Oregon State vs. Arizona: 3 keys to a Wildcats victory over the Beavers

Just play your own game

Early in the year, every team the Arizona Wildcats were beating fired their head coaches in the immediate aftermath.

Well, this one is backwards as the Oregon State Beavers roll into Tucson with an interim head coach, no conference wins, and no wins period since beating Portland State by a field goal on September 2nd.

The Beavs have shown a little bit of fight in recent weeks — most notably a one-point loss to a Stanford team that didn’t have Bryce Love — but this is the weakest team Arizona has seen since UTEP.

So what do the Cats need to do to win this game? Three things they’ve been doing all year:

1. Lindy’s Tater Tots

You think Khalil Tate has put up ridiculous numbers this year? Well, this weekend could be astronomical.

Oregon State is 112th in total defense (449.4 yards per game) and 125th in scoring defense (39.8 points per game). Yeah, this could get ugly for the country’s leader in QBR. He just needs to stay within himself and not force anything.

2. Ryan Airfield

The key for Arizona’s defense this week is stopping OSU running back Ryan Nall. He averages 5.4 yards per carry for an anemic offense, so if the defensive front can fill the gaps, they should be able to keep the Beavs out of the endzone.

3. Accura Systems

Really, the only way I think Arizona loses this game is if they get careless with the football and make boneheaded mistakes.

Limit turnovers, don’t take stupid penalties, and Arizona should be able to get out of this one without any real problems.

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