Arizona Training Camp Talk: Wildcats' Offensive Standouts

When Brent Brennan was looking to turn things around on his coaching staff he hired offensive coordinator Seth Doege to fix the offense and get things back on track after an underwhelming season that saw the year end for the Wildcats with a 4-8 record and an offense that struggled after the 61-point explosion against New Mexico.

The offense struggled with injuries, lack of talent in the wide receiver room (outside of Tetairoa McMillan) and playcalling from former offensive coordinator Dino Babers.

On the offensive end, Arizona was an up and down unit that didn’t click like a smooth running machine. The Wildcats had issues getting over the 50-yard line after the 61-point against New Mexico to open up the season.

After that, Arizona averaged 18.8 PPG ranking near the bottom of the Big 12 and the bottom nationally as well. 

Fifita struggled to keep up off the ground by getting sacked 28 times while throwing 12 interceptions to his 18 touchdowns while completing 61% of his passes.

Not only did Arizona have issues in the passing game but the Wildcats offensive scheme was inconsistent and at times went away from the running game.

And when the Wildcats did run the football, they didn’t have enough success to keep it rolling with the team trailing too far behind in games.

When things aren’t going right with injuries on the offensive line, usually teams look to go into uptempo mode to get the ball out of the hands of their QB quickly. However, Arizona was a slow pace team and really didn’t mix things up with its scheme.

Now with Doege and the other new faces on the offensive coaching staff, the Wildcats are looking to be an efficient offensive unit and get back to an elite unit. We are two weeks in camp and have noticed three key things on that side of the ball.

Offensive Takes

Kedrick Reescano

• When looking at the film on running back Kedrick Reescano from his high school days it was clear that the Ole Miss transfer was a highly talented player that just hadn’t gotten a shot up to this point in time.

• In this training camp Reescano has been a monster and hitting holes with force, strength and speed that he didn’t have a season ago. His vision under coach Alonzo Carter has grown from the previous season.

• With how things are developing, this could be a massive breakout season for Reescano, which could establish himself as one of the better backs in the Big 12.

Tyler Powell

• The tight ends last season for Arizona were very underwhelming given the talent in the room with Tyler Powell, Keyan Burnett and Sam Olson. Now, a majority of the issues came from the offensive scheme with Dino Babers as the offensive coordinator.

• The same group is back and has added new toughness with new tight ends coach Josh Miller, who has challenged the group since his arrival he has pushed the group and added physicality that wasn’t there before according to Doege.

• Players both on the offensive side of the ball and defensively have said that Powell is one of the most improved players on the roster.

• The Wildcats might have a two headed monster with Powell and Burnett, which might be one of the best receiving tight end duos in the Big 12 this season.

Kris Hutson

• For most of training camp, one of the most consistent receivers has been Washington State transfer Kris Hutson who has been a solid combination of speed, route running ability and soft hands making him an extremely dangerous receiver for opposing defenses.

• However, in the last handful of practices, Hutson has had some tough days with drops and blocking in the running/screen game. He has dropped some passes that have been put right on the money by Fifita and other quarterbacks.

• Hutson has been working in the punt return game as well and has seen highs and lows with a few muffed punts. But coach Bobby Wade has been right there helping him out and getting him back on track.

• Although it has been a struggle the last couple of days for Hutson, I do expect him to turn things around and continue being a critical piece to the Wildcats’ 2025 offense.