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Arizona Wildcats Football: 2015 Season Preview and Prediction

By Patrick Schmidt

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Rich Rodriguez has an explosive offense and the nation’s best defender so what should fans expect from his Arizona Wildcats in the 2015 season?

The Arizona Wildcats were the biggest surprise in the Pac-12 last year after Rich Rodriguez led the team to the Pac-12 Championship Game and first 10-win season and top 25 ranking since the 1998 season.

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With a young and talented offense and the nation’s top defender in Scooby Wright can the Wildcats make a return to the Pac-12 Championship Game in 2015?

Offensive Outlook

Arizona had an unsettled quarterback position until freshman Anu Solomon established himself as the answer and he didn’t disappoint, completing 58 percent of his passes for 3,793 yards with 28 touchdowns to nine interceptions. Solomon set program records for a freshman and looks to build on his success with one of the conference’s best wide receivers in Cayleb Jones.

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Jones led the team with 73 catches for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns as Solomon’s No. 1 option in the passing game. Austin Hill is gone after finishing third on the team in receiving but there is plenty of depth here to provide a stable of capable targets for Solomon.

Samaje Grant emerged as a No. 2 option to Jones and had 45 catches for 718 yards and six touchdowns and could hit the 1,000-yard mark and give Arizona a pair of 1,000 yards receivers.

Running back Nick Wilson was a star as a freshman with 1,375 yards and 16 touchdowns and his power running gives balance to what was the nation’s No. 30 scoring offense last year. He could lead the Pac-12 in rushing this year running behind an offensive line that is solid at every position but needs to find a center in fall camp.

Defensive Outlook

Scooby Wright was a revelation last year as he cleaned up on the awards circuit, winning the Nagurski, Bednarik, Lombardi and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year en route to a unanimous All-American. Wright led the nation in tackles with 163, tackles for loss with 29 and forced fumbles with six and was third with his 14 sacks. If he has another season like this, he could find himself in the Heisman Trophy conversation and Arizona will be tough to beat.

Arizona got good news when defensive end Reggie Gilbert was awarded another year of eligibility by the NCAA and is the team’s best player in their three-man front. Parker Zellers and Calvin Allen are the other starters on the line and with Sani Fuimaono playing in the rotation at the nose tackle.

The secondary lost three starters from last year’s team but senior William Sparks returns to his SPUR position and is the most talented of the five players on the back end. Jamar Allah, Tellas Jones, Jarvis McCall Jr, DaVonte’ Neal, and Cam Denson are the other names to know. Neal is the wild card of the bunch with the ability to play slot receiver and cover and played well as a corner in spring practice.

Prediction

Rodriguez is building the program into a consistent winner just like he did at West Virginia and the 26 wins in his three years is the most successful period in program history. He has a young trio in Solomon, Wilson and Jones to lead the offense and the nation’s best defender in Wright, but he needs to continue building the roster and adding depth to the lines to get where he wants to be.

The schedule doesn’t have any open weeks so the team won’t be able to hit the refresh button in the middle of the year or before a tough opponent. This could also hurt the team late in the season when they have three road games in the last four weeks, so fatigue could be the difference in close games. Plus, any injuries suffered throughout the year won’t have the cushion of getting an extra week to recover without missing a game.

Arizona gets UCLA and Utah at home but road games at Stanford, Washington, USC and Arizona State could make things difficult to repeat as Pac-12 south champions with the division arguably the best in college football.

Regular season record: 9-3

Next: 15 Bold Predictions for 2015 College Football Season

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