2011 Arizona Football Predictions

Written by Steve Janus

The Arizona Wildcats went into the 2010 season with the expectation that they were going to compete for a conference title. Things didn’t exactly go as planned. Arizona finished the year 7-5 overall, but were just 4-5 in the PAC-10. They also ended the year with a bad 10-36 loss against Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl.

Looking ahead to the 2011 season the Wildcats will have to make due with just 10 starters back. They bring back some big time players on both sides of the ball, but will need a lot of players who don’t have a ton of experience to play at high level if they are going to match their win total from last year. Here’s a breakdown of who Arizona will send to field on offense and defense, plus my prediction on where they will end the year in the PAC-12.

Offense:

While the Wildcats have just five starters back on the offensive side of the ball, they return senior starting quarterback Nick Foles, who is coming off a monster junior season. Foles completed 67% of his passes for 3,191 yards with 20 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions. If the offensive line can hold up, Foles could put up even better numbers in 2011 with all their top skill players back.

Arizona brings back 2010 leading rusher Keola Antolin, who finished with 668 yards and seven touchdowns. They do lose backup Nic Grigsby, who had 533 yards and eigh scores, but are excited to see what they can get out of sophomore Daniel Jenkins and freshman Ka’Deem Carey.

At wide receiver the Wildcats bring back their top four threats from 2010, and appear to have the best unit of any of the teams in the PAC-12. Senior Juron Cringer is the star of this group, and is coming off a monster junior season where he had 82 catches for 1,233 yards and 11 touchdowns. They also bring back senior David Roberts, who had 52 catches for 515 yards, and junior Dan Buckner, who had 44 catches for 487 yards and two scores.

Even with all the talent coming back at the skill positions, how good the Wildcats are in 2011 will depend on what they get out of a offensive line that doesn’t return a single starter. They will be extremely young on the outside, as they plan on starting redshirt freshmen Fabbians Ebbele and Mickey Baucus at tge two tackle spots.

Defense:

The Wildcats return one of the best defensive tackles in the conference in sophomore Justin Washington, who had six sacks and 5.5 tackles for a loss as a freshman last year. Washington will have to be even better in his second season, as he will have three new starters around him on the defensive line. Fellow sophomore Sione Tuihalamaka will join Washington inside, while seniors Mohammed Usman and C.J. Parish figure to take over at the two defensive ends.

At linebacker the Wildcats bring back senior weak-side linebacker Paul Vassallo and senior middle linebacker Derek Earls. Vassallo led the team with 102 tackles in 2010, which is the second highest total at Arizona in the last 10 years. Junior Jake Fischer started eight games on the outside last year, but tore his ACL in spring practice and could use his medical redshirt this season. Redshirt freshman Kyle Benson and senior Bilal Muhammed will compete for the starting spot this fall.

While the Wildcats only return senior corner Trevin Wade and senior free safety Robert Golden in the secondary, this unit should force opposing teams to try and run the ball. Wade and Golden are both two of the top players at their positions in the PAC-12 and it looks like they will add some young talent to play alongside them. Sophomore Shaquille Richardson will step in at the other corner spot after intercepting two passes in just three starts last year. At strong safety the Wildcats will likely turn to sophomore Marquis Flowers, who played in 13 games as a freshman.

PAC-12 Prediction: 4th PAC-12 South – If the Wildcats weren’t losing eight of nine starters on the offensive and defensive line, they would be much higher in my PAC-12 rankings. I’m not saying they won’t compete for the South title, but rarely will you see a team lose that much talent in the trenches and not have set back the next season.

PAC-12 Football Predictions by Team
Oregon Football Predictions	Utah Football Predictions
Oregon State Football Predictions	USC Football Predictions
California Football Predictions	UCLA Football Predictions
Stanford Football Predictions	Colorado Football Predictions
Washington Football Predictions	Arizona Football Predictions
Washington State Football Predictions	Arizona State Football Predictions

College Football Predictions
ACC Football Predictions	Big 12 Football Predictions
Conference USA Football Predictions	Independents Football Predictions
PAC 12 Football Predictions	SEC Football Predictions
Big East Football Predictions	Big Ten Football Predictions
MAC Football Predictions	Mountain West Football Predictions
Sun Belt Football Predictions	WAC Football Predictions

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