Washington @ Arizona preview
Arizona Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 10, 2009 ) Arizona 33, Washington 36
Arizona will be seeking to remain in contention for the Pac-10 Conference title without standout quarterback Nick Foles when it hosts Washington on Saturday night.
Foles dislocated his right kneecap in last Saturday’s contest against Washington State and is expected to be sidelined into mid-November. Junior Matt Scott will start in his place.
It certainly is bad timing for Arizona to be without Foles. The No. 18 Wildcats (5-1, 2-1) and Huskies (3-3, 2-1) are a four-way logjam for second place in the conference race behind unbeaten Oregon.
Foles ranks second nationally with a 75.3 completion percentage and has passed for 1,600 yards and nine touchdowns. His rise to stardom was one of the prime reasons why Arizona felt it had a legitimate chance of winning the Pac-10 this season.
Magnifying Foles’ absence is that Arizona’s ensuing schedule reads like this: at UCLA, at Stanford, USC and at Oregon.
That leaves Washington quarterback Jake Locker as the most productive gunslinger in this contest. Locker passed for a career-high five touchdowns last Saturday in a 35-34 win over Oregon State.
Overall, Locker has passed for 1,431 yards. He has tossed 13 touchdowns against just four interceptions.
Arizona won’t be expecting Scott to try to match statistics with Locker, but it should be noted that Scott actually began the 2009 season as the Wildcats’ starter before losing the gig to Foles after three games.
Scott was 14 of 20 for 139 yards and one interception in relief of Foles against Washington State.
Washington has struggled defensively – the Huskies are 98th nationally in total defense at 416.8 yards per game – so it is conceivable Arizona could move the ball just fine without Foles.
Wildcats running back Keola Antolin is coming off a fine performance in which he carried 21 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns. He could be in line for a big game with Washington allowing 197.5 rushing yards per game.
Arizona’s defense is much harder to move the ball against. The Wildcats are seventh in the nation in scoring defense (13.3 points per game) and 10th in total defense at 284.3 yards per game.
Arizona has allowed just six touchdown passes and has also received strong defensive line play from Ricky Elmore (6.0 sacks) and Brooks Reed (4.5).
Huskies running back Chris Polk has rushed for 571 yards and 11 touchdowns. Polk has three 100-yard games this season, including 105 last Saturday against Oregon State. Receiver Jermaine Kearse has caught 37 passes for 623 yards and nine touchdowns.
Senior linebacker Mason Foster leads the Pac-10 with 12.0 tackles per game. Foster was the hero last season when Washington beat Arizona 36-33 in Seattle last year. Foster intercepted a late-game Foles’ pass that was ruled to have caromed off the foot of Arizona receiver Delashaun Dean and he returned it for a game-winning 37-yard touchdown.
Washington also faces a grueling next couple weeks. After visiting Arizona, the Huskies host Stanford and then visit Oregon.