Coming off of its first home win of the season, Arizona (2-1) travel to Berkeley where they will begin Pac-12 play on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against Cal (2-1). We take a look inside the matchup and the things to know before game day and the 2:30 p.m. MST kickoff at Memorial Stadium.
Three Things to Watch
1. Center Josh Baker's consistency
The last couple games for the Wildcats have been marred by inconsistent offensive line play and there have even been instances of errant snaps by center Josh Baker that have affected the productivity of the offense.
With two snaps that got away from quarterback Jayden de Laura in the Mississippi State game and a bad snap against NDSU, Baker's talent and work ethic has shown that he is capable of turning it around and providing better performances.
"We can't do that anymore," offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll said. "Josh is all over it and he's very mindful of it and I think it's just a lack of concentration on that instance right there. But yeah we just can't do that anymore."
Every play starts with the center and with cleaned up snaps, Arizona's offense can really make that leap forward.
2. How much more involved will Treydan Stukes be on defense?
Throughout training camp the Wildcats were without cornerback Treydan Stukes who was dealing with a lower body injury and did not suit up for a majority of the practices.
Playing in all 12 games last season, Stukes led all Wildcats with seven pass breakups and missed the first game of this season as he was recovering from injury. Playing 17 snaps in his return against Mississippi State and 34 snaps against NDSU, Stukes' injury appears to be behind him.
"I'm feeling a lot better," Stukes said. "Really getting there. I've been in the training room everyday. Just trying to get back to 100. I'd say I'm pretty close now."
If Stukes stays healthy the rest of the season and wedges his way back into the starting rotation full time, Arizona will potentially have a deep defensive backs room.
