A look back on the Arizona football season indicates what’s to come

BY MASON DUHON @masonduhon

The 2022 Arizona football season saw the team finish at 5-7. What may seem like a mediocre record is actually a vast improvement over the 1-16 record the team compiled during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Arizona football set a precedent for improvement last season and saw more of their offseason moves pan out as planned.

Offensive improvement

The Wildcats finally locked in an athletic, high-upside starter at the most important position on the field: quarterback. After Grant Gunnell’s departure in 2020, Arizona struggled to find consistency under center. The Wildcats started a hodge-podge of signal-callers including Jordan McCloud, Will Plummer and Gunner Cruz.

Before the 2022 season, former Washington State University quarterback Jayden de Laura announced his commitment to Arizona. With McCloud transferring out, there was little competition for the starting job and de Laura took over on day one.

The passing game was truly unlocked in 2022. In 2021, Stanley Berryhill III led the Wildcats with 744 receiving yards. No other player on the team put up more than 350 receiving yards all season. 2022 saw both Dorian Singer and incoming transfer Jacob Cowing post 1,105 and 1,034 yards, respectively.

Freshman Tetairoa McMillan, the highest-graded recruit to ever sign with Arizona, led the team with eight receiving touchdowns to go with his 702 yards.

The rushing attack saw significant improvement as well. The entire Arizona team put up six total rushing touchdowns in 2021. In 2022, running back Michael Wiley eclipsed that mark on his own with eight rushing touchdowns. Eight players attempted at least one rush in 2022, which was down from the 16 that attempted at least one rush in 2021. This concentration of attempts actually led to a higher yield, with 1,728 net rushing yards.

In 2020 and 2021, the Arizona offense averaged just 17.4 and 17.17 points per game, respectively. In 2022, the Wildcats put up 30.83 points per game, the highest on a per-game basis since 2018.

Looking ahead

The offense can become even more explosive in the 2023 season now that de Laura has a full season of experience in head coach Jedd Fisch’s system. Cowing will be the primary receiving threat with Singer transferring to USC. McMillan, Wiley and tight end Tanner McLachlan are other noteworthy starting receiving options. The additions of freshmen Jackson Holman, Malachi Riley and Kevin Green Jr. will provide serviceable depth.

Wiley is poised for yet another strong season on the ground after doubling his 2021 rushing totals, going from 302 net yards to 771. In total, Wiley posted 1,227 net yards from scrimmage to lead the team in offensive production to go with his combined 11 rushing and receiving touchdowns.

Defensive swarm

In 2021, the defense was more cohesive when compared to the offense. They posted 22 sacks for a loss of 139 yards, four interceptions, five forced fumbles and 755 total tackles. However, the coaching staff worked with players already on the roster between 2021 and 2022 to improve their production.

There was a dramatic increase in the number of total tackles made in 2022, with 853. Defensive back Jaxen Turner, linebacker Jerry Roberts and defensive back Christian Young each posted over 75 combined tackles and had exceptional years. Seven players posted at least 50 tackles in 2022, which was a dramatic improvement from 2021 where only three players posted at least 50 tackles.

Turner had a stellar year where he led the team in solo tackles (54), total tackles (79) and interceptions (2). He was also tied both for the team lead in fumble recoveries (2) and for second in forced fumbles (2). He also notched one pass breakup, one sack and two tackles for loss.

Roberts was second on the team in total tackles (78) and led the team in assisted tackles (44). This comes along with three quarterback hits, one forced fumble, one fumble recover, and one pass breakup. Young was third on the team in total tackles (76), but was second in both solo tackles

(47) and assisted tackles (29). He also posted 6.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

The defense vastly improved their ability to get the ball back into the hands of the offense. In 2021, the team posted just six total turnovers. 2022 saw that number climb to 16 turnovers. Turner led the team by forcing four turnovers on his own.

Looking ahead

The defense still has a lot of room to improve. Many of the meaningful categories saw an upward trend. Touchdowns allowed, rushing, passing and total yardage allowed, opponent third-down conversion rate and opponent fourth-down conversion rate all increased from 2021 to 2022.

The losses of Turner, Roberts and Christian Roland-Wallace to the transfer portal and Young and Hunter Echols due to eligibility leaves many holes to fill. With a focus on the offensive side of the ball in the transfer portal in the 2022 offseason, the 2023 offseason saw an increased emphasis on the defense in the portal.

The headline portal acquisition is former five-star prospect and University of Oregon linebacker Justin Flowe. Joining him are former four-star defensive linemen Bill Norton from the University of Georgia and Tyler Manoa from UCLA. Former four-star linebacker Daniel Heimuli from the University of Washington and former threestar linebacker Orin Patu from the University of California Berkeley look to solidify the linebacking core with Flowe and standout sophomore linebacker Jacob Manu.