Arizona football enters 2022 season ready to rebound after rough 1-23 stretch
The Arizona football program has found wins hard to come by over the last few seasons. To say the Arizona Wildcats have struggled is quite an understatement. Since week 6 of the 2019 season, the Wildcats have posted a 1-23 record, with the lone win coming against a covid-depleted Cal Bears team last season in an ugly 10-3 fashion.
Some alarming stats from last year include being dead last in all FBS in red zone scoring, last in turnover margin, and third worst in penalties per game. The offense couldn’t score, gave the ball away too much, couldn’t take the ball away on defense, suffered through injuries, and on top of all that, they were killing themselves with penalties.
To resolve this, Arizona has completed a roster overhaul during the offseason and enters the 2022 season looking to be much more competitive.
Head coach Jedd Fisch has hit the transfer portal and recruiting trail hard, and the roster now looks much improved over last season. In his first full recruiting cycle in 2022, Fisch hauled in the best recruiting class in program history and landed in the top 25 nationally.
Pairing that class with an impressive transfer portal group has given Arizona plenty of optimism about the trajectory of the program moving forward.
The roster upgrade is clear and obvious on paper, now the challenge will be whether Fisch and company can coach as well as they can recruit.
Wins and losses alone shouldn’t determine whether this season is a success, the Wildcats are looking to build something beyond just this season. It could take a couple of years of strong recruiting classes until they are competing for bowl berths and conference championships, but they are heading in the right direction and while may continue to take some lumps this year, the arrow is pointed up for the Arizona football program.
The Arizona offense has upgraded talent at each position entering 2022
The offense is led by Brennan Carroll, son of Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll who assisted in immersing the offense with new talent. All three QBs that saw action last season are returning but will take a seat in favor of transfer Jayden de Laura.
De Laura posted 2,789 yards and 23 TDs as the starting QB at Washington State last year and if the Arizona O-line can hold up better than a year ago he could post similar numbers given the talent at WR. Arizona also brought in three-star recruit Noah Fifita who has demonstrated already that he is already the second-most talented QB on the roster.
The RB group is deep and led by juniors Michael Wiley and Drake Anderson, but Florida State transfer DJ Williams and talented freshmen Jonah Coleman and Rayshon “Speedy” Luke will be in the mix for action. Wiley is currently the most versatile of the group, but Coleman and Luke have drawn plenty of buzz during fall practices. Luke may become an offensive x-factor as Carroll is scheming ways to get him the ball at multiple positions to utilize his speed.
The WR group is also looking much improved, headlined by transfer Jacob Cowing instantly replacing the departing Stanley Beryhill as the clear top option at wideout.
The other huge addition is highly rated freshman Tetairoa McMillan. McMillan has a ton of talent but needs to work on using his physicality to his advantage. If that light goes on, this could be an exciting offense to watch. Jamarye Joyner is a solid WR3 but has been hampered by injuries. Kevin Green, Dorian Singer, and AJ Jones provide skilled depth to make this group a very solid position.
The O-line struggled last year but a year of growth along with some transfer/recruit upgrades should lead to a better performance this season. Tight ends have been quiet in this offense but Keyan Burnet adds a skill that this offense was lacking from that position but maybe a year away from providing steady production.
Veteran DB Group headlines improved Wildcat defense
New defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen comes in looking to build off the improvement that the defense showed last year. Despite being 1-11, the defense held opponents on average to under 400 YPG for the first time since 2010, especially impressive considering the struggles that Arizona had on offense.
The defensive line looks to be a strength, with the possibility of a three-deep rotation to keep players fresh throughout the game.
Led by Kyon Barrs, this is a solid group that needs to generate a pass rush to alleviate the stress put on the defensive backs, especially in the red zone where the defense struggled last season. Russell Davis II is one player who has been standing out in fall practice and could help generate that rush.
At linebacker, there are a few more questions. Jerry Roberts and Michigan transfer Anthony Sullivan need to step up and lead the group. The young group around them needs to emerge quickly or this group could be a liability.
Christian Young leads the defensive backs and should be in the running for a spot on the all-conference team. This group returns six players from last season and with improvement in red zone coverage they should be in line for an even better season than last year. The biggest thing lacking was turnovers, which needs to be an area of improvement this year
Arizona will be far more competitive this season, though a bowl trip may be a year away
Despite the improved roster, Arizona will find themselves as underdogs in almost every game this season, and the non-conference schedule will be a challenge as well.
Game 1: at San Diego State (L) — Tough environment for a young team as San Diego opens their new stadium.
Game 2: Mississippi State (L) — The Wildcats will impress playing on the new turf at home against Mike Leach and the Bulldogs but come up a little short.
Game 3: North Dakota State (W) — This won’t be easy, but Arizona can squeak by the FCS powerhouse in another non-conference home game.
Game 4: at Cal (L) — This game is winnable but after last year Cal will find a way to pull it out and send Arizona home with an L.
Game 5: Colorado (W) — This is as close to a sure win as Arizona has on the schedule, and they will step up to knock off the Buffaloes.
Game 6: Oregon (L) — Reality strikes in this game as Oregon shows just how much of a gap separates the upper-echelon PAC-12 schools from where Arizona currently sits.
Game 7: at Washington (L) — A tough trip to Washington will test the physicality of this roster and might be one of the worst matchups on the schedule.
Game 8: USC (L) — The bye week won’t help as the Trojans’ high-powered offense storms in but could be a fun one to watch if the Wildcats’ offense shows improvement.
Game 9: at Utah (L) — This will likely be the ugliest loss of the year for Arizona, Utah has a great shot at making the College Playoff this year.
Game 10: at UCLA (L) — Arizona will be more competitive in this one but will come up short to the Bruins.
Game 11: Washington State (W) — After a brutal stretch the Wildcats come home and Jayden de Laura knocks off his former team in a close contest.
Game 12: Arizona State (W) — The Wildcats finish the season with an impressive win over the Sun Devils and likely end the coaching career of Herm Edwards.
Prediction: 4-8, 3-6 PAC 12
Getting to four wins this season will be an impressive feat for Arizona. The schedule is brutal and the ability for the new talent to come together quickly may be too much to ask, but things are definitely looking up for this football team and Wildcat fans have good reason to be optimistic about where the program is headed.