Mere minutes into his first official public appearance of the 2019 season, Kevin Sumlin set the tone for what he expects will be a more prosperous second year at the helm of the 蜜柚直播 Wildcats football program.
He established that baseline months earlier with his team. Expectations have been raised. Another losing season won鈥檛 be tolerated. And the UA can鈥檛 wait until its Aug. 24 opener at Hawaii to ratchet up the intensity.
鈥淟ast season was not what we wanted, players or coaches,鈥 Sumlin said during his opening address at Pac-12 Media Day on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
鈥淲e came back in January. We met and discussed openly what our expectations were as a football team and what that looks like consistencywise, on and off the field. These guys have accepted that challenge. Our coaching staff has accepted that challenge, and I鈥檓 really proud of how these guys have responded.鈥
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Achieving a higher level of consistency was Sumlin鈥檚 main talking point in LA after a season plagued by inconsistency. The Wildcats finished 5-7, at times looking like a contender for the Pac-12 South championship and at other times looking like the worst team in the conference.
蜜柚直播 opens training camp Friday with lower external expectations but renewed internal optimism.
The media picked the Wildcats to finish fifth in the South. (Informed of that news, QB Khalil Tate responded with a quizzical look and a sarcastic question: 鈥淭here鈥檚 six teams in the South, right?鈥)
But Sumlin liked what he saw throughout the offseason. He鈥檚 eager to check out the fully assembled squad for the first time.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a lot of things to work on,鈥 Sumlin said. 鈥淥ne of the big things is consistency. Consistency in your life, consistency in your approach to the game and where are you as a team and as teammates. Is this just something you do, or is this something that you take pride in?
鈥淚n order to do that, you鈥檝e got to invest. What we were investing in at that point (last season) was not enough individually and as a football team.
鈥淎gain, I couldn鈥檛 be happier with the consistency and the effort that these guys have put in in the offseason. Now we鈥檝e got to go to work, and let鈥檚 see where we are as a team.鈥
Ups and downs
Sumlin is hopeful the 2019 Wildcats can avoid the wild fluctuations that characterized the 鈥18 Cats.
蜜柚直播 lost its first two game and its last two. In between, the Wildcats went 5-3.
After a frustrating but competitive Week 1 loss to BYU, 蜜柚直播 got blown out at Houston 鈥 one of three lopsided defeats on the road. The second, at Utah, was sandwiched by a gritty home win over Cal and a heartbreaking but encouraging one-point loss at UCLA that several starters, including Tate, missed because of injury.
The third, at Washington State, came on the heels of back-to-back wins over Oregon and Colorado 鈥 蜜柚直播鈥檚 most impressive stretch of the season.
In the finale the following week, the Wildcats鈥 bad side appeared at the worst possible time. After dominating 蜜柚直播 State for three quarters, 蜜柚直播 squandered a 19-point fourth-quarter lead. The Sun Devils retained the Territorial Cup; the Wildcats went home for the winter.
The Wildcats鈥 2018 season was filled with wild fluctuations. Coach Kevin Sumlin said the UA has 鈥渁 lot of things to work on鈥 heading into 2019, but is pleased with the team鈥檚 growth.
Tate took his share of the blame for the late collapse against ASU and earlier subpar performances, and much of it was deserved. But Sumlin stressed that the senior quarterback can鈥檛 be expected to carry the team, even though he did so for a solid month in 2017.
鈥淭here鈥檚 10 other guys on the field,鈥 Sumlin said. 鈥淎 quarterback can only do so much. We have to have people step up.鈥
Encouraging signs
Sumlin extended that plea beyond the offense. When asked how 蜜柚直播 could lead the Pac-12 in rushing and total yards yet win only five games, Sumlin didn鈥檛 limit the discussion to the offense鈥檚 underlying inefficiencies.
鈥淎t a certain point we鈥檝e gotta play better defense too,鈥 Sumlin said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e gotta improve on special teams. We missed field goals that could have won games, and extra points. All these things fit hand in hand. It鈥檚 not just offensively. We鈥檝e got to be a better football team.鈥
On offense, the 2018 Wildcats too often bogged down in the red zone. They ranked 11th in the Pac-12 with a touchdown rate of just 51.1%. (It was even worse 鈥 43.8% 鈥 in conference play.)
On defense, 蜜柚直播 didn鈥檛 generate enough pass-rush pressure or cause enough turnovers. The Wildcats ranked ninth in the Pac-12 with 23 sacks and tied for ninth with 15 takeaways.
蜜柚直播鈥檚 kickers made the second-most field goals in the league (19) but tied for the most misses (eight). The Wildcats鈥 three missed extra-point tries tied for second most in the conference.
Tate鈥檚 approach to the offseason suggested a greater attention to detail that could result in more drives ending in touchdowns.
After the spring game in April, Tate said he had a better grasp of the offense as a result of 鈥渢rying to get extra help and understanding that I have to put more time in.鈥 On Wednesday, Tate said he has made a concerted effort to understand the concepts behind Noel Mazzone鈥檚 offense 鈥 鈥渞eally, actually trying to understand, rather than just going through the motions.鈥
Sumlin praised third-year edge rusher Jalen Harris, whose development could lead to a sizable bump in the Wildcats鈥 sack numbers. Sumlin said the 6-4 Harris recently weighed in at 249 pounds, which would be his personal best since enrolling at 蜜柚直播.
鈥淗e鈥檚 got length and athleticism,鈥 Sumlin said. 鈥淗ad a great spring. Really coming on as a pass rusher, and we need him to come on.鈥
The kicking game should improve if junior Lucas Havrisik can build on his strong finish to 2018. Havrisik lost the full-time field-goal job after missing five of his first nine attempts. But he made a pair from long distance 鈥 49 and 55 yards 鈥 against Colorado and looked confident in spring.
Sumlin said players in all three phases would look bigger and stronger after another summer working with strength coach Brian Johnson 鈥 another sign, in Sumlin鈥檚 view, of the team鈥檚 commitment to improvement this offseason.
鈥淓very coach says that every year 鈥 we鈥檙e bigger, we鈥檙e stronger,鈥 Sumlin said. 鈥淏ut this is true. And with that comes confidence.鈥
