Roundtable: What will Arizona’s Pac-12 record be?

Will the Cats turn it around or will this season dive deeper into the abyss?

Three games into the season and it’s safe to say the Arizona Wildcats have not lived up to expectations.

A home loss to the BYU Cougars followed by a drubbing at the hands of the Houston Cougars was not the way fans or Kevin Sumlin or anyone associated with Arizona wanted this year to start, and it’s kind of killed a lot of the buzz that was surrounding this team.

Before the year, a lot of our writers gave their win-loss predictions, and everyone had this team winning at least eight games, with a number of people picking a 10-2 record.

10-2 is still in play...and that would be one heck of a story if it were to come to fruition. So how do we see this team faring in Pac-12 play now? Well, here are our thoughts and be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

Jason Bartel — 5-4

• @ Oregon State — W
• USC — W
• Cal — L
• @ Utah — L
• @ UCLA — W
• Oregon — L
• Colorado — W
• @ Washington State — L
• Arizona State — W

Before the season everyone was talking about how Arizona’s relatively easy conference schedule was going to play into their favor as they set out for their first ever Rose Bowl. It still sets up nicely, but for a 6-6 season.

I guess I’m least confident in my USC and Cal picks. The rest of the season I feel much better about my decisions.

USC caught me off guard with how poorly they played at Texas last week, so now I’m not sure how well they’ll play in Tucson even though there will be less than half the fans that were in Austin. Cal is weird and beat BYU in Provo and BYU is now ranked after winning in Tucson and in Madison so what is Cal? I have no idea, but I am pretty sure they are better than Arizona.

I believe UA beats CU simply because the game is in Tucson on a Friday. And Arizona will beat ASU to become bowl eligible because of course they do. That’s how this works.

Ryan Kelapire — 3-6

• @ Oregon State — W
• USC — L
• Cal — L
• @ Utah — L
• @ UCLA — L
• Oregon — L
• Colorado — W
• @ Washington State — L
• Arizona State — W

The interesting thing to me is that every game left is winnable because the Pac-12 South is awful and Arizona gets to avoid Stanford and Washington. So I think Arizona could go anything from 2-7 to 6-3 in conference play.

I tend to have a more pessimistic outlook because the defense looks just as bad as it did last year — actually it is worse since it isn’t forcing turnovers — and Khalil Tate hasn’t shown he can be the player he was last October when he single-handedly led the Wildcats to a four-game winning streak.

Maybe he will regain that form at some point this year, but there hasn’t been anything to suggest he will. And I don’t think pocket-passer Khalil Tate — even when he is completing deep passes down the field — is good enough to overcome the rest of Arizona’s deficiencies.

But again, every game from here on out is winnable, so all it takes is a couple key plays here and there (a turnover, kickoff return TD, blocked punt etc.) for Arizona to steal a game.

Brian Pedersen — 5-4

• @ Oregon State — W
• USC — L
• Cal — W
• @ Utah — L
• @ UCLA — W
• Oregon — L
• Colorado — W
• @ Washington State — L
• Arizona State — W

With Stanford and Washington not on the Pac-12 schedule, every game Arizona has left is completely winnable. That’s how it was at the beginning of the season and it remains that way despite the 1-2 start because many other teams in the league have also shown unexpected flaws. My preseason prediction was 6-3 and I’m only slightly tweaking that, switching the Utah and Washington State road games to losses but slotting a road win at UCLA (which would be Arizona’s first since 2010).

Gabe Encinas — 3-6

• @ Oregon State — W
• USC — L
• Cal — L
• @ Utah — L
• @ UCLA — W
• Oregon — L
• Colorado — L
• @ Washington State — L
• Arizona State — W

To start, I had Arizona going 9-3. With Arizona’s core and a weak Pac-12 overall, every game certainly seemed winnable.

The Pac-12 looks like absolute garbage and it still keeps things interesting for a team that looked embarrassing in weeks one and two against actual competition.

But there are major concerns on defense and there’s no point in beating that even more into the ground.

The offensive line is still a work in progress, too. And whether or not Khalil Tate is healthy, I still don’t see Arizona’s offense putting up a show. And even if that does happen, they’ll have to continue to keep pace with the defense giving up a lot of points as well.

USC does not look good but that’s a game where I think they use last year as the blueprint, with the size and talent taking over.

Cal still worries me as that up-and-comer, but that game is winnable, especially at home. Utah is also winnable, with absolutely no offense which bodes well for Arizona, but I still don’t like that matchup on the road.

UCLA looks even worse than Arizona, Oregon has not played a Power Five school but they’re still really talented.

Colorado looks impressive and could win the South at this point, Washington State could absolutely shred the defense. ASU is a toss up but being at home helps and hopefully Arizona is a team that benefits with time.

But right now with the shaky offensive line, the lackluster defense and an inconsistent offense, it’s hard for me to say Arizona makes a bowl game this season, and 47 is awfully disappointing given the expectations.

Zant Reyez — 4-5

• @ Oregon State — W
• USC —L
• Cal — L
• @ Utah — W
• @ UCLA — L
• Oregon — L
• Colorado — W
• Washington State — L
• Arizona State — W

Well this isn’t good. It’s not good at all. There’s just a lot of questions right now for the team and I don’t think they’re going to get solved for a while.

The offensive line and defense are a mess. I don’t know which one gets better first, but if I had to guess, I’ll go O-line. The defense is a mess and just seems to have a long, long, ways to go before it can become decent.

Is Khalil Tate hurt? That is becoming the elephant in the room to me. If he’s running on a bad wheel for the rest of the season, the offense will have to get creative (and, no, that doesn’t mean chucking the ball down the field 50 times) to get him and the rest of the unit going.

The 0-2 start put a damper on the hopes many had for this team, but a win against the Beavers and a 1-1 split between USC and Cal, and I think there’s hope this team can have a puncher’s chance in the remaining games.

Ronnie Stoffle — 5-4

• @ Oregon State — W
• USC — L
• Cal — W
• @ Utah — L
• @ UCLA — W
• Oregon — L
• Colorado — W
• @ Washington State — L
• Arizona State — W

There hasn’t been much reason for optimism but I’m going with a winning record in conference. A big piece of me really wants to chalk the Oregon game up as a win just because it’s at home and I think there’s a good chance they will enter this matchup exposed and with a 1-3 record in Pac-12 play.

I’ll take a lesser optimistic route and say 5-4, however. This really comes down to the defense improving over the next nine games. Obviously, Khalil Tate’s health is first and foremost to have a shot at a winning record. But the defense must find a way to get off the field on third down or force takeaways. This will largely be predicated on pass rushing.

If the defense can get in the business of allowing 28-ish points a game, it feels like Arizona’s offense should be in good shape to lead the team to victory. This isn’t a huge ask considering five home games and the underwhelming offenses they’ll face. Frankly it’s very reasonable to expect this from year three of Marcel Yates but it remains to be seen.

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