Arizona Wildcats 2011 Preview

2010 Season Breakdown

Final record (overall, conference): 7-6, 4-5
Bowl game: Alamo Bowl (L, 36-10 vs. Oklahoma State)
Final ranking (AP, Coaches’): NR, NR
Conference finish: T-5^th Pac-10
Offensive rank: 24^th
Defensive rank: 33^rd

2010 Individual Statistics Leaders

Rushing: Keola Antolin, 668 yards, 7 TD
Passing: Nick Foles, 3,191 yards, 20 TD, 10 INT
Receiving: Juron Criner, 1,233 yards, 11 TD
Tackles: Paul Vassallo, 102 tackles
Sacks: Ricky Elmore, 11 sacks
Interceptions: Shaquille Richardson, Adam Hall and Joe Perkins, 2 INT each

2011 Schedule (all games Saturday unless noted)
*denotes conference game

September 3 vs. Northern Arizona
September 8 (Thurs) @ Oklahoma State [8:00 PM ET, ESPN]
September 17 vs. Stanford* [9:45 PM ET, ESPN]
September 24 vs. Oregon* [9:15 PM ET, ESPN]
October 1 @ USC*
October 8 @ Oregon State*
October 20 (Thurs) vs. UCLA* [9:00 PM ET, ESPN]
October 29 @ Washington*
November 5 vs. Utah*
November 12 @ Colorado*
November 19 @ Arizona State*
November 26 vs. Louisiana

Key Matchups

October 8 @ Oregon State: With a brutal first-half schedule, Arizona cannot afford any slip-ups against teams they’re capable of beating. The Beavers came away with the win in Tucson last year. In Corvallis this time, Arizona needs to make sure they walk away victorious after their hellish four-game stretch against Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon and USC.

November 5 vs. Utah: Don’t underestimate Utah. Arizona State is garnering most of the Pac-12 South talk this year, and USC is expected to finish atop the standings even if they cannot play in the conference title game, but Utah could sneak up on a few people this year. The Wildcats will be on a mission to collect wins in the second half after their brutal first half.

November 19 @ Arizona State: Anything can happen in the Territorial Cup. The Sun Devils won it last season, capping a four-game losing streak to close the regular season for Arizona. This won’t be the final game of the season for either side, but it’ll hold a lot of importance. ASU is hoping to earn a shot at the Pac-12 title, while Arizona—who could be in the mix for the South title, too, if things fall their way—will probably be looking for a marquee win at the end of the season.

Key Departed Players

Colin Baxter, C; Brooks Reed, DE; Ricky Elmore, DE

Key Returning Players

Nick Foles, QB; Keola Antolin, RB; Juron Criner, WR; Justin Washington, DT; Paul Vassallo, LB; Trevin Wade, CB; Robert Golden, S

Offensive Overview

Nick Foles is one of the Pac-12′s best passers even if he’s overshadowed in the national spotlight by Andrew Luck, Darron Thomas and Matt Barkley. He returns for his third year as the starter after taking over in 2009 and will garner attention from NFL scouts next year. Matt Scott is a capable backup with starting experience, but he’ll redshirt the 2011 season. Bryson Beirne was set to take over the backup spot, but he’s one of many Wildcats to get hurt in the preseason, leaving true freshman Daxx Garman as the current second-teamer. Meanwhile, the receivers corps is stocked with talent. Juron Criner is a dynamic playmaker, and Dan Buckner, a Texas transfer who sat out last season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules, will be a big part of the passing game. Rounding out a receivers corps that should help Arizona’s air raid attack flourish is David Douglas, David Roberts and Terrence Miller, each of whom caught at least 29 passes for over 300 yards a year ago. The scary part is the depth goes even deeper.

