As we progress towards the 2007 Pac 10 season, we have taken a look at the offenses for USC and UCLA. Now, it's time to go east to the desert and look at the Arizona schools. Today, we will look att he offense of the Arizona Wildcats.

2006 was not friendly for Arizona, and they proved to be inexperienced, inconsistent, and injury-prone. Those three "I"'s end to spell disaster for any football program, but it was particularly troubling for Arizona who's defense started strong but faded late in the season.

First, we should look at what Arizona has going for them looking forward into the 2007 season.

At Quarterback, the team seems to live or die by their starter, Willie Tuitama, who is entering his Junior year, and his third year as starter. Tuitama has proven to have a good level of talent and can make things happen with his legs as much as his arm, but he is prone to injury because he tends to do too much and because the offensive line has not shown a consistent ability to hold off oncoming defenders. Tuitama has had a notable lack of receiving talent in the past couple of seasons, but that might be changing with the emergence of two Terrells; Terrell Turner, and Terrell Reese, both Red Shirt freshmen. These two receivers have some size to go along with their speed and should serve as a wonderful addition to Mike Thomas, who is ripe for an All Pac-10 kind of season, coming off of a 50 reception, 600 yards performance in 2006. Thomas will almost certainly be Tuitama's go-to-guy and if he can get Thomas the ball, Thomas looks to give some defensive backfield's fits in the upcoming season.

The other thing that Arizona has going for it is the very good recruiting classes of the last couple seasons. These classes should begin to pay dividends this season with the additions of Wide Receivers a new Left Guard (Daniel Borg), and most importantly, I highly skilled backup quarterback, should Tuitama go down with injury. Tyler Lyon looks to be the next quarterback to take up the reigns for Arizona and although he is inexperienced and not as talented as Tuitama at this point, Lyon would be less likely to make the big mistake that has plagued Tuitama through his previous two seasons.

Finally, the biggest asset to Arizona, yet again, is their kicker, Nicholas Folk. Last season, Folk hit on all of his extra points and 75% of his field goal attempts. I look for Lyon to challenge for All Pac 10 honors this season.

Arizona's biggest challenges remain the same, and there are new questions to be asked...

• Can Tuitama stay healthy?
• It looks like Arizona has a second and third receiving option this season, but they have no experience. How will they perform?
• They have a great Tight End with a lot of size (Travis Bell). Can they develope his hands or his blocking ability?
• Arizona loses it's top Running back (Chris Henry) so can Chris Jennings step in to be a big time player?
• The Ofensive line is still undersized, averaging just 288 pounds, and 6 ft 4 inches and are inexperienced with 2 sophomores, 1 Freshman, a junior, and a senior. They have more talent, but will they show it this year or are they a year away?
• Finally, will Tuitama show more poise and use his receivers IF his line can make a pocket for him?

After looking closely at the Arizona offense, my early opinion is that Tuitama, although better, will continue to make a lot of the same mistakes of the past, as I don't believe his offensive line will be able to hold off the defenses they will face. They have a possible All-America at Right guard in Joe Longacre, but the defenses can run stunts to the left side all day long and should force Tuitama out of the pocket often. On the bright side, the last couple seasons, defenses focused on rushing the right side of the offense, forcing Tuitama out to the left, where he has trouble throwing the ball with any accuracy. The right side of the offensive line should be the strength, so if Tuitama is forced out of the pocket, he should have much better results throwing with his body, as opposed to against it. Of course, this also opens him up to blind side hits, which could lead to another injury-prone season in 2007.

Finally, Mike Stoops is a good coach but is likely to be on the hot seat. Often times, this raises the level of the team, but in Arizona's case, I just don't think they have the necessary balance of talent and experience.

All in all, it appears to me, that if Arizona has any hope to be even a .500 team in 2007, they will be relying heavily on their defense, because offensively, they appear to have too many question marks and not all of them can turn up roses, can they?

DM14

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