Previewing New Mexico’s Opponents: Arizona Wildcats

The Lobos take on their second non-conference opponent from a BCS conference in the Arizona Wildcats.

Arizona has yet to take the next leap to excellence with Mike Stoops as head coach.  In his four years at the helm, the Wildcats have a record of 17-29, and his best record was 6-6.  This has to be the make or break year for Stoops to see if he can turn Arizona into at least a bowl team in Tucson.

This will be the the last non-conference game, and the toughest, for Arizona.  They play two home games against Toledo and Idaho before making the trip to New Mexico.  The Wildcats should be 2-0 and have their team rolling with confidence.

Offense

The star on the offense is Willie Tuitama, who is a senior and has lived up to most of his promise.  However, the wins have yet to come his way.  Last year Tuitama had 3,683 yards passing, 28 touchdowns, and 12 picks.  Tuitama is also on the Davey O’Brien watch list.

If Arizona finishes in the upper tier of the conference standings, look for Tuitama to challenge for Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors.  He also needs to stay injury-free—last year was his first such season.

The Wildcats are returning 10 offensive starters, so their offense should improve and be able to score points on most teams in the Pac-10.

To do that, the running game must improve, because last season Arizona rushed for just 961 yards as a team.  That total not only ranked last in the Pac-10 by more than 400 yards, six different individual players rushed for more yards—including a quarterback, Washington’s Jake Locker.

Sophomore Nic Grigsby should be the main back.  Last year he rushed for 704 yards and two scores and also caught 35 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns.

The running game is key to making this spread option work effectively.  If they can improve this at any rate, then Arizona should be able to get to a bowl game this year.

Their receiving corps should be one of the best in the country, and that should make their passing game even more potent than last year's.

They return four wide receivers that caught at least 20 passes last season, including All-Pac-10 candidate Mike Thomas.  The senior hauled in 83 passes for 1,038 yards and 11 scores in 2007, so the Lobos better be aware of the passing game.

Obviously this is their strength, but unless the running game gets some teeth, the Wildcats will be average at best.

Defense

The defense was supposed to be the star of the team, but between 2006 and 2007, the defense went south in a hurry and gave up 26.8 points per game, yet somehow only gave up 20 to USC.

The defense only brings back three starters, but two of those are safeties, Cam Nelson and Nate Ness, who should be the strength of the defense.

The front seven was terrible last year, even though there were three players drafted into the NFL.  The whole front will be a work in progress, and Stoops, who is considered a great defensive mind, should be able to get this unit in shape.

The defensive ends do have experience with players who played significant time with Jonathan Turner and sophomore Ricky Elmore, who both played in all twelve games.

The New Mexico offense will be the toughest Arizona sees in the young season and could cause trouble for Arizona.

Early Prediction

I hate to be a homer for the league, but the facts are the proof, with New Mexico's strength in running back Rodney Ferguson going against the weakness of Arizona in their front seven.

Last year New Mexico won 29-27 on the road, and consider that New Mexico will be playing their third straight home game against tough competition by playing TCU and Texas A&M first.  Look for New Mexico to pull this out at home in a similar game to last year.