After a tough loss to Oregon, Arizona (3-3, 1-2 Pac-12) will head to Seattle where it will face Washington (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12), who is coming off an embarrassing loss to ASU.

• Jacob Manu moves to the top of the depth chart

After a strong camp and strong performances off the bench in the first six games, freshman linebacker Jacob Manu is now listed ahead of Kolbe Cage as the WILL linebacker.

A high three-star prospect according to Rivals, Manu's 13 total tackles in six games played and his strong practices showed the team that the young prospect is ready to have a more expanded role.

"Making plays at practice," defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen said. "He was showing up on the scout team, making plays and every time I watch practice he's all over the place. That's the difference and he had a knack for the football."

With his best games coming against NDSU and Cal in back-to-back weeks, Manu has seen more field time over the course of the season and became a regular part of the linebacker rotation.

Manu's new role opens the door for yet another true freshman to make a name for themselves in the Arizona program.

• Will Jayden de Laura get better pass protection?

Following a record-setting offensive week against Colorado, Arizona's offense came back down to earth against Oregon with quarterback Jayden de Laura only throwing for 240 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Facing a defense orchestrated by a reigning national champion coach understandably brought on some issues for the Wildcats who's offensive line failed to give de Laura adequate protection causing a lot of missed and rushed throws.

"If there's any leakage obviously we got to always sure that up and make sure that we can give the best look we can to the quarterback," offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll said. "Even though there was a tough situation, Jayden was still competing like crazy we didn't feel like there was any fall off there was just a couple things we missed on as a group that looked great in practice, we had a lot of things that we thought we had pretty drilled in on scheme wise that we didn't execute the way we would have liked to."

Having adequate blocking is essential in moving the ball and for a team that is known for its offense, it is almost imperative.

As the second half of the season kicks off, the offensive line play remains something to look out for as the Wildcats continue in conference play.

• Simplified defense

Despite already besting its takeaway total from last year, the Arizona defense is still showing signs of growing pains.

Having given up 1,373 yards rushing and 17 rushing touchdowns as a unit so far this year, the Wildcats will look to adjust the defense accordingly in order to fit the vision that Nansen has for his group.

"The verbiage, we're gonna try and simple things down," Nansen said. "A lot of moving parts during the game when everybody shifts it's totally different. Just trying to make sure they understand throughout the week."

With a more zone defense than run in years past and some new faces learning new roles, the defensive unit has gone through a lot of changes since the end of 2021.

A promising core should prove to be vital to the success of the Wildcats rebuild down the line.