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Arizona wild cats are Assumed to start their 2020 football season on Saturday against the USC Trojans, but again they were supposed to have started a week earlier in Utah and that did not happen.
Assuming the 1:30 p.m. kickoff at Arizona Stadium takes place, here’s how our staff expect this Pac-12 South Division battle to play out:
Brian J. Pedersen – USC wins 37-23
USC already has a lot of advantages over Arizona from a talent perspective, but now Trojans also have the luxury of having a game under their belt to solve problems and figure out how to rally from them. 13 points in the fourth quarter. This means they will have had a week to figure out what needs to be fixed before they come to Tucson.
Arizona? The only benefit that could come from not playing last Saturday was that USC didn’t really know what to expect from the Wildcats beyond what they saw from 2019. How much that might help the AU is unknown, but probably won’t be enough to win. a difference in the result.
Beating USC would be great, but more than anything the Wildcats need to show that they can be competitive and that their defense is improving with new staff. Offensive consistency will also be welcome.
Christian Mortensen – USC wins 35-17
I actually predicted Arizona would beat Utah last week, but you won’t find the same optimism from me here.
Historically, USC has dominated the Wildcats for the past 25 years – losing just four times – so it’s really tough for me to pick Arizona to win this game. What I saw of Trojans last week against Arizona State also troubles me.
Sure, SC was the bottom team for the first 57 minutes of the game against ASU and probably should have lost, but quarterback Kedon Slovis absolutely played against the Sun Devils – completing 40 of 55 passes, racking up 381 yards and throwing two touchdowns. —A performance that broke the program’s record for in-game completions.
So it’s safe to say this: The Wildcats largely new group in the defensive secondary are going to be tested Saturday afternoon at Arizona Stadium. In a big way.
The appearance of this group against Drake London, Amon-Ra St. Brown and his company will likely be the deciding factor whether this game is close or not.
If Arizona is to claim a win, they’ll also have to put pressure on Slovis (something he couldn’t do to any quarterback in 2019) and a big day on the pitch from Gary Brightwell, Michael Wiley and Nathan. Tilford too.
Stopping the race seemed to be the biggest issue for USC’s defense against ASU.
But I just don’t see that happening, I think the Trojans attack will prove to be too heavy for Arizona’s new secondary look and in the end the Wildcats will have lost their first three games. of a season under Kevin. Sumlin.
Gabe Encinas – USC win 45-17
I still can’t imagine the defense playing well without its top three players from last season (Colin Schooler, Tony Fields II, Scottie Young Jr.) plus JB Brown and Kylan Wilborn.
I feel like USC was playing last week, and getting rid of the rust and being able to make corrections outweighs Arizona’s ability to rate the movie and schematic accordingly without having to feel the pains of playing a football game for the first time in almost a year.
Arizona could maybe put 28 on the scoreboard, but the defense just can’t last.
Ronnie Stoffle – USC wins 38-16
It won’t be pretty. I don’t even expect it to end early. I expected the defense to have the opportunity to enter the new season against a team from Utah that features a lot of new faces.
However, that game didn’t happen and we are now looking at a situation where the Arizona defense will present their new plan against Kedon Slovis and an attack that totaled over 500 yards in total last week against ASU. .
The only hope is that the Trojans don’t fix their ball safety issues and the Arizona attack is able to capitalize on those mistakes. It feels like a long shot, which means I don’t expect much from a game. I’ll watch, however!
Adam Green – USC win 37-17
When the shortened schedule was released, there was really only one game that I was absolutely sure Arizona would lose, and that is it.
The fact that this turned out to be the Wildcats’ season opener makes it a little different, but honestly I’m not sure it’s a good or a bad way. It probably doesn’t matter.
While USC needed a bit of luck to beat ASU at home last week, the Trojans are a very talented team. It’s hard to imagine Arizona’s new defense containing quarterback Kedon Slovis and his myriad of weapons, and at the same time if the cats fall down an early hole, it won’t do Grant Gunnell and his offense a favor. .
Hopefully it will be a competitive loss, or at least as competitive as a 20 point loss can be. If nothing else, this is our first chance to see Arizona play soccer in almost a year, and for many of us, it’s a victory in itself.
Brandon Combs – USC wins 28-21
At first I thought it might get ugly, but now I’m not so sure. The Trojans don’t have a recent Arizona game movie, while the “Cats” have last week’s game to review.
Add to that the USC not looking very good, and it could be a close game.
I think it will be competitive, but the Trojans can play one more game than Arizona and squeeze in with another win.
Ryan Kelapire – USC wins 38-28
I think Arizona can win this game, but it MUST have a really quick start. If the Wildcats fall behind and are forced to be predictable with their passing game, the USC pass rush will prevail, just like last year when Gunnell took some huge hits (and threw an interception) against Trojans.
They also need to win the turnover battle, but it seems like a cinch considering this is their first game and second for USC. You think Trojans will be sharper.
I’d be shocked if Slovis didn’t put in some big numbers. USC have great receivers and Arizona’s passing rush has been terrible over the past two years. If Arizona wins, there will have to be a shootout.
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