Reality check: Humbled Wildcats stumble into Big 12

Oh, it got real, real fast.

After two unsatisfying warm-ups, the Arizona Wildcats followed up with an uninspiring effort in Friday night’s 31-7 loss at Kansas State, ending their nine-game winning streak, which was the longest in the country.

Fun while it lasted.

Kind of.

The Wildcats’ No. 20 ranking will be gone in the new AP poll on Sunday (sigh) after the non-conference loss to K-State, which looks like a true contender in the Big 12. That Arizona lost to those other Wildcats was not a major surprise – being the road team on a short-week Friday night game against a ranked opponent rarely ends super swell – but the margin certainly was.

If this game was supposed to be point toward Arizona’s North Star for the 2024 season under new coach Brent Brennan … well, watch out for that cliff straight ahead.

“The truth is, I’ve got to coach this team better,” Brennan said.

“I give a lot of credit to Kansas State and Coach (Chris) Klieman and those guys. They did a hell of a job. They’ve got a good football team. We’ve got to get back to work and get back to practicing and just drill down on the details and clean up the stuff that is stalling out drives and giving a big plays.”

So, folks, what’s going wrong?

The defense was shoddy in a 61-39 win over New Mexico, the offense was sleepy in a 22-10 slog against NAU … and pretty much everything was sloppy after the Wildcats stacked together a wonderful 14-play drive on the opening possession to take a 7-0 lead on Friday night.

But K-State over the next 52 minutes:

• Won the special teams battle (71-yard punt return by Dylan Edwards to break a 7-7 tie)
• Made the big plays (interception of Noah Fifita, when he threw late over the middle into the end zone; a 48-yard pass on third-and-12 that set up a third-quarter TD for a 21-7 edge)
• Ran the ball way better (127 yards from its running backs, plus 110 from QB Avery Johnson, while Arizona had 51 yards from its running backs)
• Didn’t do stupid things like commit nine penalties for 74 yards.

Hey, at least the new Cats script helmets looked cool.

Kind of.

“No one’s more pissed off than I am, you know what I mean?” Brennan said. “But what do we do about it? How do we respond to the disappointment of this loss? To me, we have to turn into each other, and as coaching staff, we have to do everything we can to put together a great plan for Utah. And then we have to practice.”

If you dare to look at social media, you’ll find that Brennan can’t coach, inspire, is too nice and is generally in over his head. Nobody in the gallery likes the play-calling of offensive coordinator Dino Babers.

Now, for sure, I’m not the go-to guy for breaking down the Xs and Os and all that stuff, but I have a couple of thoughts on the Wildcats’ 2-1 start:

1. All of the Wildcats’ major offseason concerns are still concerns.

–Is the defensive line good enough to contain the run and pressure the passer?

–Does the offensive line have enough depth and can be better than just average?

–Is there a second receiver (like Jacob Cowing last season) to make defenses pay for double-covering Tetairoa McMillan?

No, no, no.

“In any big-time football game, you’ve got to be able to run the ball and you’ve gotta be able to stop the run. We’ve got work to do in both of those departments,” Brennan said.

2. It’s still early.

I wonder/worry if there is the personnel to solve those three concerns above, but I do know this: The Kansas State game was a freebie. Yes, it didn’t look good … but it didn’t count in the Big 12 standings. The goal is the same: Get to the league title game, win it, and make the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

After an off week, the Wildcats play perhaps their biggest game – at Utah on Sept. 28.

I’m not going to say “everything will be just fine,” but for whatever the Wildcats are right now, they have a chance to be something better in two weeks. Or worse. Who knows? But there are nine unread chapters left in the regular season.

“The biggest thing is, we’ve got a lot of football to play and we can’t lose sight of that because we lost one game,” Brennan said.

“We’ve got work to do. We’re going to get back to it right away. I think that’s something that they’re excited to do. They’re excited to fix it, work with each other and find solutions.”

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Top photo: Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is taken down by Kansas State players. (The Topeka Capital-Journal)