After falling by 28 to UCLA in its first Pac-12 game of the season, Colorado will face what projects to be a more favorable matchup this week with a road game at Arizona.
Under second-year head coach Jedd Fisch, the Wildcats have already surpassed their win total from last season, with victories against San Diego State and, most impressively, North Dakota State. Those two wins have given Arizona its most victories in a season since 2019, with eight regular-season contests still remaining.
The Wildcats were one of just four teams Colorado beat last season. The Buffs’ 34-0 win at Folsom Field was their largest margin of victory in a game since 2017.
Before we head into this season’s matchup between the two programs, let’s take a closer look at Arizona.
Game details
Who | Colorado (0-4, 0-1 Pac-12) at Arizona (2-2, 0-1)
Where | Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz.
When | 7:30 p.m. MT Saturday
TV | Pac-12 Network
Arizona Wildcats
Location: Tucson, Ariz.
Conference: Pac-12
Coach: Jedd Fisch (2nd season at Arizona, 4-14 career record)
2021 record: 1-11
Scoring offense rank (of 131 Football Bowl Subdivision teams): T-81nd (29.2 PPG)
Scoring defense rank: 108th (34 PPG)
Total offense rank: 61st (425.2 YPG)
Total defense rank: 103rd (416 YPG)
Five players to know
1. WR Jacob Cowing (No. 2): No player has been more important this season to a better-than-expected Arizona offense than Cowing. A transfer from UTEP, the 5-foot-11 junior earned first-team all-Conference USA recognition last season after recording 1,354 receiving yards, the ninth-best mark among all FBS players. He has wasted little time making an impact for Arizona, with team highs in receptions (28), receiving yards (386) and touchdown catches (six).
2. RB Michael Wiley (No. 6): Wiley has been not only a productive ball-carrier for the Wildcats so far this season, with a team-high 210 rushing yards, but he has been efficient in doing so, averaging six yards per carry. The six-foot, 210-pound Houston native has seen his role increase in the team’s offense week by week, with a season-high 14 carries last week in a loss to Cal. He had only 21 carries combined in Arizona’s first three games.
3. DL Hunter Echols (No. 31): A USC transfer who had a career-high 20 tackles last season for the Trojans, Echols has been a difference-maker on the Wildcats’ defensive line so far. He leads all Arizona players with two sacks and is tied for the team lead in forced fumbles. He was voted the Pac-12 co-defensive lineman of the week on Sept. 19.
4. DL Kyon Barrs (No. 92): Barrs entered the season as Arizona’s most decorated defensive player, having earned second-team all-Pac-12 honors last season after posting eight tackles for loss and a team-high five sacks. Through four games this season, the 6-foot-3, 310-pound lineman is seventh on the team with 17 tackles, though he has yet to record a sack.
5. P Kyle Ostendorp (No. 19): It’s a rare moment of special teams love on one of these lists, but Ostendorp certainly deserves it. A first-team all-Pac-12 selection last season, the Wildcats’ punter is third among all FBS players in punting average this season, at 48.8 yards per punt. Of his 11 punts in 2022, six have traveled at least 50 yards.
What Arizona does well:
The Wildcats have a porous defense and an offense that, statistically speaking, is middle of the road in FBS, so let’s give them some credit for their special teams. We’ve touched on Ostendorp already, with a booming leg that gives a team often at a talent disadvantage a needed boost in the battle for field position. Arizona is 29th among all FBS teams in punt return average this season and is tied for 41st in kickoff return average. The Wildcats have also blocked a punt and a kick while having not allowed a blocked kick. In one of the three facets of the game, Arizona doesn’t often beat itself. Or at least it hasn’t through four games.
Where Arizona is vulnerable:
Statistically, the Wildcats have one of the 30 worst defenses in college football, giving up 34 points and 416 yards per game. Little, if anything, has contributed to those woeful numbers more than what has been a weak run defense. Only three FBS teams give up more yards per carry than Arizona, which has allowed its first four opponents to average 6.1 yards per carry. Those opponents have averaged 228.2 rushing yards per game against the Wildcats, the seventh-worst mark in FBS, though it should be noted most of those teams have a more run-based offensive philosophy. In a 49-31 loss last week against Cal, Arizona gave up touchdown runs of 73 and 72 yards while allowing Jaydn Ott to go off for 274 yards on just 19 carries.
Key stat:
Since the start of the 2018 season, Arizona has the worst overall record and win percentage of any Pac-12 school (12-33, 0.266). For as unsightly as things have gotten at Colorado, the Buffs are 18-28 in that same period of time. Since the start of the 2020 season, the Wildcats are just 3-18 overall. At 2-2 so far this season with wins against San Diego State and reigning Football Championship Subdivision champion North Dakota State, there are signs that better days may be ahead. But the most recent ones behind it are anything but pretty.
Key matchup
Owen McCown against the Arizona secondary. A true freshman in his first road start for what has been the worst Power Five team this season to this point doesn’t seem like an enviable situation, but this could be a potentially beneficial experience for McCown. The Wildcats aren’t particularly opportunistic, with only two interceptions this season. They’re allowing 187.8 passing yards per game, the 30th-best mark in FBS, but they’ve faced the 21st-fewest pass attempts during that time (105). On a per pass basis, they’re not particularly strong in limiting opposing quarterbacks, who have averaged 7.1 yards per attempt against them (72nd in FBS).
