Arizona Football: How The Wildcats Can Clip The Hawkeyes Wings and Pull An Upset

Last year the Arizona Wildcats traveled to Kinnick Stadium only to come up short against the Iowa Hawkeyes before they headed back to the West Coast to begin Pac-10 play.

This year the #9 Hawkeyes fly south to take on the #24 Wildcats at Arizona Stadium, drawing the same buzz around Tucson as the Oregon game did in 2009.

For the Wildcats to avoid a loss like last year to the Hawkeyes there is one player they will have to focus on, sophomore running back Adam Robinson.

Last year Robinson kept the Arizona defense on their heels, rushing for 101 yards and scoring twice.  Like many Big Ten schools, they look to the running game first which is exactly what Arizona’s defense must do also.

And that all starts with the defensive line of Arizona, led by defensive ends Ricky Elmore and Brooks Reed. 

Accompanied by defensive tackles, redshirt freshman Sione Tuihalamaka and redshirt senior Lolomana Mikaele, Arizona’s front four is going to have to get their hands on the big linemen from Iowa in order to allow the linebackers to make plays on Robinson.  The more the offensive linemen make it to the second level for the Hawkeyes, the more space Robinson will have to run, and the more pressure that will be put on the Wildcat’s inexperienced linebackers.

With Marvin McNutt and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos starting at receiver for the Hawkeyes, the Wildcats should be packing the line and allowing Trevin Wade and the rest of the secondary to control the Iowa pass catchers.

The Wildcats need to focus on taking away the running game from the Hawkeyes and forcing Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi to throw, something he has not done a whole lot of this season.

If this game turns into a shootout, Arizona will have the upper hand.

Arizona quarterback Nick “Sunshine” Foles and the Wildcat receiving core are used to shootouts against talented teams, such as games against Oregon State, Stanford, and Oregon last year.

Foles, like in many other games this season, will be the deciding factor on offense for Arizona.

Last year, Foles came in against Iowa during the 4^th quarter in relief for Matt Scott, where he only threw 11 times and was able to lead the Wildcats to a touchdown.  On Saturday, the Hawkeyes are going to get Foles for the entire game instead of just one quarter.

This will be the first true test for the Wildcat’s offense this season, and if tackle Adam Grant and the rest of the offensive line can give Foles enough time to throw, he will surely find Juron Criner and the other Wildcat receivers.

Be prepared to see rushes by Nic Grigsby and Greg Nwoko, a great cruiser and bruiser combo for Arizona in the backfield.  But if the game comes down to the final minutes, it will have to be Foles that shines.

If the Wildcats can continue their defensive dominance and if the offense can give Foles enough time to find the open receivers, they will have a great chance at pulling off the biggest non-conference game at Arizona Stadium in recent memory.

*AP Top 25 Poll