Arizona MUST Fix These Three Things Following Houston

Similarly to the BYU game, Arizona’s defense struggled against the run as Houston quarterback Conner Weigman sliced and diced the middle of the defense by racking 98 yards on 14 carries. Meanwhile as a team, the Cougars rushed for 232 yards for the game.

The rushing attack for Houston really opened things up in the secondary against Arizona as the Cougars totaled 164 yards through the air and racked up three passing touchdowns.

Just two weeks ago, the Wildcats’ defense hadn’t given up a passing touchdown all season. Now, Arizona has allowed four in two games.

Near the start of the fourth quarter, Arizona was able to cut into the lead with a rushing score from Spivey, which sparked the offense.

After getting a key stop with a missed 48-yard field goal by Houston, Arizona’s offense methodically moved the ball down field and tied the game up on a rushing touchdown from running back Kedrick Reescano.

Although the Wildcats battled back in the fourth quarter to tie the game, Houston got the ball back with under five minutes left and relied on its running game to set up the game-winning 41-yard field goal against Arizona.

It wasn’t just Weigman that gashed the Wildcats’ defense on the ground, Houston running back Dean Connors racked up 100 yards on 20 carries and really seemed to wear down Danny Gonzales’ defense.

Arizona gave itself a chance to come up with a late-game stop to get the ball back to the offense, but failed to roundup Weigman, who converted a 3rd and 2 situation.

At the end of the day, it was another heartbreaking loss for an Arizona team that seemed to be haunted by road games with the losing streak growing to five games for Brennan and his staff.

Now that the game is in the books, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have put together our three areas the team needs to improve on following the Arizona-Houston game.

Three Areas of Improvement Needed

Dual-Threat Quarterbacks

• Over the last two weeks, Arizona’s defense has had issues against the run. However, when you take a deep dive into the issues, the problems stem from defending dual-threat quarterbacks.

• In this past game, Weigman ran all over the defense racking up 98 yards on 14 rushes against the Wildcats’ defensive front. That was a season-high for a QB that has shown the ability to be a threat in the rushing attack.

• The previous week, Gonzales’ defense struggled against BYU when Bear Bachmeier rushed for 89 yards on 22 carries and found the end zone twice.

• This is a growing problem for the defense and one that Gonzales and his staff must fix if Arizona is going to make a bowl game.

Third Down Defense

• For most of the season, Arizona’s defense has been a strength of the team and has had success in almost every facet of the game. However, in the last two games, the Wildcats’ defense has been carved up like swiss cheese on the ground and has allowed 490 yards rushing.

• That is a massive problem but as you look closer into the defensive issues, Gonzales’ unit has had a hard time getting off the field as opponents have gone 16 of 30 on third down situations to extend drives.

• This has really become a major problem for Arizona and if it doesn’t get fixed, the Wildcats will be at home during bowl season, once again.

Pass Rushing

• For most of the season, Arizona has had no problem getting into the backfield and causing issues for the opposing offense with the team racking up 14 sacks, which places the Wildcats 68th nationally.

• Against Houston, the Wildcats couldn’t get any pressure and recorded zero sacks, which led to the Cougars picking the secondary apart for three passing touchdowns.