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Dec. 23—It had been three years since the last time Arizona made it to a bowl game when Jedd Fisch was hired as head coach in 2021.
After going 1-11 during his first season, the Wildcats are bowling once again for the first time since 2017. The climb back to winning football took time, and there were doubts about when it would happen even as late as October of this year.
The Wildcats dropped three of their first six games and still had to face Washington State, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah and Arizona State.
They closed the season on a six-game winning streak, which is the longest in program history since 1998.
Add in the fact that only one starter is expected to miss the bowl game and the Wildcats look like a confident team heading into the Alamo Bowl.
The Sooners take on Arizona on Thursday at 8:20 p.m. on ESPN.
Here’s a look at Arizona on both sides of the ball:
Offense
The Wildcats’ offense is headlined by quarterback Noah Fifita (wears No. 7), who’s having a breakout freshman season.
Fifita was named the PAC-12’s Freshman Offensive Player of the Year after passing for 2,515 yards with a 73.6 completion percentage (fourth nationally) and 23 passing touchdowns (tied for the most by an FBS freshman).
He didn’t get his first start until the fifth game of the season. During the regular season finale, Fifita threw for 527 yards and five touchdowns.
Jacob Cowing (wears No. 2) leads all active FBS players in career receiving yards.
The Wildcats will have to adjust without standout left tackle Joseph Borjon, who has opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft.
Defense
Arizona defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen was hired following Fisch’s first season. In two seasons since, the Wildcats have shown tremendous improvement, which has been a big key to the program’s turnaround.
The Wildcats rank 26th nationally in scoring defense…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/previewing-wildcats-ahead-alamo-bowl-144600781.html
Author : The Norman Transcript, Okla.
Publish date : 2023-12-23 14:46:00
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