UCLA Football: Should The Arizona Wildcats Scare Bruins Fans?
By Alec Garcia
Oct. 27, 2012; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Matt Scott (10) throws during the second half against the USC Trojans at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE
The Arizona Wildcats should not scare many Bruin fans, but their offense should.
This game has all the potential to be a classic west coast shootout, the over/under is set at 71 but do not be surprised if this game surpasses that mark.
UCLA’s defense will have their hands full, Arizona comes into the game ranked #4 in total offense and specifically #5 in passing in the country.
Matt Scott is a nightmare for any defense, and the combination of him and 6’3 WR Austin Hill present many problems for UCLA. Austin Hill comes into the game with close to 1,000 yards on the season and 7 touchdowns. Last week versus USC he racked up 259 yards on 10 receptions, and you should expect another big performance this week.
It’s no secret to Bruin fans, our secondary is very weak so the key to this game will be putting pressure on Matt Scott. However, that will not be an easy task because Arizona’s O-line is much better than ASU’s and UCLA had trouble putting pressure on Taylor Kelly.
Another x-factor will be the scrambling ability of Matt Scott, he definitely can get out and run but the question is will he? Controversy surrounded the Arizona football program this week after Matt Scott re-entered the game against USC after what seemed to be a concussion. It will be interesting to see how that affects him and if he’ll be more cautious when taking off to run.
With that being said, it should be noted Arizona is nowhere near a complete team. Their defense is just not very good, in fact it’s very bad.
They give up over 31 ppg, allowing about 167 ypg on the ground and 348 ypg through the air. Their defense has allowed over 600 yards in 4 games this year.
Arizona ranks #93 in the country in points against and UCLA ranks #54 allowing 25.1 ppg.
UCLA’s defense is not nearly as statistically bad as Arizona’s but you should still expect very big days from both offenses.
The key to this game will be defensive stops, UCLA will need somebody to make a big play whether it be an interception or forced fumble something needs to happen.
Both teams are coming off big wins and the meaning of this game should not be downplayed one bit, this game is for first place in the PAC-12 South and the winner will control it’s own destiny the rest of the way.