Players to Watch: No. 18 Stanford vs. Arizona
By Kody Acevedo
Sep 26, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Jerrard Randall (8) passes the ball during the fourth quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Arizona Stadium. UCLA won 56-30. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Wildcats (3-1) will try to overcome the plethora of problems they face this week, while attempting to tackle a rather large opponent, the no. 18 Stanford Cardinal (3-1).
It hasn’t been an easy week for the team from down south to say the least. After starting the season 3-0, the Wildcats were pounded by the then-no.9 UCLA Bruins last week 56-30 in front of their home crowd.
It was the most points they’d allowed since losing 58-21 to Arizona State in 2013.
Two key components to the Wildcats’ game plan might also be missing in Saturday night’s matchup: Scooby Wright and Anu Solomon.
Wright, who had just returned from a left knee injury, sprained his right foot against the Bruins. Coach Rich Rodriguez said the team is prepared to be without Wright for “several weeks.”
Wrights’ replacement, linebacker Derrick Turituri, is also questionable for the Cardinal game due to an unspecified injury.
To make for an even bigger headache, Solomon, the Wildcats’ starting quarterback, is also questionable for this weekend.
Solomon was removed from the UCLA game after suffering a concussion. If he is unable to go, Rodriguez would hand to ball over to backup quarterback Jerrard Randall.
The Cardinal enter the game riding a three-game winning streak. After suffering an embarrassing 16-6 loss to Northwestern in Week 1, the Cardinal have rebounded and jumped up to no. 18 in the latest AP polls.
They are coming off a huge 42-24 victory over Oregon State. With a Pac-12 win under their belt, Stanford has smoothed things out nicely.
The Wildcats are in somewhat of a must win week, if they want to avoid falling to 0-2 and possible dead-last in the Pac-12 South standings.
Although two of their big guns are injured, there will be others to watch out for during this conference battle.