Ranking the Top 100 College Football Teams for 2018: No. 22 Arizona

In the 100 days leading up to the kickoff of the college football season on Saturday, Aug. 25, HERO Sports is ranking the top 100 teams in the FBS. Each day, starting May 17 and ending Aug. 24, a new team is revealed in the HERO Sports Top 100. 

No. 22 Arizona

Arizona can win the Pac-12 South if there's a smooth transition to the new staff's system.

Yes, that's a huge "if," but they have a Heisman-contending quarterback, high-end talent across the two-deep and a favorable schedule.

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2017 Record: 7-6 (5-4, Pac-12)

Arizona rebounded nicely from their three-win debacle in 2016 with a seven-win 2017, their fifth season with at least seven wins under sixth-year head coach Rich Rodriguez.

While they lost to Houston at home, failed to win more than five conference games for the fifth time in six seasons, beat only one team that finished above .500 and blew opportunities against the better teams on their schedule, Arizona adequately eradicated the stench of the nightmare 2016 season.

The on-field results were enough for Rich Rod to keep his job, but the results of a three-month internal investigation into sexual harassment claims led to his dismissal on Jan. 2.

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Head Coach: Kevin Sumlin (1st Year)

"Coach Sumlin is going to transform Arizona football, restore us to national prominence and championship football,” Arizona president Bobby Robbins proclaimed during Kevin Sumlin's introductory press conference.

It's been a long time since Arizona had "national prominence" and played "championship football. They did win 10 games and the Pac-12 South in 2014 but have never posted back-to-back 10-win seasons, have one conference title since 1973 and zero all-time national titles.

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Player Losses

RB Nick Wilson, OT Gerhard de Beer, G Jacob Alsadek, G Christian Boettcher, CB Dane Cruikshank 

The losses were minimal, and they all came at positions at which Arizona has returning talent and depth.

Nick Wilson battled injuries for much of his final three years after an enormous freshman season (1,375 rushing yards, 13 total touchdowns) but still finished his career averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

Four-year starting right guard and 2017 team captain Jacob Alsadek is also gone, as is fellow captain, corner Dan Cruikshank. The former JUCO transfer had seven tackles for loss and 17 passes defended in his two seasons.

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Returning Offensive Players

QB Khalil Tate, RB J.J. Taylor, WR Shun Brown, WR Tony Ellison, WR Shawn Poindexter, OT Layth Friekh, OT Cody Creason, C Nathan Eldridge

Kevin Sumlin brought Noel Mazzone from Texas A&M to lead the offense. The 39-year coaching veteran runs a version of the spread with zone-reads, a balanced passing-rushing ratio, no-huddle and quarterback-designed runs.

As noted by Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star, when Mazzone had a dual-threat quarterback — as he will in Khalil Tate, whom he recruited to UCLA when he was offensive coordinator for the Bruins (2012-15) — his offenses ran the ball on 51 percent of plays, which is about 14 points below Arizona's run ratio last year. 

PODCAST: Is Tate the Clear No. 1 in College Fantasy Football?

"What’s ‘balanced’ mean? In my mind, balanced is like, when I want to throw it I can complete it, and when I want to run it I can make yards. That would be a balanced offense,” Mazzone said during spring practice. "I don’t think there’s a magic number to that. I’ve had seasons where we’ve thrown for 4,000 yards, and then I’ve had seasons where we’ve had 1,500-, 1,700-yard rushers.”

Arizona three seniors returning at receiver, including Tony Ellison, a 5-foot-11, 189-pounder who entered last season with three career catches before exploding for 37 receptions for 598 yards (team-high 16.2 yards per reception). And there's plenty of talent at running back with the return of all-purpose back J.J. Taylor, whose strong freshman season (5.8 yards per carry) was overshadowed by Tate's exploits.

Despite losing three starters and facing a two-game suspension for left tackle Layth Friekh, the offensive line could be one of the best in the Pac-12. Maybe that's overly optimistic but center Nathan Eldridge is a stud — and the best No. 64 in college football — and Cody Creason's versatility gives them a lot of options.

Areas of improvement for the offense: turnovers (1.8 per game in 2017) and sack rate (6.3 percent).

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Returning Defensive Players

DE Justin Beklnap, DT Dereck Boles, DT Finton Connolly,  LB/DE Kylan Wilborn, LB Colin Schooler, LB Tony Fields II, CB Jace Whittaker, CB Lorenzo Burns, S Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, S Scottie Young Jr.

Marcel Yates left his post as Texas A&M co-defensive coordinator in 2013 for the defensive coordinator job at Boise State. He took the same position at Arizona and was retained by Sumlin. (Yates was reportedly a finalist for the head coaching job, too.)

Arizona's defense still ranked among the worst in the FBS in several areas but they made big improvements and, because it was powered by mostly underclassmen, return 10 starters.

Points Per Play: 0.55 points to 0.45 points
Red Zone: 88 percent to 75 percent
Third Down: 52 percent to 46 percent
Sack Rate: 5.8 percent to 7.5 percent
Takeaways: 0.7 per game to 1.8 per game

The rising star is Kylan Wilborn, a 2017 three-star recruit who accepted his lone FBS offer and led the team in sacks (seven) last season. He plays their "Stud" linebacker/edge rusher position and was one of three freshman linebackers to start every game (Colin Schooler and Tony Fields). 

“They were really good as freshmen, but they also made a lot of mistakes. They know that. Those mistakes had nothing to do with coaching. It’s not like their last coach wasn’t good," Yates said, referencing former Wildcats' linebackers coach Scott Boone, whom Yates is replacing, retaking the title of linebackers coach that he held in 2016. "They made mistakes because they were just young. They didn’t understand the game as well as they should.

Wilborn should lead the team in sacks again, but they need more from a front four that struggled to pressure the quarterback last year. Not one defensive lineman had at least three sacks. 

Three-year starter Jace Whittaker is back at corner, as is Lorenzo Burns, who led the team with five picks as a freshman. Another three-year starter, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, is back at safety, but his 2017 running mate, sophomore Scottie Young Jr. was suspended during spring practice and has yet to be reinstated.

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Player Additions

WR Stanley Berryhill, WR Drew Dixon, OT Tshiyombu Lukusa, DE Jalen Harris, S Xavier Bell

The receiver room is laced with upperclassmen, but two redshirt freshmen, Stanley Berryhill and Drew Dixon, are competing for snaps. Berryhill has a similar game to that of Shun Brown and will play behind Brown in the slot, while Dixon is a big guy (6-foot-3, 203 pounds) who will likely be the second option behind Shawn Poindexter.

Elsewhere, tackle Tshiyombu Lukusa is a Michigan State transfer who should back up Cody Creason at right tackle, redshirt freshman end Jalen Harris has legit pass-rushing skills, and redshirt freshman Xaiver Bell is big-bodied (6-foot-2, 192 pounds) safety who could be dangerous near the line of scrimmage.

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Schedule

A very feasible goal: Arizona should be undefeated entering the Week 5 game vs. USC. If that happens, they have legitimate potential to contend for the South title. They do visit Utah but get USC, Oregon, and Cal at home and miss Washington.

They don't have a bye until the second weekend of November.