Arizona head coach Brent Brennan isn’t sugarcoating the assignment in front of his team: West Virginia on the road is going to be a grind, even with a 9 a.m. start on the Mountaineers’ body clocks.
“A very, very difficult road game. Travel, going against a very well-coached team; the environment is going to be on us - all the stuff you would expect going on the road in the Big 12.”
Brennan said the Wildcats will head out of Tucson on Thursday to help adjust to the time change, but he made clear the early kickoff won’t be treated as a built-in excuse. The bigger issue, in his view, is trying to slow down a WVU offense that can hit you from a lot of angles.
“Offensively, explosive. Crazy tempo team.
A lot of plus-1 run game with the quarterback. They want to run the football, and they do a great job of that.
Their running back is a total stud. He’s run for a ton of yards, lots of explosive plays.
The quarterback is a stud. Total badass.
That’s going to be a great challenge for our defense.”
That quarterback is Mike Hawkins Jr., who enters Week 6 leading all Big 12 quarterbacks with 18 touchdowns responsible for. He’s also found the end zone on the ground in four straight games. Put Hawkins together with Cam Cook, and West Virginia has a backfield duo that can tilt a game fast and keep the Mountaineers dangerous every snap.
Brennan did have praise for the West Virginia defense, even if he didn’t spend much time breaking it down in detail. He described the unit as one that brings a lot of different looks and pressure, which makes it tough to prepare for.
“Defensively, they are multiple, high-pressure team. They are tough to plan for because there’s a lot of variation there, so you’re not always sure of what you’re going to get. They’ve been pretty stingy in the red zone, and they’ve been pretty good on 3rd down.”
The matchup also carries a little rarity with it: West Virginia and Arizona have met just once before on the football field, and Brennan and Rodriguez are set to coach against each other for the first time. Brennan said he first heard Rodriguez speak at a coaches' clinic in Oregon around 2012 and came away impressed.
“He’s a football guy, and he’s obviously a great coach because he’s won pretty much everywhere he’s been and really creative offensively. I remember watching those teams with Pat White and how different it all looked and how fast they played.
He’s always been really good to me. Really friendly.
Loved his time in Tucson. I got a ton of respect for him.”
In Other News...
Noah Fifita Faces A Bigger Test Than Arizona Fans Might Think
Arizonas trip to West Virginia brings a familiar face back into the picture for Rich Rodriguez, who once coached in Tucson and now gets a shot at his former program in a Big 12 matchup. It also comes at a time when the Mountaineers are trying to steady themselves after dropping their last two games, while Arizona arrives with some momentum thanks to a three-game winning streak.
The Wildcats have not exactly reached the open date in perfect shape, though, with injuries thinning their group of wide receivers and putting more of the burden on Noah Fifita. The quarterback is set to make his 40th consecutive start against a West Virginia defense that has had its own struggles this season, which turns this into more than just a road test for Arizona. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Hawkins Jr. Gets A Big Chance To Change The Narrative
Mike Hawkins Jr. has already given West Virginia a better version of its quarterback room than many expected, especially on the vertical throws that can change a game in a hurry. The dual-threat sophomore has completed 12 of 27 passes beyond 20 yards for 416 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions this season, and Rich Rodriguez has pointed to the growth in Hawkins passing and his overall versatility as reasons for the Mountaineers offense has become harder to defend.
The next test is a revealing one, because Arizona brings a defense built to heat up the pocket and make a quarterback win from the pocket under stress. For Hawkins, that means another chance to show the arm talent and decision-making that have already started to reshape the conversation around him, even if the most important part of the evaluation may come down to how he handles the pressure he is about to see. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Faces A Season Pressure Point Against Arizona
West Virginia heads into a noon ET matchup at Milan Puskar Stadium with a familiar kind of urgency, this time against Arizona in a Big 12 Conference game that already carries an early-season edge. The Mountaineers are still looking for their first league win after opening conference play with losses, and the setting only adds to the pressure as they try to steady things at home.
The challenge is clear enough: West Virginias defense has struggled nationally, while Arizona brings the conferences top passer into Morgantown. ESPNs Football Power Index gives the Mountaineers a 39.5% shot to win, which only underscores how much has to go right if they are going to flip the script on TNT and get their league season moving in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]