback. He’s big, has the ability to go deep, and he’s charismatic. Cruz looks the part of a starting college quarterback.
However, he has really struggled with his decisiveness this season. He’s not someone who is going to take many chances leading to the offense being bogged down when he’s on the field.
Cruz has held the ball for way too long this year leading to missed opportunities, interceptions and sacks. He’s not the runner that McCloud or Plummer are, so he doesn’t have that element at his disposal compared to the other two quarterbacks.
If he can be decisive and see the field better Cruz will be exactly what the team needs at quarterback this weekend. However, neither of those two things seem like an easy fix.
He’s fallen in love a little bit too much with the check-down plays leading to quick drives and not a lot of points.
He’ll have to use his ability to stretch the field in this game if Arizona has a chance of winning, in my opinion.
Q: Score prediction and some final thoughts? How's this one going down Saturday?
MM: I think Arizona will lean on its running game a bit more than it has this season. That is a strength of the team with guys like Michael Wiley and Northwestern transfer Drake Anderson at the top of the rotation, but it has not been used as much as it should have been up to this point in the year.
Based on what Fisch, the coaches, and the players have said this week there will be an emphasis on taking pressure of Cruz offensively.
Arizona knows that Colorado is going to try and run the ball coming off its performance last season in addition to knowing what UCLA did last week on the ground.
I do think it will be a big of an ugly game, but I just don’t think Arizona has the players to stop CU’s rushing attack.
In my opinion, Arizona’s struggles to get in the end zone continue and the Buffs pull this one out 17-16.
