Arizona football (4-5, 2-4) hits the road this weekend and travels to Eugene, Ore., to take on the No. 6 Oregon Ducks after dropping its past four games of the season. The Wildcats are coming off a 38-56 loss at home during Homecoming Weekend to the Oregon State Beavers on Nov. 2 and a bye week.
The Wildcats are in a critical spot in the season since they need to win two out of their next three games in order to be eligible for a bowl game. After losing its past four games, Arizona football has never looked shakier this season.
After using the two-quarterback system during the past few games, Head Coach Kevin Sumlin still hasn’t been able to stick to one quarterback, whether it be senior Khalil Tate or true freshman Grant Gunnell.
In the Wildcats’ last game against the Beavers, Gunnell threw for a total of 269 yards on 19-for-29 completions compared to a measly 109 yards on 7-for-12 completions for Tate. Gunnell has looked more comfortable in the pocket than Tate and has outshined him in every way possible.
The last time the Wildcats took on the Ducks was last year on Homecoming, when Arizona routed Oregon by a final score of 44-15 before the Wildcats ended the season with an overall 5-7 record.
RELATED: Five stats: The numbers behind Arizona’s rout of Oregon
Oregon is ranked No. 6 in the nation right now, so Arizona has its toughest matchup of all season. Interestingly enough, the Ducks have won their past eight games and have not lost since Saturday, Aug. 31, when they lost to No. 16 Auburn by a final score of 21-27.
The Ducks are undefeated (6-0) in conference play, beating Stanford, Cal, Colorado, No. 25 Washington, Washington State and USC in the span of seven straight weeks. In their first three conference games against Stanford, Cal and Colorado, the Ducks only managed to give up a total of 16 points while scoring a total of 83 points in the three combined games.
The Wildcats need to get their quarterback situation completely figured out before Saturday if they want to have the slightest chance against Oregon in a potentially must-win game. Their defense needs to work out its kinks if the Wildcats want to stop the trend of allowing their opponents to score almost 50 points per game. In their past four games, the Wildcats have allowed their opponents to score a grand total of 189 points.
Catch the Wildcats in action this Saturday, Nov. 16, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., as they take on the Oregon Ducks in the third-to-last game of the regular season.
Follow Amit Syal on Twitter
