Arizona Football: 3 takeaways from loss to Purdue in Foster Farms Bowl

Arizona football faced off against Purdue in the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl. What did we learn from the surprisingly exciting matchup?

Who would have thought the Foster Farms Bowl would be one of the more intriguing matches of the season? Purdue and Arizona matched up in the Dec. 27 contest in Santa Clara, Calif., and the Boilermakers came out on top, 38-35.

Rich Rodriguez’s Wildcats showed that they just don’t quit, even when behind by a decent margin in the second half. The defense stepped up when it needed to, turning a 31-14 deficit into a 35-31 lead until late in the fourth quarter.

However, a touchdown pass in the final two minutes proved to be the difference as the Boilermakers won an exciting game and Jeff Brohm earned plenty of praise.

What did we learn from Wednesday night’s Foster Farms Bowl?

3. Arizona’s secondary must be a point of emphasis for 2018

The 2017 season has come to a close for the Wildcats but there’s one thing that needs to be improved by Rich Rodriguez and Co. moving forward. What is it? The pass defense.

Albeit Elijah Sindelar has been a pleasant surprise for the Boilermakers this season, the Wildcats have had one of the worst secondaries in the Pac-12 in 2017. They allowed 396 yards and four touchdowns through the air to the Boilermakers’ rising sophomore and that must be addressed when going over the tape heading into next year.

Arizona had an improved season from last year and it could approach 10 wins in 2018 if it fixes that defensive backfield. There’s plenty of talent, but these guys get turned around far too much and defense has never really been a point of emphasis for Rich Rod-coached teams.

It’s time to fix that secondary.