Three BOLD Observations From Arizona-Houston 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 observations from the Arizona-Houston game.

Three Observations

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.

The Middle-Eight

• One area of improvement Arizona coach Brent Brennan emphasized all offseason and into the season is in the "middle-eight" area of the game in the final four minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second half. 

• Arizona has had its times this season where it has succeeded in that area, but that wasn't the case in Saturday's loss. 

• It was a huge turning point of the game as the Wildcats went from driving late in the first half to turning the ball over on downs before Houston found the end zone to take the lead right before halftime. 

• The Cougars got the ball to open the second half and turned a nine minute drive into another score to win the middle-eight 14-0. 

• It is in those areas where Arizona has to be more consistent if it wants to take the next step as a team.

Rushing Defense

• The Wildcats run defense has looked less than stellar through the last two weeks of football played.

• Against Houston, Arizona gave up 232 yards on the ground, 98 of those coming from quarterback Conner Weigman and 100 from Dean Connors.

• The Wildcats had problems dealing with the dual threat capability of Bear Bacmeier in the last game as he ran for 89 yards. Implementing quarterback runs was something Brent Brennan predicted Houston would do given the game footage that BYU put out.

• Altogether, the Arizona defense has yielded 490 yards and four touchdowns on the ground in the last two games played.

• Struggling against the run is unbecoming of the Arizona defense that ranks fourth in the Big 12 in that category. It will need to drastically improve in that area through the Bye Week if it wants to get back on the winning side of things for the remainder of the season.

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