After two consecutive losses to Washington based teams in the Cougars and Huskies the Arizona Wildcats must find a way to beat a stellar USC team on the road just to make the fans and alumni believe in the chance of another bowl season. However there have been murmurs of coach Rich Rodriguez already flirting with outside openings in the college football world and it remains to be seen just how dedicated the former Michigan coach is to staying put in the desert. As of now, the USC game could further push the narrative of where Rodriguez goes when the final whistle on the 2015 season blows dead.
These Offenses Can Score
If anybody is a serious gambler, the idea of taking the under on the USC and Arizona game is laughable. The Wildcats and Trojans rank second and third in the Pac-12 in scoring respectively. Both average 37 points a game. The problem is that this benefits the Trojans far more than the Wildcats as recently Arizona has not shown their previous scoring mentality. Against Washington State the Cats managed 42 points but went up against the currently 9th ranked scoring defense in the Pac-12 so that game was destined to be a shootout. Against the stalwart defense of Washington however, which ranks first in the conference, the Cats managed just three points throughout the contest. USC’s defensive unit is just three notches down the totem pole from the Huskies and the amount of pure athleticism on that side of the ball for the Trojans could spell doom for the run first mentality of the Arizona offense. If this game is going to be a shoot out, the offensive line is going to have to beat the USC defensive front to the push and get their runners up the field so they can tire out the back half of that squad to open passing lanes later on in the game.
Getting After Kessler
Cody Kessler may have gotten into the program at the wrong time with all the sanctions that USC found themselves in, but he has shown to be a great talent at the quarterback position. It further shows that perhaps USC, which was known for a long time as “Running Back U”, may now be turning into “Quarterback U”. Kessler has thrown for over 2,000 yards already this season with a stellar 18 touchdowns to only five interceptions. The one thing that has been an issue for USC’s signal caller is the amount of times he has been put on his back. Kessler has been sacked this season 21 times through eight games this year. The fact is that the USC offensive line still has difficulty picking up blitzes and giving their quarterback time to progress through the routes on any given play. It also doesn’t help Kessler that it is easy to describe him as a granite statue in the pocket as he is not a gifted scrambler at this point in his development. As a senior, it also appears that it isn’t going to get any better. If the Arizona defense is going to prevent Kessler from beating them like the last few quarterbacks have so far they will have to send a few extra blitzers and get Kessler on the ground before the ball comes out.
Another Injury Filled Contest
If anyone was expecting Nick Wilson to be back in this game, they will be sorely disappointed. The running back looks to miss another week since his injury to Washington State and he will not be the only one missing for the Cats on offense. The interior of the offensive line will see new faces as well as both Jacob Alsadek and Freddie Tagaloa will be sitting the game out with injuries. This could prove to be a serious problem for the Wildcats as it will leave them without proven players in the focus point of their line and could end up leaving no holes for the other running backs and quarterback Jerrard Randall to run through as it is also uncertain if Anu Solomon will be taking back the majority of the snap counts. On defense Derick Turituri is out as is Scooby Wright who continues to be listed as indefinitely out with no other news coming out on the progress of his injury. With these issues of depth and health this game could turn out to be a very ugly contest for Arizona to sit through.
The game will start at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this Saturday at 8:30 PM on ESPN.