Redshirt junior tight end Joseph Fauria and the Bruins head to the desert Thursday night in a nationally televised game. Fauria was named to the Mackey Award midseason watch list Monday.
Arizona quarterback Nick Foles may not be getting mentioned for the Heisman Trophy like Houston’s Case Keenum and Stanford’s Andrew Luck, but he may be the best quarterback that the UCLA football team will face this season.
Based on numbers alone, Foles is the No. 2 quarterback in the nation, averaging 375 yards per game through the air. A number that’s not as flashy, one that is known all too well by the Wildcat faithful is 119. The Wildcats rank 119 out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in rushing offense, perhaps a number Greg Byrne, Arizona athletic director, pointed to when he fired head coach Mike Stoops on Oct. 10.
As a result, Foles has turned Arizona’s passing game into a run game to compensate, throwing swing passes and screens to get his play-making receivers into open field.
“He’s kind of a point guard. He puts it where they can make plays on it,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “He’s a bona fide, big time player. He’ll play on Sundays. We have to understand that we’re not necessarily going to stop him. We just have to contain him.”
What’s more astounding than Foles’ arm is Arizona’s (1-5, 0-4 Pac-12) lack of success in the win column with Foles behind center. The Wildcats have lost 10 straight games to FBS opponents, leading to Stoops’ firing. Their last FBS win? It came on Oct. 30 of last year against none other than the Bruins.
UCLA (3-3, 2-1) may be encountering Arizona at just the wrong time when the two face off tonight at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz., in front of a national TV audience. Interim coach Tim Kish has had over a week to prepare for the Bruins and many believe the Wildcats have taken on a fresh-start mentality under Kish.
“They’re going to feel like their backs are against the wall,” redshirt junior quarterback Kevin Prince said. “It will be a great opportunity to show their season isn’t over. We have to calm the storm early and execute.”
Prince was able to execute well against Washington State when he was called off the bench to replace then-starter and junior Richard Brehaut when he was lost to a broken leg.
With an almost two-week stay as the No. 1 quarterback on the depth chart, Prince is beginning to feel comfortable again without Brehaut breathing down his neck, threatening to replace him for a bad decision.
Defensively, the backfield gets a little healthier with the return of junior cornerback Sheldon Price. Price injured his right medial collateral ligament and missed the last two games.
Price said he and his teammates are looking forward to taking on Foles and the Wildcats, especially in the public eye of a nationally televised game.
“It’s an opportunity to make a play and show how talented our group is. That’s exciting to know that the ball is going to be coming outside and it’s a good chance to show what our defensive backs can do.”
UCLA’s recent history with Thursday-night road games on ESPN isn’t pretty. The Bruins were outscored 84-20 in two losses last season to Oregon and Washington.
“That was a totally different team,” redshirt junior tight end Joseph Fauria said. “We’re way better than that. To me, it’s just 100 by 52 yards on the field. There’s nothing going on outside of it. The cameras, fans and things like that don’t matter.”