The week before the Washington game, the Wildcats had a bye week — a misplaced bye-week.

This week, Arizona has the only bye week it should have had all season.

Because of the upcoming Thursday night USC matchup in Los Angeles, the squad has a weekend without a game, leaving 11 days in between the Huskies game and the Trojans.

The reason this bye week makes sense is because it came after Arizona’s first real test. After battling bleak weather conditions, the squad could use a little rest in order to stay healthy.

Of course, heading into last week, no one could have predicted the weather. They could have predicted a tough Husky squad, though. And they could have predicted the weak non-conference schedule. And they could have predicted that having two bye-weeks so early in the season would be unfortunate for the Wildcats.

After next Thursday at USC, Arizona won’t have a break until the end of the season. In October, the Wildcats will only play at home once, against Utah on the 19th, meaning they will go almost a month between home games.

Then, Arizona will play every weekend in November, with three consecutive games at home. These November games won’t be flashbacks to NAU, though.

After playing six consecutive games, the Wildcats will wrap up their season against Oregon and against ASU at the the Duel in the Desert in Tempe. In fact, three of the five games Arizona plays in November will be against currently ranked teams.

If Arizona wants a chance of competing against the Ducks and beating the Sun Devils, the team will need a late surge of energy or have to do some hard-core rallying through November.

What do the schedules of other Pac-12 Conference teams look like, you ask?

Well, before traveling to Tucson to play the Wildcats mid-November, the Washington State Cougars have a bye week.

Oregon has a bye week before heading into November and before facing No. 5 Stanford, probably the only Pac-12 team with the potential to upset the Ducks. Washington also has a bye that same week.

Other teams, like UCLA, ASU and USC, will also have to rally through November.

But alas, the schedule is beyond anyone’s control, and the Wildcats will have to make the most out of the hand they are dealt.

Will two bye weeks in three weeks hurt them in the long run?

Only time can tell.

—Follow Scarlett McCourt @scarlettnoelani