Wildcats fans around the country are looking at the downfall of one of the better defensive units of last year’s college football season before their eyes. Yes they held Oregon State to only 7 points, but the fact is that performance should not be a sign of progress. Colorado has struggled and remain without a win in the conference, but the Buffaloes should not be listed as a W by any stretch of the imagination.
Colorado Looking For Home Cooking
Last week Colorado went on the road to challenge an ASU team that was starting to finally gather themselves and play to the level many expected them to play at from the start of the season. On the road in the Pac-12 Colorado has struggled to say the least with their 12 straight road losses. At home however they have taken in slightly slightly more favorable moments and even gotten a few wins because of the home field advantage. Arizona’s last trip on the road in conference did not go particularly well to say the least. The romping 55 to 17 defeat the team took in Stanford was a bitter pill to swallow, especially after the national embarrassment against UCLA the following week. However, this Colorado team is no Stanford. To say that would be ludicrous. Yet you cannot shake off the fact that Colorado’s home field advantage is one of the more interesting and difficult ones to compete against in the Pac-12
Rolling Boulder Gathers No Moss
The Buffaloes gathered early season success on the performance of their running backs. Phillip Lindsay and Christian Powell did a majority of the heavy lifting early as the two both have 100 yard games under their belt in two of the three Colorado wins this season. Since those games though the two have struggled to generate anything on the ground, though it hasn’t been entirely their fault. The attempts per game for the Buffaloes has dipped dramatically since their start to the Pac-12 season mostly because the squad has been forced to play behind in a majority of their games. If Colorado is going to get off their two game losing streak this week they will need to strike first and strike quickly so they can work with a lead and push the suspect Arizona defense and start playing the clock management game. If the home team gets anywhere between a ten to thirteen point lead, watch the game clock start clicking a lot faster than it did prior.
Nick Wilson’s Status A Concern
As if the injury bug wasn’t already spreading in the Arizona locker room it seems like it got a lot worse suddenly this week. After suffering a foot injury against Oregon State last week, running back Nick Wilson is listed as questionable for the team. The fifth leading rusher for the Pac-12 and one of the stars of the college football season this year has been a highlight for the Wildcats team in a year that has been comparable to a tennis match with how back and forth it has been to watch. If Wilson cannot step in then it will be Jared Baker going in to fill the void. The last thing that Arizona can have is for their solid running game to suddenly be brought down by injury similar to what happened to their passing game when Anu Solomon went down with injury after the UCLA game. If the Wildcats need to lean on their passing game to dominate the game it could play into the Buffaloes hands as there are still some moments where Solomon can sail a ball over his receivers hands in the run-pass option offense under coach Rich Rodriguez. If Wilson isn’t playing, be concerned. If he is and he isn’t 100%, be cautious.
The game will kick off in Boulder, Colorado October 17th at 6:00 PM on FS1.