Jon chats with Brian Pedersen to get a handle on Friday’s opponent.
It’s been awhile since we’ve had occasion to do one of these for a game against another Big 12 team, since after a decade of this it got stale with all the old folks and we didn’t have an SB Nation site for the two newcomers we played last season.
And we’re still not doing it leading up to a Big 12 conference game, because, well, this isn’t one. It’s Wildcat-on-Wildcat violence Friday night at the Bill as Arizona comes to town for the P54 non-conference game which Could Not Be Substituted. We had a chat with Brian Pedersen, the long-time editor-in-chief of our colleague site Arizona Desert Swarm, to get the skinny on our new conference friends.
Jon: Noah Fifita shredded New Mexico in the opener, but was… not so much that on Saturday against Northern Arizona, and the Wildcats seemed to have issues getting points on the board despite a not-terrible number of yards. Did anything stand out as a concern?
Brian: Arizona had several changes on the offensive line for the second game, most notably a new center as veteran Josh Baker was held presumably to keep him fresh for this coming game. That led to a whole bunch of uncertainty up front, resulting in a lot of immediate pressure on Fifita. The Wildcats had to keep a lot of guys home for protection, and combining that with NAU doing a very good job of covering Tetairoa McMillan it made for a very uneven offensive performance.
Jon: Quali Conley got close to 100 on opening day, and 112 Saturday. What kind of runner is he, and how much of that would you say is him and how much is the offensive line?
Brian: Conley ran for over 800 yards with nine TDs last season at San Jose State, where UA coach Brent Brennan came from, and that previous connection has paid dividends so far. Conley doesn’t hesitate and isn’t afraid of contact, he hits the hole and keeps his legs moving to get the most out of each run. The O-line still blocked well for run plays against NAU, so that also helped.
Jon: You asked us this, and I’ll sling it back at you: who do we need to keep an eye on defensively, and what schemes is Arizona running?
Brian: Arizona runs a 4-2-5 where it constantly rotates defensive linemen while the back seven usually never change unless it goes with a ‘dollar’ package of seven defensive backs which was a big staple in 2023 but so far has been absent this season. Linebacker Jacob Manu led the Pac-12 in tackles a year ago and had 14 this past week, and he seems to be everywhere, while edge Tre Smith (another follow along from San Jose) has been the most active up front. The secondary is very experienced, with 85 combined starts at Arizona between them.
Jon: The Arizona defense did what it should have been expected to do against an FCS opponent, but nearly gave up 500 to New Mexico. In your view, where’s that leave the Wildcats? Which performance was more accurate, as it were, and did you notice any schematic changes between the two games that indicated improvement?
Brian: Arizona was terrible at edge containment against New Mexico, and that led to the QB getting loose a lot either to run or move the pocket and extend plays. That was much better against NAU, and as a result it led to everything else doing well. I would say the latter is more indicative of what this defense can do, though if the offense clicks like it should the defense can stay aggressive up front and take risks.
Jon: Although this is a non-conference game, it unofficially marks your introduction to the Big 12. Everything happened super fast last summer, and for our part we’re really happy to see Arizona here because our impression was that Arizona’s administration, at least, really wanted to be here. Setting aside any obvious relief at not being cast into the wind like Wazzu or the Beavs, how do you guys feel about the move?
Brian: In a perfect world, keeping the Pac-12 together in some form would have been what Arizona wanted because of the school’s strong ties to California and the West Coast. This is going to be the first year the UA doesn’t play on the road in the Pacific Time Zone since the 1970s, and it’s freaking weird. But it became pretty clear pretty quickly that any reshaped Pac-12 was going to be closer to G5 than P5, and Big 12 made the most sense geographically and competitively. It’s a better overall league for football, THE best for men’s basketball and pretty solid across the board everywhere else. Now, if we could only move the basketball conference tournaments to Las Vegas…
Jon: What are your expectations for Friday night, in general?
Brian: This is where I’m supposed to say the Wildcats will win, right? Arizona should have a good season in its first year in the Big 12, but I think it will struggle on the road and this will be where that starts. I think Kansas State’s mobile offensive players will get free too much and prove to be the difference.
Our thanks to Brian for taking the time to introduce us to our new rivals. Stop by the Swarm and say hi (politely, of course), and welcome them to the fold!