The presumption-shattering Big 12 has produced plenty of surprises through the first month of conference play, from Brigham Young’s magical run to Arizona’s State’s proven competence to Colorado’s title pursuit.
There have been an equivalent number of disappointments. Arizona is one of them — perhaps even No. 1 among them given that, unlike Utah, the Wildcats’ starting quarterback has remained healthy throughout.
And yet, a team ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press preseason poll is under .500 after seven games.
A team that beat Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl last year is in danger of not qualifying for the postseason.
A team possessing one of the best quarterback-receiver tandems in the country is struggling to move the ball consistently through the air.
The worst of the Wildcats was on display Saturday in their third consecutive loss, a 34-7 implosion against Colorado seen by 50,724 in person and millions more on the Fox broadcast.
The rock-bottom performance left fans angry, players frustrated and first-year coach Brent Brennan in the eye of the storm.
“We are extremely disappointed, and we have a lot of work to do,” Brennan said in his postgame news conference. “Where we’re at right now is 100 percent my fault. I have to get to work fixing it.”
Brennan has time to alter the trajectory and avoid a lost season, but the clock is ticking at 1.5x speed and the issues are numerous.
The defense was riddled with injuries before losing star linebacker Jacob Manu for the season on Saturday afternoon, but the unit has generally performed well enough for the Wildcats (3-4, 1-3) to be on the high side of .500.
The primary problem — the mounting, perplexing, season-derailing problem — is Arizona’s offense.
It’s offensive, and it shouldn’t be.
The Wildcats are struggling to convert third downs, struggling to score touchdowns in the Red Zone, struggling to give quarterback Noah Fifita time in the pocket and, most of all, struggling to maximize the playmaking skills of Tetairoa McMillan, one of the top receivers in the country.
And they shouldn’t be.
The breakdown starts with Fifita — not because of Fifita, but with Fifita.
Short on height but long on guts, mobility and instincts, Fifita replaced injured starter Jayden de Laura in the middle of last season and fueled Arizona’s transformation into a wrecking ball that beat five ranked teams, won seven consecutive games and earned coach Jedd Fisch a job offer from Washington.
Fifita could have entered the transfer portal but opted to return, along with pals McMillan and Manu, to lead the Wildcats to the next level — to a Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff berth.
New conference? No problem.
New coaching staff? Welcome aboard.
New playbook? Bring it on.
New vibe? Wait, what?
As the Wildcats flopped and flailed Saturday afternoon, Fox analyst Brock Huard, a former Washington (and NFL) quarterback, offered the following critique of Fifita:
“Just trying too hard, and it shows up everywhere on the tape. The nine interceptions, the fumble a week ago — and he knew it. He took total responsibility. It’s a little different when you’re the one chasing, when you’re the backup that got thrown in there with a veteran group and just excels versus, ‘Hey man, I’ve got to carry all the weight.’ He just has to calm down, simplify and play loose.”
The Wildcats are proof that even when the roster core returns, the dynamics are different. Roles evolve. Expectations soar. Mindsets change.
Fifita wasn’t the only reason Arizona won seven in a row last year and is not solely responsible for the three-game losing streak this season.
But he’s the manifestation of it all — the spectacular rise last fall, the confounding regression this fall and whatever comes next for the program.
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The extent to which Fifita’s struggles are entirely internal — “‘Hey man, I’ve got to carry all the weight’” — only he can answer. And even he might not know. The thing about 21-year-olds is they’re 21-year-olds.
But Brennan, offensive coordinator Dino Babers, passing game coordinator Matt Adkins, quarterbacks coach Lyle Moevao and any other cooks in the kitchen can hardly be absolved of responsibility.
To this point, they have done a poor job crafting a playbook to maximize Arizona’s personnel and countering the tactics used by opposing defenses.
Above all, it appears they have failed to adequately meet Fifita’s needs, to reach into his emotional space, to offer support, solutions and guidance.
Huard’s critique wasn’t guesswork. It was rooted in his pre-game conversations with Fifita and the coaches, his breakdown of the game film and his ability to see the situation through a quarterback’s eyes.
Now, after the all-systems-failure against Colorado, it’s on Brennan and his staff to create a pathway for Fifita and Wildcats to emerge from their dark place before it’s too late to salvage the season.
Brennan is fortunate in one regard: There are six teams with winning records in Big 12 play, and none of them are on Arizona’s stretch-run schedule.
West Virginia, UCF, Houston, TCU, Arizona State — each game is winnable if the Wildcats play with a reasonable level of competence.
Get the quarterback right, and everything will fall in place.
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