Keola Antolin will be the featured back this year, a role he’s not yet played, after leading the Wildcats ground attack in 2010 with 668 yards and seven scores. His backup, Greg Nwoko, went down with an ACL injury in the spring and could miss the season. Daniel Jenkins and Kylan Butler, who share similar builds and running styles to Antolin, will be the backups in Nwoko’s place. Meanwhile, the offensive line must replace all five starters, putting a damper on any preseason hype the Arizona offense may have otherwise received. Center Kyle Quinn will line up in the middle, while tackles Mickey Baucus and Fabbians Ebbele are expected to grow into a formidable duo on the edges.

Defensive Overview

Up front for the Wildcats, Justin Washington returns to the interior after a very good campaign in which he collected 11.5 tackles for loss and six sacks to go along with 46 total tackles. Sione Tuihalamaka will join Washington on the interior, but the tackle position loses Willie Mobley who played in 10 games last season and tore his ACL playing basketball in the offseason. Taking over for Brooks Reed and Ricky Elmore at the end spots is going to be seniors C.J. Parish and Mohammed Usman. Parish missed most of 2010 with a concussion, while Usman saw action in the final three games. Experience on the edges is obviously pretty light.

JUCO transfer Paul Vassallo is the star of the second level after a very good debut last year in which he was named All-Pac-10 honorable mention. He’ll get the nod on the weakside, while Derek Earls, another JUCO transfer in 2010, will get the start once again in the middle after starting all but one game last year. Jake Fischer was expected to get the start on the strongside, but tore his ACL in the spring game and is expected to miss a good portion of the 2011 season. At cornerback, Trevin Wade will look to rebound after a so-so effort in 2010, while Shaquille Richardson will fight for time as well. Jonathan McKnight was projected as a starter at one corner spot, but tore his ACL in fall camp and is expected to miss the season. Robert Golden will get the nod at free safety, moving over from corner; and Marquis Flowers and Josh Robbins will battle for time at the last level of defense with Adam Hall representing another ACL casualty suffered by the Wildcats this year. Hall could be back at some point this year, however.

Beat Writer’s Take

I’ve asked writers and alumni from around the country to give their take on the local team heading into the 2011 season. Providing his take on the Wildcats is Kevin Zimmerman of AZDesertSwarm.com. Follow them on Twitter @azdesertswarm.

“The Arizona Wildcats have as deep of a receiving core as any team in the nation, but that might not matter in the scheme of things. For one, head coach Mike Stoops’ squad only has a combined one previous start on his entire offensive line. In addition, the Wildcats begin the season with a daunting slate of Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon and USC after the opening game against Northern Arizona.

“On the bright side, Arizona has senior quarterback Nick Foles tossing bombs to potential All-American Juron Criner and crew, not to mention an aggressive Stoops-coached defense. Though the Wildcats lost starting linebacker Jake Fischer, starting cornerback Jonathan McKnight and starting safety Adam Hall to ACL injuries in the offseason, the defense is still talented enough to contain the Pac-12′s best offenses — though, they’ll have to score to have a shot at beating the Stanfords an Oregons.

“In the end, the Wildcats have the athletes to compete across the board, but look for them to struggle with the frontloaded schedule, finish with better results, and end the season with a 6-6 or 7-5 record.”

Top Draft Prospects

Nick Foles, QB; Juron Criner, WR; Trevin Wade, CB; Robert Golden, CB/S

Season Prediction

4^th Pac-12 South

Arizona has started strong in each of the last two seasons, controlling their own destiny so to speak at one point or another in the second half of the year, only to flounder down the stretch. With Oklahoma State (away), Stanford (home), Oregon (home) and USC (away) all on the first half of this year’s schedule, though, we could see quite the opposite. Arizona may be in bad shape after the first part of the season and will have to rebound with tough matchups against Utah (home) and Arizona State (away) still left on the docket. Of course, grabbing one of the four early-season matchups could be a big deal and could set the ‘Cats on a path to an eight-win season if they manage a quality win over either the Utes or Sun Devils in the second half. Expect a bowl game for Arizona, but it isn’t a given with questions on both sides of the line of scrimmage and with such a tough schedule.

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PAC 12 South

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