Zach Arnett details carryover in Arizona's offense from 2022

Zach Arnett prepared for Arizona’s offense last season as Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator. Now, in the second game of the Bulldog’s season, he will do so as head coach in Starkville.

Arnett spoke highly of the Wildcat’s offense during his press conference to start the week. In his evaluation, he saw several details that are similar to a year ago as well as some big play ability that his defense will need to take note of.

“You see a lot of carryover,” Arnett said. “I think, someone can double-check me on this, but I remember seeing one time, I believe they led the country last year in explosive plays of 20 yards or more. If they did not finish at that up until the last couple weeks of the season? They were leading the country in the number of explosive plays generated.”

“They have a phenomenal scheme offensively,” said Arnett.

Arizona, led by Jeff Fisch and offensively coordinated by Brennan Carroll, finished with a Top-50 offense in 2022. It was a significant step up from their ranking in ’21 as they scored 30.8 points per game.

However, Arnett and the Bulldogs held them to their lowest scoring output of last year with just 17 points in a 22-point loss. They finished that game with only 316 yards of offense, nearly 150 yards off their average for the season.

The Wildcats opened this season with 38 points after amassing 478 yards of offense against Northern Arizona. Much of that came from the success of QB Jayden de Laura (18/24 for 285 passing yards, four total touchdowns, and an interception). After throwing three interceptions against them last fall, de Laura is back to give Arnett’s defense trouble with his mobility.

“Returning quarterback, very mobile and agile,” Arnett noted. “The sacks he gets out of when you feel like you have him bottled up in pressure? He flushes and finds a way out of there. He has one of the quickest releases I’ve seen in football right now. So very talented.”

That’s not even to mention the compliments that Arnett had for Arizona’s running backs, specifically Michael Wiley, and their offensive line. The question now is whether all their talent, experience, and an offense that Arnett speaks highly of will be enough to get them the win in their second year playing Mississippi State with this game being held in Davis Wade.

“I can’t say enough good things about their offense and the ways they challenge defenses,” said Arnett.