Texas Tech football: Three Arizona offensive weapons to be aware of

RB J.J. Taylor makes the Arizona offense click

The shortest player on the Arizona roster is the one who plays the biggest.  5-foot-6 RB J.J. Taylor is a workhorse RB who runs with speed and a surprising amount of power given his diminutive size.

"“He’s one of a kind,” Arizona RBs coach DeMarco Murray told Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star. “Pound for pound, one of the strongest guys on the team. He has a burst of energy. He’s a guy that works hard every single day.”"

Already a top-10 rusher in program history entering his junior season, he put up 1,434 rushing yards in 2018, fourth-most in Wildcat history.  What’s more, his average of 175.6 all-purpose yards per game was second-most among FBS players.

Taylor is more than comfortable running between the tackles where his small stature makes it easy for him to hide behind the offensive line.  But he’s also a weapon in the passing game with 31 career receptions.

Interestingly though, his rushing attempts are down significantly this year.  Thus far, he’s averaged just 12 rushes per game after carrying the ball over 21 times per contest a year ago.

That may be partially attributed to the fact that in the opener, Arizona fell into a hole and had to throw the ball to get back into the game.  And in week two, he did not need to tote the rock 20 times for the Wildcats to beat Northern Arizona.

Expect Taylor to be a big factor this Saturday.  And he will be facing a Red Raider defense that has been very solid against the run.

Tech ranks No. 34 in the country in rush defense despite playing two teams that build their identity around churning out yards on the ground.  Through two games, Tech’s allowing just 102 yards per game.

Look for Tate to be a huge part of the Arizona attack this week.  Sumlin has not leaned too heavily on his star runner this far but that could change this week.  He’s run for over 100 yards nine times.  In those games, Arizona has gone 7-2.  So it’s easy to see how vital he is to what his team wants to accomplish.