Last week, the Arizona Wildcats focused on generating explosive plays on offense, and it paid off, as Khalil Tate completed passes for 75, 65, 55 and 53 yards in a 62-31 rout vs. Southern Utah.
This week, they are hoping to fix another weakness: third-down defense. Opponents have converted on 23 of 52 third downs against Arizona this season, a 44.2 percent clip. That ranks 109th in the FBS. There are only 130 teams.
“We have not met our goal on defense,” Coach Kevin Sumlin said Monday at his weekly press conference. “That needs to be around 35 percent or lower and we haven’t done that.