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

2. Rich Rodriguez’s Wildcats could compete for Pac-12 title in 2018

Going from missing the postseason in 2016 to winning seven games and finding a quarterback worthy of leading the offense in 2017 has to be a good feeling for Rich Rodriguez. His team looks to have the talent to compete in the Pac-12 South next season despite losing the Foster Farms Bowl against Purdue.

After the first half, it looked like the Wildcats just didn’t have what it took to compete against an up-and-coming Power Five team like Purdue, but they proved everyone wrong in the second half, scoring 21 straight points before the Boilermakers scored the go-ahead touchdown with under two minutes left in the game.

The Wildcats nearly finished off an impressive comeback, but a silly turnover by Khalil Tate on the ensuing Arizona possession ended the game. Still, Rodriguez has to be happy with the direction that his program is headed. Tate is coming back for his junior year and he’ll only get better and the defense showed flashes of improvement in the final 30 minutes.

If Arizona can find a consistent run game outside of Tate, the Wildcats could be a dark-horse contender to win the Pac-12 South. Don’t sleep on this team in 2018.