2020 Arizona Wildcats football team explained

Year:	2020
Team:	Arizona Wildcats
Sport:	football
Conference:	Pac-12 Conference
Division:	South Division
Short Conf:	Pac-12
Record:	0–5
Conf Record:	0–5
Head Coach:	Kevin Sumlin
Hc Year:	3rd
Off Coach:	Noel Mazzone
Oc Year:	3rd
Off Scheme:	Spread
Def Coach:	Paul Rhoads
Dc Year:	1st
Def Scheme:	4–2–5
Stadium:	Arizona Stadium

The 2020 Arizona Wildcats football team represented the University of Arizona in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Arizona was led by third-year head coach Kevin Sumlin, in the Wildcats' 121st season. The Wildcats played in the South Division (11th season) of the Pac-12 Conference, and played their home games at Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Arizona (93rd season).

On August 11, the Pac-12 Conference initially canceled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] On September 24, the conference announced that a six-game conference-only season would begin on November 6, with the Pac-12 Championship Game to be played December 18. Teams not selected for the championship game would be seeded to play a seventh game.^[2]

On December 12, 2020, Sumlin was fired after three seasons following a 70–7 loss to ASU in the Territorial Cup on December 11, 2020. He finished at Arizona with an overall record of 9–20 and 6–17 against the Pac-12. On December 23, 2020, the University of Arizona hired Jedd Fisch as the 32nd head coach.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
	14	QB	6'0	195	Senior		Graduated
	21	RB	5'6	180	Junior		Declared for the 2020 NFL draft
Cedric Peterson	18	WR	5'11	188	RS senior		Graduated
Daniel Egbo	41	WR	6'2	192	Senior		Graduated
Lee Anderson	51	LB	6'1	246	Senior	Moreno Valley, California	Graduated
Matt Aargon	26	P	6'5	211	Senior		Graduated
Finton Connolly	91	DT	6'5	300	RS senior	Gilbert, Arizona	Graduated
Tristan Cooper	31	S	6'2	198	Senior		Graduated
Cody Creason	76	OL	6'4	295	RS senior		Graduated
Malcolm Holland	12	WR	5'11	189	RS senior		Graduated
Terrance Johnson	83	WR	6'2	211	RS senior	Tucson, Arizona	Graduated
	17	CB	5'11	185	RS senior		Graduated

Recruiting

See also: American football positions, Glossary of American football and Recruiting (college athletics).

Transfers

The Wildcats lose multiple players due to various reasons.

Outgoing

Name	No.	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	New school
Dayven Coleman	9	LB	6'2	216	Sophomore		Stephen F. Austin
Chaco Ulloa	13	S	5'11	200	Senior		Montana State
Jake Peters	80	TE	6'4	222	Freshman		Colorado
Thomas Marcus	84	WR	6'2	203	Freshman		Montana State
Justin Belknap	86	DL	6'3	245	RS senior		Montana
Troy Young	11	S	6'0	205	Junior		UAB
Scottie Young Jr.	6	S	5'11	201	Junior	San Diego, California	West Virginia
Xavier Bell	37	S	6'2	196	RS junior		Portland State
	1	LB	6'1	220	Senior		West Virginia
	7	LB	6'1	230	Junior		Texas Tech
	8	WR	6'2	193	Senior	Dana Point, California	Texas

Incoming

Name	No.	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Prev. school
Aaron Blackwell	52	DL	6'3	298	Senior		New Mexico
	51	DL	6'2	310	Senior		New Mexico State
Matthew Stefanski	--	OL	6'4	314	Freshman		Grand Valley State

Position key

Back	B		Center	C		Cornerback	CB		Defensive back	DB
Defensive end	DE		Defensive lineman	DL		Defensive tackle	DT		End	E
Fullback	FB		Guard	G		Halfback	HB		Kicker	K
Kickoff returner	KR		Offensive tackle	OT		Offensive lineman	OL		Linebacker	LB
Long snapper	LS		Punter	P		Punt returner	PR		Quarterback	QB
Running back	RB		Safety	S		Tight end	TE		Wide receiver	WR

Returning starters

Offense

Player	Class	Position
Grant Gunnell	Sophomore	Quarterback
Gary Brightwell	Senior	Running back
Jarmarye Joiner	RS sophomore	Wide receiver
Stanley Berryhill	RS junior	Wide receiver
Bryce Wolma	Senior	Tight end
Josh McCauley	RS senior	Offensive line
Reference:

Defense

Player	Class	Position
J.B. Brown	Senior	Defensive end
Anthony Pandy	Senior	Linebacker
Jarrius Wallace	RS senior	Defensive back
Reference:

Special teams

Player	Class	Position
Lucas Havrisik	Senior	Placekicker
Jarmarye Joiner	RS sophomore	Kick Returner
Reference:

† Indicates player was a starter in 2019 but missed all of 2020 due to injury.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Doak Walker Award^[3]	Gary Brightwell	RB	Sr.
Wuerffel Trophy^[4]	Colin Schooler	LB	SR

Pac-12 Media Day

The Pac-12 Media Day was held in July 2020 in Hollywood, California.

