No. 9 UCLA (3-0) faces its first true road test of the season on Saturday against No. 16 Arizona (3-0). It’s also the Bruins’ first Pac-12 road game since going undefeated on the road last season.
Here’s a scouting report of the high-tempo Wildcats, led by fourth-year coach Rich Rodriguez and second-year starting quarterback Anu Solomon.
Arizona’s offense
Base formation: Shotgun singleback
Tendency: Zone read/read option
Blocking style: Zone
Strength: Tempo
Weakness: Inexperienced offensive line
X-factor: RB Nick Wilson
UCLA’s defensive assignment this week is very similar to the one it faced last week. Just like BYU, Arizona has a quarterback who loves to throw when he’s on the run. Last year, Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon had 86 completions while scrambling – the most of any quarterback on a Power Five conference team.
There’s one key difference between Arizona and BYU though, and that’s tempo. Last week, the Cougars used nearly the entire play clock on multiple occasions. Arizona, on the other hand, is unlikely to use the full play clock more than 10 times all season.
Luckily for the Bruins, they face a high-tempo offense of their own every day in practice.
“We know how to play fast, we know how to get from snap to snap quickly because we do it all the time,” said coach Jim Mora. “So yeah it won’t be surprising, although, Arizona, they can crank it up and go.”
Key to Arizona’s tempo will be whether the Wildcats can get first downs. They struggled with that last year against the Bruins, recording six three-and-outs before eventually falling 17-7 at the Rose Bowl.
If the Wildcats are going to improve on that poor offensive showing from last year, they will need to get their running game going. In last year’s UCLA-Arizona game, the Wildcats struggled mightily to run the ball, finishing with 2.6 yards per carry on 31 attempts.
Sophomore running back Nick Wilson will be key to that Arizona running game. He’s averaging 7 yards per carry this year, albeit against weak competition in Texas-San Antonio, Nevada and Northern Arizona. The matchup against UCLA’s defense will be a significant step up in competition for Wilson and the Arizona offense.
Arizona’s defense
Base defense: 3-3-5
Blitz tendency: Moderate to frequent
Strength: Creating confusion, forcing turnovers
Weakness: Secondary
X-factor: LB Scooby Wright III – if he plays
It will be yet another new look for freshman quarterback Josh Rosen this week.
Last week, the freshman faced a “psycho” defensive front for the first time in his college career, and looked significantly confused and outmatched. This week, Rosen will face the 3-3-5 defense for the first time.
“Defensively, they fly around. I mean that’s always been kind of a hallmark of Arizona defense, or Arizona football,” Mora said.
What should help Rosen is the fact that Arizona’s secondary has not looked very strong this year – even against subpar competition. The Wildcats have yet to face a team from a Power Five conference, but still rank No. 92 in the country in pass yards allowed. That’s relatively concerning, considering that the Wildcats drop five defensive backs into coverage on almost every play.
What’s been missing from the Arizona defense this season has been its most valuable player – and perhaps the most valuable defensive player in college football – linebacker Scooby Wright III. The junior middle linebacker almost single handedly led Arizona to a huge upset win over then-No. 2 Oregon last season, and ended up leading the Pac-12 with 2.07 tackles for loss per game.
Wright was the engine that made the Arizona defense run, but his meniscus injury in the season opener has kept him out for nearly the entire season so far. The Wildcats’ defense has looked suspect ever since.
Wright is listed as questionable to play on Saturday. If he plays and is anything close to his normal self, it will be a huge boost for Arizona. If he sits out or is still hampered by his meniscus injury, then Rosen and UCLA offense will have a significantly easier time putting points on the board.
Compiled by Matthew Joye, Bruin Sports senior staff.