Arizona Wildcats 2017 NCAA Football Preview

College Football Predictions – Arizona Wildcats 2017 NCAA Football Preview

2016 Recap

2016 Record – 3-9

2016 ATS – 2-10

Whoa. That was U G L Y.

The Wildcats started out winning two of their first three games (uh, Grambling St, Hawaii) then sputtered the rest of the way to finish at 3-9. That included getting their TEETH KICKED IN by hated rival Arizona St in the final game of the season. This was the first losing season under Rich Rodriguez’s watch so we will remind everyone of our “everyone gets a mulligan” philosophy.

2017 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating

PAC 12 – TBD

South Division – TBD

OFFENSE

QB Brandon Dawkins has a lot of potential to be a dangerous dual-threat QB if he can stay healthy (?) this season. Dawkins had almost 1,000 net rushing yards while picking up 10 TDs on the ground. He needs to get more effective MATRICULATING in the passing game but that may be a lot to ask.

The Wildcats amassed 235 rushing yards per contest and can be effective in 2017 with a mobile QB and a healthy Nick Wilson (?) in the backfield. We are not particularly excited about Arizona’s depth at RB or the potential in the receiving corps. They only return ONE player at WR that had more than 500 yards receiving last season. We believe that the offensive line can be a hidden gem as they return 4 starters to a group that paved the way for 5.54 yards per carry (#1 PAC 12 !) while allowing an acceptable 28 sacks. There is no question they will be improved on offense but they can only get A LOT better with really good performance from the offensive line.

DEFENSE

The Wildcats have yielded 35.8 and 38.3 points per game the past two seasons. This just in – that is NOT going to get it done. Even in the PAC 12. Arizona returns 7 starters on defense (which is theoretically a positive ?) but they need to find a way to get more PENETRATION (22 sacks – #9 PAC 12), play better pass defense (66% completions – wut ?) and achieve stronger run defense. That’s it.

The front seven still looks a bit weak and will miss last season’s leading tackler Paul Magloire, and furthermore, the leader in sacks from 2016 had a grand total of three (3) (Trois). The secondary returns intact but they did allow a mediocre 34-8 TD to INT ratio in 2016.

SPECIAL TEAMS

MEGALOCKS prides itself in always looking at the glass as being HALF FULL, but sometimes, you just need to tell it like it is, yo. PK Josh Pollack was only 1/6 on FGs from 40+ yards last year and they were putrid on punt and kick returns. Seems like another weakness to us.

Potential ATS Trouble Spot

September 15 – at UTEP. This game precedes the start of PAC 12 play and we would like to think that they would just like to get their “automatic” (?) win and get out of town.

MEGAmazing Tidbits

The Wildcats did not have a 1,000-yard rusher, a 1,500 yard passer or a 600-yard receiver last season. THAT is really hard to do in the PAC 12. We invite MEGALOCKS RESEARCH INTERNS (even the hot ones) to take a stab at finding a similar example.

MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 2.0

MEGALOCKS says:

Overall, we give the WILDCATS a 2.0 ATS Value Rating (Avoid) this season.

We have build our reputation on HONESTY and the willingness to share our HORRIBLE CALLS with MILLIONS of fans and readers……Last season we gave the Wildcats a 6.5 ATS Value Rating and communicated the following gem….“It is with a degree of caution that we endorse the Wildcats as a potential sleeper and money maker in 2016. ” Yes, they had injuries, but that was an all-timer in terms of pathetic opinions. They finished 2-10 ATS. What about 2017 ?

This feels like a DOUBLE BOTTOM. While it is true that teams often rebound off horrid season-long ATS debacles, when it comes to the 2017 Wildcats, we fail to see any upside and feel that they may have trouble covering the spread all season. Not saying, just saying. Might be best to stay clear on most occasions.

Want more Arizona Football ?

Website

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Forum

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News

http://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcats/

http://www.wildcat.arizona.edu/section/sports

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