Media poll (South Division)
1	Arizona
2	Arizona State
3	Colorado
4	UCLA
5	USC
6	Utah

Preseason All-Pac-12 teams

Personnel

Coaching staff

	Head coach	3rd	Purdue
	Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks	3rd	New Mexico
	Defensive coordinator/safeties	1st	Missouri Western
Taylor Mazzone	Assistant coach/outside Receivers	3rd	East Carolina
	Assistant coach/cornerbacks	1st	Washington State
Stan Eggen	Assistant coach/defensive line	1st	Moorhead State
	Assistant coach/offensive line	2nd	Oregon State
Andy Buh	Assistant coach/linebackers	1st	Nevada
AJ Steward	Assistant coach/running backs	1st	Kansas
Theron Aych	Assistant coach/inside wide receivers	4th	Northern State
	Tight ends/Special teams	3rd	UTEP
Brian Johnson	Strength and Conditioning	3rd	LSU

Depth chart

Starters and backups.

Depth Chart Source: 2020 Arizona Wildcats Football Fact Book

True Freshman
Double Position : *

Schedule

Spring game

The 2020 Wildcats began spring practice on March 2, 2020 and finish with the 2020 Arizona spring game. The remainder of spring practice and the spring game were canceled on March 18, 2020, due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

Regular season

Arizona had scheduled non–conference games against Hawaii, Portland State, and Texas Tech but canceled these games on July 10 due to the Pac-12 Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]
[7]

Original 2020 Arizona Wildcats schedule
Date	Opponent	Site
August 29	Hawaii	Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ
September 5	Portland State	Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ
September 12		Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ
September 19	at Texas Tech*	Jones AT&T Stadium • Lubbock, TX
October 3		Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA
October 9		Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ
October 17		Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ
October 23		Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA
October 31		Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ
November 7		Rice–Eccles Stadium • Salt Lake City, UT
November 21		Reser Stadium • Corvallis, OR
November 28		Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ (Territorial Cup)

^[8]

Game summaries

vs No. 20 USC

See also: 2020 USC Trojans football team.

Statistics	USC	ARIZ
First downs	26	26
Total yards	498	444
Rushing yards	32–173	40–158
Passing yards	325	286
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	30–43–0	24–36–1
Time of possession	29:56	30:04

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
USC	Passing	Kedon Slovis	30/43, 325 yards, TD
Rushing	Markese Stepp	12 carries, 82 yards, TD
Receiving	Amon-Ra St. Brown	7 receptions, 113 yards
Arizona	Passing	Grant Gunnell	24/36, 286 yards, 3 TD, INT
Rushing	Gary Brightwell	21 carries, 112 yards
Receiving	Tayvian Cunningham	5 receptions, 110 yards, TD

at Washington

See also: 2020 Washington Huskies football team.

Statistics	ARIZ	WASH
First downs	22	24
Total yards	331	472
Rushing yards	26–72	45–233
Passing yards	259	239
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	27–39–0	16–26–0
Time of possession	22:43	37:17

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Arizona	Passing	Grant Gunnell	27/39, 259 yards, 3 TD
Rushing	Gary Brightwell	11 carries, 55 yards
Receiving	Stanley Berryhill III	5 receptions, 65 yards, 2 TD
Washington	Passing	Dylan Morris	15/25, 230 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Richard Newton	8 carries, 81 yards, 2 TD
Receiving	Cade Otton	7 receptions, 100 yards, TD

at UCLA

See also: 2020 UCLA Bruins football team.

Statistics	ARIZ	UCLA
First downs	17	23
Total yards	300	410
Rushing yards	39–147	56–281
Passing yards	153	129
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	18–36–2	12–20–0
Time of possession	28:29	31:31

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Arizona	Passing	Will Plummer	17/35, 151 yards, 2 INT
Rushing	Gary Brightwell	17 carries, 57 yards
Receiving	Stanley Berryhill III	5 receptions, 58 yards
UCLA	Passing	Chase Griffin	12/20, 129 yards, TD
Rushing	Demetric Felton	32 carries, 206 yards, TD
Receiving	Kyle Phillips	3 receptions, 40 yards

vs Colorado

See also: 2020 Colorado Buffaloes football team.

