2013 Pre-Season Preview: Arizona Wildcats

2012 Record: 8-5 (4-5 in Pac-12)

Head Coach: Rich Rodriguez (second year at Arizona, 134-93-2 All-Time)

Last Bowl Game: 2012 New Mexico Bowl: beat Nevada 49-48

Stadium: Arizona Stadium in Tucson, AZ (capacity = 55,124)

Home Field Advantage: ranked 46th out of 69 BCS teams

Schedule Glimpse:

2013 Schedule Link

Out of Conference: 8/30 vs Northern Arizona, 9/7 at UNLV, 9/14 vs UTSA

Toughest Home Games: 11/9 vs UCLA, 11/23 vs Oregon

Toughest Road Games: 11/30 at Arizona State, 10/10 at USC

Statistical Snapshot:

2012 Statistics Link

Stats to Fear: had just 16 sacks in 2012 (last in Pac-12), allowed 17 plays of 40 or more yards (last in Pac-12)

Stat to Cheer: had 257 plays of 10 or more yards (1st in Pac-12)

Advanced Stats (Football Outsiders 2012 FEI Ranking): 41st out of 124 teams

Personnel:

Phil Steele's Returning Starters: Offense: 6, Defense: 11, Special Teams: 0

Key Defensive Returnees: LB Jake Fischer (119 tackles), LB Marquis Flowers (100 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 3 INT), S Jared Tevis (81 tackles), S/LB Tra'Mayne Bondurant (74 tackles)

Key Offensive Returnee: RB Ka'Deem Carey (1929 yds rush, 6.37 ypc, 23 TD)

Top 2013 Recruits: QB Anu Soloman, OL Logan Stott, RB Pierre Cormier, CB Derek Babiash, LB DeAndre Miller

Inside Scoop with Kyle Kensing of GOAZCATS & Saturday Blitz:

CFBZ: Now that Rich Rod has been head coach for a full year, what do you think he's done well and what does he need to do better?

Kyle Kensing: Rodriguez did a tremendous job implementing his offense, but doing so in a way that utilized the talents of the players he inherited. Nowhere was this more evident than in the play of Matt Scott, who was slinging the ball around the field as frequently as his predecessors under air raid guru Sonny Dykes.

The obvious area for improvement is on defense. There were only three teams with worse point per game yields than UA that still made bowl games (Baylor, Duke and West Virginia).

CFBZ: What do you see as the biggest opportunities/weaknesses on this team?

Kyle Kensing: Defense was this team's obvious weakness, in particular its lack of depth. The starting 11 (almost all of which is back) played well, but wore down without much support behind it. A few of the recruits are going to have tremendous opportunities to step up and become impact players. UA is so hurting for contributors on defense that there are really no shortage of opportunities to break out.

Take Jared Tevis. Here was a walk-on who worked hard in practice, caught the coaching staff's attention, and became an All-Conference caliber player. The Wildcats need more of that.

CFBZ: Who are the under-the-radar players that you think could step up and have a big impact for Arizona this season?

Kyle Kensing: Austin Hill's torn ACL during spring practices leaves a massive void in the receiving corps. I see his departure a lot like Juron Criner graduating out of the program though, because the roster is loaded with talented wide-outs. Terrence Miller is the most obvious potential breakout player, because he has comparable size to Hill and Criner.

That said, watch out for Garic Wharton. To borrow a phrase from legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross, he's as quick as a hiccup. He could be a Tavon Austin type in UA's offense (not implying he will put up anywhere near the absurd numbers Austin accrued in 2012, merely noting the similar styles).

CFBZ: What will make the 2013 season a success in your eyes?

Kyle Kensing: UA is one of the most veteran teams this season, an exact reversal of last year. However, where it lacks experience is as notable. Matt Scott was dynamite last year, the perfect asset to Rodriguez's new run-pass hybrid of the zone-read. One of the players competing for that starting job needs to really take command.

Interesting tidbit on that: the last two seasons UA replaced its previous starting QB were 2009 (Willie Tuitama) and 2012 (Nick Foles). Each time, the regular season win total improved by multiple games. Now, in 2009 Foles didn't originally win out; Scott started the first three games, one of which was an offensively anemic loss to Iowa.

Because the defense is still a major work in progress, this UA team can't afford to drop a game early because of offensive ineffectiveness.

Assuming that happens though, the offense is going to be just fine. The defense should be improved with a ton of experience and more players in the fold. It will hardly emulate the 1985 Chicago Bears, but it won't be as porous as last year's.

The non-conference slate is weak, so UA should be halfway back to bowl eligible by Sept. 14. However, the conference as a whole should be improved. Getting over .500 in league to finish at least 8-4 overall would be a successful season.

Verdict:

So who will be the starting QB for the Wildcats this fall? It's a pretty important question and right now it looks like B.J. Denker has the edge heading into fall practice. But there are other options as Jesse Scroggins (USC transfer), Anu Solomon (incoming freshman), Javelle Allen (red-shirt frosh) and Nick Isham (La Tech transfer) are also battling for playing time. The Wildcats are more than solid at RB as Ka'Deem Carey seems to have worked his way through his off-season issues. At WR, the Cats lost their leading receiver to an ACL inury this spring and their second leading receiver was a senior last season. There will be inexperience at receiver but there is talent. The offensive line returns three starters and 70 total starts.

The Arizona defense did a better job last year at creating turnovers (+11) and did a better job in the red zone but they still struggled giving up the big play and getting after the QB. This defense returns pretty much everybody from last year so we should see improvement based on comprehension of what Jeff Casteel is looking for from his defense and from increased competition from newcomers.

If Arizona doesn't start 3-0 then it will be huge news as they have one of the weakest non-conference schedules in the Nation. In conference they have five road games and four home games but they do get to play all of the teams that are projected near the bottom of the conference (Cal, Colorado and Wazzu). Two road games loom large at the beginning of the conference schedule as they go on the road to face Washington and USC (who will both be looking for revenge). Win those two games and double-digits might not be out of the question if they can find their QB.

Prediction: 8-4

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