Predicting The Final Score of Washington vs. Arizona

The Arizona Wildcats, fresh off a 38-20 homecoming victory over the Colorado Buffaloes, look to keep their Pac-12 South Division title hopes alive this weekend against the visiting Washington Huskies.

The Wildcats’ explosive offense is led by freshman quarterback Anu Solomon, who leads all freshman quarterbacks in the FBS with 239 completions, 2,816 passing yards and 25 passing touchdowns. He enters Saturday’s contest coming off a game where he threw for four touchdowns and eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time in his young career. Arizona ranks fourth in the conference, scoring an average of 36.6 points per game and rebounded with a 38-point performance last weekend after the UCLA Bruins held them to only seven points at the Rose Bowl the previous week.

While the Wildcats’ offense is on the rise, Washington’s has struggled so far this season, ranking dead-last in the Pac 12, averaging only 365 yards per contest. Leading rusher Shaq Thompson, who averages 7.6 yards per carry, and leading receiver John Ross, who leads the team with four receiving touchdowns and a 21.9 yards-per-catch average, are expected to shift back primarily to defense for a Huskies team that has dropped three of their last four games and saw top defensive playmaker Marcus Peters dismissed from the team last week. Quarterback Cyler Miles has only thrown two interceptions so far this season, but he is last in the conference among starting quarterbacks, averaging only 175.5 yards per game.

With an offense that figures to be severely outmatched, the only chance the Huskies might have in this contest is if Hau’oli Kikaha, who leads the nation in sacks with 16.5 and tackles for loss with 22.5, can put pressure on Solomon and force the freshman into making some crucial mistakes. Washington is second in the conference with a plus-10 turnover margin, but they have lost three straight road meetings against Arizona and I think that trend will continue this weekend. Look for the Wildcats to stay alive in the race for the Pac-12 Championship game with a convincing 38-21 victory over the Huskies.

Phillip Jacques is a Pac-12 Football writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google