’ Cats look to bounce back after shaky opener

TUCSON Arizona’s offense revved up after a slow start in its opener against Hawaii, reeling off big- chunk plays, scoring 35 points in the middle two quarters.

The defense stumbled from the start and never fully recovered, leading to a disheartening loss — and a long bye week.

“A lot of guys are looking forward to playing this weekend,” Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin said on Monday during his weekly news conference. “Nobody in this building is happy about what happened a week ago.”

Arizona had hopes of a bounce back from a mediocre first season under Sumlin in 2018. Quarterback Khalil Tate was healthy after an injuryplagued junior season, running back J. J. Taylor returned following a 1,400yard season, and the Wildcats had playmakers on defense.

The offense lived up to its billing in the opener, racking up 539 yards and 38 points while coming up a yard short of a tying touchdown on the game’s final play. Tate threw for 361 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 108 more yards.

But the defense foundered from the start, allowing Hawaii to score the first 14 points, 45 total, and roll up 595 yards of total offense.

Because of a fluky schedule with a bye after the first game, the Wildcats had a week to address what went wrong and, they hope, get it fixed before Saturday’s game against FCS Northern Arizona.

“Because you have a bye week, you don’t really have a chance to get back on the field that quickly, but it does give you the opportunity to really look inside, where you are, and work on yourself,” Sumlin said. “Without having to play a game, there’s good and bad with that. In this situation, it really gave us an opportunity to look at personnel, really address some issues from a chemistry standpoint.”

Arizona’s defense is anchored by its linebackers, and that group, for the most part, had a solid first game, led by Colin Schooler’s nine tackles. The Wildcats also forced six turnovers, including their first four- interception road game since 2006.

But when the Wildcats weren’t picking off passes, they were repeatedly getting beat. Arizona’s secondary had a rough game, allowing the Rainbow Warriors to throw for 436 yards and four touchdowns.

The Wildcats also struggled to get any pressure against Hawaii’s quick- hitting offense, 0 and the one time they did get to the quarterback, it led to a roughing penalty. Even against an FCS school, Arizona knows that has to change against Northern Arizona.

“There’s a blueprint from that game, with the quick throwing, that we’re going to have to change things up defensively, probably pressure some more, but also cover,” Sumlin said. “We’ve got to get more pressure on the quarterback. We just have to.”

The Hawaii loss was a letdown not just because it came against a smallerconference school — in the opener, no less — but it fit the inconsistent pattern the Wildcats had in their first season under Sumlin.

Arizona showed flashes of being a good team a year ago, but would follow good games with clunkers.