2006 Arizona Wildcats Football Preview

Welcome to Maddux's 2006 Arizona Wildcats season preview. As usual we have taken the time to break down the team, while providing information about the university, and the 2006 Arizona Wildcats Football Schedule. If you are wagering on college football this season consider using Maddux Sports' College football picks for the added edge over the sportsbooks in 2006. In addition be sure to bookmark our free college football lines service for the upcoming season.

Coach: Mike Stoops (3rd year at Arizona)
Team Name: Wildcats
2005 Overall Record: 3-8
2005 Pac 10 Conference Record 2-6
Returning Starters: 17

For the past two seasons under coach Mike Stoops, the Wildcats won-loss records have been 3 and 8, while the team has not had a winning season since 1998. Will this year be any different?

Last season, red-shirted quarterback Willie Tuitama was reinstated for game 7 and led the team to surprise victories over Oregon State and UCLA. In just 5 games, he threw 9 TDs. On the receiving end, the Wildcats welcome back Mike Thomas, who was one of the PAC-10’s top freshman with 52 receptions, 771 yards and 5 touchdowns.

The running game is unproven with junior Chris Henry coming off a season where he carried the ball 34 times and developed a reputation as a fumbler and freshman Xavier Smith taking the field totally untested.

On defense athletic free safety Michael Johnson, who led the team with 60 tackles and 4 interceptions in 2005, is back. At the corners, Antoine Cason and Wilrey Fontenot, both of whom are top players, enter their third years as starters. Junior college transfers Louis Holmes and Gabe Long bring size and strength to the line.

This can be a 7 and 4 club this season, but that’s contingent on Arizona winning three swing games—BYU, Oregon State and Arizona State. If they can win those and pull an upset against California, this could be a winning year for Arizona.

Arizona Wildcats 2006 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Home/Road
Sep 2	BYU	Home
Sep 8	LSU	Road
Sep 16	Stephen F. Austin	Home
Sep 23	USC	Home
Sep 30	Washington	Home
Oct 7	UCLA	Road
Oct 14	Stanford	Road
Oct 21	Oregon State	Home
Nov 4	Washington State	Road
Nov 11	California	Home
Nov 16	Oregon	Road
Nov 25	Arizona State	Home

 

For more data on the 2006 Arizona football program, view the Wildcats team website or scroll down below to read up on the rest of the Pac 10 competition.