3 ways to win

by James Kelley

Slippery Solomon

Washington comes to town with one of the best track records in the country for getting to the quarterback, but UA’s Anu Solomon is coming off his best running performance of the year.

Washington is second in the nation with 38 sacks, and UW linebacker Hau’oli Kikaha leads the nation in sacks with 16.5. No one else has more than 13 sacks.

If Solomon, who ran for a career-high 115 yards last week versus Colorado, can escape the fellow Hawaiian and the rest of the Huskies’ defense, that negates one of Washington’s great strengths.

Wilson comeback tour continues

After about a month of being slowed by an ankle injury, it looks like running back Nick Wilson is back.

Wilson did not play against USC, had 10 rushes for 18 yards at Washington State and ran for 18 yards on nine carries at UCLA. However, last week, he ran for 153 yards on 21 carries. He looked like his old self.

He rushed for over 100 yards in each of his first three games.

Despite the month-long drought, Wilson is still fourth in the Pac-12 Conference in rushing with 95.4 yards per game.

With “Ka’Nick” clicking, the Wildcats are tough to beat.

Home field advantage

Meteorologists aren’t known for their success in picking the weather, but even they can see the home team should win.

The home team has won the last six games in the series by scores of 31-13, 52-17, 42-31, 44-14 and 48-14.

Last year, the Huskies beat a 3-0 Arizona 31-13 in the unfamiliar rain in Seattle. This year, it’s the Huskies’ turn to feel out of place, as the projected high is 74 degrees and partly cloudy for the rare Tucson day-game.

3 ways to lose

by Matt Wall

Mo’ pain, mo’ problems

At the UA press conference at the beginning of the week, Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez said the team was “banged up.” He wasn’t joking. On the Thursday football injury report, 10 players are listed. Receiver Nate Phillips is out for the season with a foot injury. Five players are listed as questionable.

Arizona football will have to avoid any more injuries if it wants to compete against the talented Pac-12 Conference, especially Washington, which is 6-4 overall on the season. Also, with the injuries, the Wildcats don’t have as much depth as they might like at certain positions.

Defensive manhandle

Washington leads the nation in defensive touchdowns with seven and is only giving up 26.4 points per game this season. Leading the defense are linebacker Shaq Thompson, with four defensive touchdowns, and linebacker John Timu, who has 75 total tackles.

So far this season, quarterback Anu Solomon has thrown five interceptions. In addition, the Huskies have recovered 13 total fumbles this season.

Although the Huskies are coming off a 44-30 loss against UCLA, Arizona only scored seven points against the Bruins. Therefore, if Arizona’s offense gets stonewalled, the Wildcats will leave disappointed unless they get off to the fast start, like at the beginning of the season.

No running game

In Arizona’s game against Colorado, the running game was almost nonexistent in the first half. In fact, Solomon led the entire team in rushing before running back Nick Wilson’s rushing explosion in the second half.

If the Wildcats get off to another sluggish start with their running game, it will be difficult. Luckily for Arizona, Washington’s defense is giving up 188 yards per game on the ground.

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