The schedule makers were unforgiving to Arizona when the Pac-12 schedule was being revised this fall. Instead of opening up against a team that is not expected to do much this season the Wildcats were placed in games against some of the top teams in the conference to open the seven-game regular season. UA's matchup with Utah was canceled but the Wildcats faced No. 20 USC in the season opener Saturday and now the team will head up to Seattle for its first road game of the year.
Eventually, UA's schedule will balance out but the Wildcats certainly have a difficult task on their hand going against a team that they have not beat since 2014. Despite all that is seemingly working against UA, Washington head coach Jimmy Lake is not taking the Wildcats lightly after they were able to hold a lead over the Trojans with under two minutes to play Saturday.
Lake was particularly impressed with UA's offensive playmakers watching film from the team's 34-30 loss to the Trojans.
“We were able to watch the game in the hotel and made a bunch of notes during that time, so we could have our game plan more prepared now, their quarterback can throw it," Lake said of UA's Grant Gunnell while speaking with reporters this week. "They have a spread attack, a ton of tempo. It’s the same scheme that we faced last year with their offense, but now with a quarterback that is very accurate and he can still run with his feet and he can move the chains."
While Gunnell was impressive in his first start of the season with three touchdown passes, senior running back Gary Brightwell certainly turned some heads in his first game as UA's full-time starter after a couple years behind JJ Taylor on the depth chart. Brightwell rushed for over 100 yards and was used both as a runner and receiver out of the backfield against the Trojans.
There has been plenty of buzz about Brightwell's development and Lake certainly isn't afraid to acknowledge his talent.
“This guy’s good," the Huskies' head coach said. "This guy’s a good football player, and what really makes him dangerous is the style of offense. Last week they were kinda similar to us, in that Oregon State is going to line up and go, ‘Here you go. We’re packed in here and we’re going to run the football.’ And we’ve got everybody packed in there as well. Well, this team that we’re playing this week is going to be all spread out and you’re gonna have to defend all these wide receivers, these fast guys, out on the perimeter.
"Then when you stretch out and put everybody out there they’re going to hand this ball off to this big running back to try to slice through your front that’s probably going to be reduced by a couple numbers. So that’s the biggest difference in terms of scheme-wise what we’re going to see this week. But he is an excellent runner. He ran really good this last Saturday. We’ve got another really good player on our hands that we have to stop, and we've gotta do better than we did last week. Hopefully we make that growth and improvement in week two.”
The big mystery Arizona's side heading into last Saturday's game against USC was its defense. Paul Rhoads is in his first season as defensive coordinator for the Wildcats and he is leading an entirely new staff with several new pieces all over the field. UA looked improved on that side of the ball and simply wore down late as the team's depth issues came into play.
Still, Lake is not taking the UA defense lightly heading into Saturday's matchup.
"Defensively, they’re going to be new," he said. "They’ve got some new guys, new scheme. This is a team that took USC all the way to the brink and almost had the game won if it wasn’t for the heroics of the USC offense in the last 30 seconds of the game. So we’re gonna be facing a very talented opponent, a very motivated opponent, and we’re going to have to play good football and play better football than we did last Saturday to make sure we get the victory.”
Kickoff for Saturday's game between UA and the Huskies is set for 6 p.m. MST at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
****
> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona fans as the Wildcats continue Building The Tradition
> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel
> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattGOAZCATS)
> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)
> LIKE us on Facebook
> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)