Statistics	COLO	ARIZ
First downs	18	23
Total yards	499	422
Rushing yards	46–407	43–268
Passing yards	92	154
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	12–20–2	19–32–1
Time of possession	29:03	30:57

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Colorado	Passing	Sam Noyer	12/19, 92 yards, 2 INT
Rushing	Jarek Broussard	25 carries, 301 yards
Receiving	Dimitri Stanley	2 receptions, 44 yards
Arizona	Passing	Will Plummer	19/32, 154 yards, INT
Rushing	Michael Wiley	7 carries, 122 yards
Receiving	Brian Casteel	3 receptions, 71 yards

vs Arizona State

See also: 2020 Arizona State Sun Devils football team.

Statistics	ASU	ARIZ
First downs	17	18
Total yards	486	350
Rushing yards	50–259	36–137
Passing yards	227	213
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	10–13–0	26–46–3
Time of possession	31:01	27:53

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Arizona State	Passing	Jayden Daniels	9/11, 203 yards, 2 TD
Rushing	Rachaad White	10 carries, 133 yards. 3 TD
Receiving	Curtis Hodges	1 reception, 74 yards, TD
Arizona	Passing	Will Plummer	7/13, 83 yards
Rushing	Gary Brightwell	17 carries, 49 yards
Receiving	Ma'Jon Wright	8 receptions, 85 yards

Arizona committed seven turnovers as Arizona State scored 70 points, the most points scored in the history of the Territorial Cup.^[9] The Wildcats used three different quarterbacks in the game, none of which broke 100 yards passing; Will Plummer finished 7-of-13 for 83 yards, Grant Gunnell went 12-of-17 for 78 yards with one interception and one lost fumble, and Rhett Rodriguez finished 7-of-16 for 52 yards with two interceptions. Running back Gary Brightwell lost three fumbles. The defeat was so devastating that head coach Kevin Sumlin was fired the following day.

Statistics

Scores by quarter

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2021 NFL draft.

6	195		DT	Houston Texans
6	196		RB	New York Giants

Media affiliates

Radio

• ESPN Radio – (ESPN Tucson 1490 AM & 104.09 FM) – Nationwide (Dish Network, Sirius XM, TuneIn radio and iHeartRadio)
• KCUB 1290 AM – Football Radio Show – (Tucson, AZ)
• KHYT – 107.5 FM (Tucson, AZ)
• KTKT 990 AM – La Hora de Los Gatos (Spanish) – (Tucson, AZ)
• KGME 910 AM – (IMG Sports Network) – (Phoenix, AZ)
• KTAN 1420 AM – (Sierra Vista, AZ)
• KDAP 96.5 FM (Douglas, Arizona)
• KWRQ 102.3 FM – (Safford, AZ/Thatcher, AZ)
• KIKO 1340 AM – (Globe, AZ)
• KVWM 970 AM – (Show Low, AZ/Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ)
• XENY 760 – (Nogales, Sonora) (Spanish)

TV

• CBS Family – KOLD (CBS), CBSN
• ABC/ESPN Family – KGUN (ABC), ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+,
• FOX Family – KMSB (FOX), FOX/FS1, FSN
• Pac-12 Network (Pac-12 Arizona)
• NBC – KVOA, NBC Sports, NBCSN

Notes and References

1. Web site: Pac-12 Conference postpones all sport competitions through end of calendar year . pac-12.com . August 11, 2020. August 11, 2020.
2. Web site: Pac-12 announces resumption of football, basketball & winter sports seasons . pac-12.com . September 24, 2020. October 30, 2020.
3. Web site: 2019 finalist Chuba Hubbard, 2018 finalist Travis Etienne two of the 76 Doak Walker Award watch listers. July 15, 2020. July 15, 2020.
4. Web site: Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2020 Watch List. July 23, 2020. July 23, 2020.
5. Web site: 2020 Arizona Wildcats roster. ArizonaWildcats.com.
6. Web site: Pac-12 CEO Group announces decision to schedule conference-only play for several Fall sports & to delay move toward mandatory athletics activities. pac-12.com.
7. Web site: Bromberg . Nick . Pac-12 follows Big Ten's lead and won't play non-conference games in 2020 . Yahoo News . 10 July 2020.
8. Web site: 2020 Arizona Wildcats football schedule . FB Schedules . January 29, 2019.
9. Web site: December 11, 2020 . Territorial rout: Arizona State blows out rival Arizona 70-7 . August 15, 2021 . ESPN. Associated Press.