Arizona vs. Colorado: No. 21 Wildcats look to wake up offense against Buffaloes

The Arizona Wildcats aren’t reeling, but the last few weeks have not been kind to the team from Tucson. After a promising 5-0 start that saw UA jump into the top-10 of the AP Poll, the Wildcats have dropped two of their last three, including a 17-7 defeat to the UCLA Bruins on Saturday.

Things may get a bit easier this Saturday, when the No. 21 Wildcats (6-2, 3-2 Pac-12) host the Colorado Buffaloes (2-7, 0-6), only Arizona’s second game against a team with a losing record in 2014.

Although matching up against a team with no wins in the conference may seem enticing, Arizona will still have to contain a high-flying Colorado offense that is averaging 35 points per game over its last five contests.

“They are moving the football as well as anyone in the conference and they are playing really hard,” said Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez. “They have the right attitude, and the next step for them is to win some of those close games. Our guys have a lot of respect for them.”

To contain Colorado’s offense, the Wildcats may want to start with wide receiver Nelson Spruce. The junior is currently ranked first in the Pac-12 with 90 receptions, first with 11 receiving touchdowns and second with 1,002 receiving yards.

“They move him around a lot. He’s a talented guy, and it takes a talented guy to be able to play both inside and outside positions,” Rodriguez said. “I think one of his strengths is that he has a great football mind. You can tell that he has a great football mind and can read coverages well.”

But the key to slowing down Colorado may be to simply out-gun the Buffaloes.

The Wildcats won the last two meetings against Colorado, averaging 50 points and 622 yards of total offense in the games. This was largely due to a running game that went over 400 rushing yards in both matchups.

In order to repeat those standout numbers, RichRod’s team will need to improve an offense that looked anemic in their loss to the Bruins. Coming into the game, the Wildcats had racked up over 400 yards of total offense in every game this season, but were held to just 255 total yards, averaging 3.2 yards per play.

“There were balls that we dropped that our guys haven’t dropped all year and we missed a couple protections that we don’t usually miss,” said Rodriguez. “Offensively, when things weren’t going well, instead of letting the game dome to us, we pressed and sometimes when you are a strong competitor, like our guys are, that happens.”

“Watching film, we knew that we weren’t focused and that’s where the drops came from,” said sophomore wide receiver Samajie Grant. “There is no excuse for dropping the ball, and we have to work on that this week.”

Saturday may offer a prime opportunity to right the ship on offense, facing a Colorado defense that is allowing 489.8 yards per game in conference matchups, the second-worst total in the Pac-12. Arizona may want to rely on the running game to get it done this week, with the Buffaloes surrendering a conference-worst 212.5 rushing yards per game and 6.2 yards per carry.

However, Arizona’s offense is not the only unit that needs a fresh start this week, after the team struggled on field goals against the Bruins.

Arizona kicker Casey Skowron missed both of his field goal attempts in the game — one of which was blocked — making the kicker 14 of 21 on field goals in 2014, tying him for 10th among 12 kickers in the conference.

“It concerns me that we had a kick blocked,” said Rodriguez. “We did a very poor job of protecting on that one. We missed another one too, so that part of the kicking game wasn’t good.”

Despite the offensive and field goal kicking slip ups in the loss, there is continued bright spot in the form of Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright.

The sophomore recorded 19 tackles, three sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss in the game, good enough to earn him Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in a row, and will be a major cog in stopping Colorado’s offense.

“The biggest thing that sticks out with him is that he’s always giving 110 percent no matter where he is on the field,” said Arizona defensive lineman Reggie Gilbert about the 6-foot-1, 246 pound linebacker. “You know he’s going to come out on fire no matter what spot he’s on.”

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