Washington (4-2) at Arizona (4-1)
8 p.m.
Arizona Stadium, Tuscon, Arizona
Line: Washington. -6.5
TV: FS1 Radio: KOMO 1000
The Washington Huskies are on the brink of near panic time after their stunning 23-13 loss at Stanford last Saturday. Washington is now 1-2 in conference play and already trail the Oregon Ducks by two games in the loss column.
Washington’s big issue in their two losses to California and Stanford has been the passing game. UW has had a hard time getting their wide receivers open and they have dropped around 10 combined passes in the two losses. Quarterback Jacob Eason completed just 16-36 passes for 206 yards in the loss against Stanford.
”You have to do it in practice,” Petersen said when asked about giving other wide receivers more playing time. Petersen went on to say that he would like to rotate more WR’s in the game and that they are dropping too many passes right now as a team.
On defense, the Huskies are allowing just 18.3 points per game. But UW allowed Stanford to hold the ball for over 39 minutes as the Cardinal racked up 482 total yards of offense.
Washington will be facing a red hot Arizona team that has won four games in-a-row after losing their season opener at Hawaii.
When you think of Arizona football the first player that almost every college football follower will mention is quarterback Khalil Tate. Tate burst on the scene in 2017, becoming the first Pac-12 QB to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. The senior was hampered by an ankle injury last season but has returned healthy this season. It’s obvious that head coach Kevin Sumlin understands the importance of Tate as he hasn’t rushes for over 20 yards in a single game this season. Tate has passed for 1,088 yards with a 9/5 TD/INT ratio. Arizona’s 37.2 points per game is tied for No. 22 in the nation.
On defense, Arizona has been better than in the past. The Wildcats rank just No. 88 in scoring defense in the country. But their 11 takeaways are tied for No. 15 in the country. Arizona has an aggressive secondary that are not afraid to take chances.
Injury Update on running back Richard Newton
Richard Newton was injured in the Stanford game and he will miss some time it appears.
“It’s really a bummer that he’s hurt,” Chris Petersen said about the injury to running back Richard Newton on the Chris Petersen Show.” And hopefully we’re going to get him back here sooner than later. I thought when it happened that could be the end of the season and right now they’re not saying that. So we’re on a rehab program and hopefully we get him back sooner than later.”
Struggles in Arizona
The struggles of Washington playing in the state of Arizona has been well documented. In 2016, the year UW made the CFB Playoff, the Huskies needed overtime to beat a Wildcats team that won just three games that season. Washington was upset at Arizona State in 2017. For whatever reason, UW has struggled in Arizona for a long time now.
Players to Watch: Washington
QB: Jacob Eason
The redshirt junior has been good overall despite two tough games. Eason has 1,449 yards passing, 11 touchdowns, and three interceptions on the season.
RB: Salvon Ahmed
With running back Richard Newton likely our for awhile, it’s time for the Salvon Ahmed show. Ahmed inexplicably only got six carries last week against Stanford. Ahmed has the explosiveness to change the game with one touch.
S: Myles Bryant
The senior safety is having a great senior season. Bryant has 39 tackles and two interceptions. Look for Bryant to be patrolling UW’s secondary Saturday night in Tucson.
Arizona
QB: Khalil Tate
We’ve talked a lot about Khalil Tate but he deserves it. Without Tate who knows where Arizona would be.
RB: J.J. Taylor
The junior running back had just one carry for four yards last week in Arizona’s 35-30 win at Colorado. Taylor has been injured with an ankle injury. How much Taylor plays Saturday is still to be determined. The 5-foot-6 speedster rushed for 1,434 yards and six touchdowns in 2018.
LB: Tony Fields
The former freshman All-American is off to another good season. Tony Fields, now a junior, has 39 tackles and one interception on the season.
Prediction
Although Khalil Tate hasn’t been much of a runner this season, doesn’t mean he won’t explode at any given game. The Huskies must keep Tate in the pocket and force him into tough passing situations. On offense, UW needs to rely on their running game to set up the pass. The Wildcats defense feeds of turnovers – so UW must protect the ball. This is gut check time for the Huskies and I expect them to respond well. Since 2016, Coach Petersen is 6-0 following a loss.
Washington 35 Arizona 24
