If you are a fan of prominent passing attacks, then tune in Saturday night as WSU faces Arizona down in Tucson. Both teams love to air it out, and while the Cal-Oregon game gets the hype this week for Pac-10 offensive fireworks, the Cougars and Wildcats aren't to be overlooked.
Arizona leads the Pac-10 in passing offense, at just over 318 yards per game. But WSU is third, at 282 yards per game, so, doing a little math, that's 600 total passing yards combined that is a regular day at the office for these teams. With the game starting at 7 PM pacific time, Bill Doba quipped "We might not get back until Monday".
However, often in match-ups like this, it's not necessarily the obvious strengths that will decide this one, but more so it's how teams handle their weaknesses that factor in the most. The most troubling thing from a Cougar angle is that WSU's defense, especially against the pass, has been not only among the worst in the conference, but one of the worst pass defenses in the nation so far this year. As we pointed out earlier this week, WSU is 101st in the country in passing yards allowed, and dead last at 119th in opponent third-down rate, allowing an unfathomable 57.9 percent. That third down rate is especially troubling, as everyone knows, in that it shows how long the opposing team can keep their offense on the field. That's really bad news in that it also plays keep-away from the WSU offense, which is clearly the strength of the team in 2007.
An even scarier proposition is that Arizona QB Willie Tuitama is starting to get a grasp on this Texas Tech Red Raider passing attack that was imported by Mike Stoops. New offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes brought the playbook with him after seven years at Texas Tech, a team known for it's infatuation with spreading the field and throwing it like crazy. How much is Tuitama getting the feel for the new attack? He set school records in completions and passing attempts vs. Cal last week, going a Tech-like 42 for 61 in the 45-27 loss. And Tuitama loves to spread the ball around, as five different Arizona WR's already have double digits in receptions and we're only four games into the season. Senior Michael Thomas has logged 31 catches, good for the top spot in the conference so far. Sophomore Terrell Turner is showing he's one of the best young WR's in the conference, tied for 4th in the Pac-10 in receptions.
But WSU is not to be outdone in the passing offense department. WR's Michael Bumpus and Brandon Gibson are 2nd and 3rd in the conference in total catches. Gibson leads the conference in receiving yards per game and is second in TD catches. And oh yeah, often-overlooked senior QB Alex Brink is #2 in passing yards per game, behind only Tuitama. So, all told, this game at least statistically has the Pac-10's top two QB's in terms of passing yards per game, and four of the top five WR's in the Pac-10 this year in catches and yards.
The weirdest thing about Arizona this year is their defense. With 10 starters back from last year's strong group, there were visions of Desert Swarm dancing in the heads of the Wildcat faithful, but it just hasn't clicked this year. Mike Stoops earlier in the week pointed to a lack of turnovers, and he's right. Arizona is ninth in the conference in turnover ratio, ahead of only Oregon State with a minus-3 in that department. The Wildcats are smack dab in the middle of the conference in other areas, such as passing defense, rushing defense, sacks and total defense. So for reasons that haven't yet been clear, Arizona hasn't performed up to expectations on defense thus far.
This game is beyond crucial for both programs. The Wildcats are a disappointing 1-3 this season, and while slow starts are nothing new for Arizona under Mike Stoops, a loss here would turn up the heat significantly on his already-warm coaching seat. The same could be said for Bill Doba, as a loss here would put the Cougars in a 2-3 hole with several tougher games on the horizon. Many are already saying that this is the Pac-10's version of the "coaching hot-seat bowl", and the loser could be facing the end of the road at their respective program.
