Offense will be fine

There seems to be a growing concern that Arizona’s poor performance offensively in the first four days of fall camp is a sign of things to come.

The defense came into camp with no expectations and a lot of criticism and doubt. So far they have proved fans wrong, while the offense is left answering questions.

However, in the words off Lee Corso, not so fast, my friend. Barely any offense looks good in the first four days of camp. Furthermore, this is an offense that is very young, starting just three seniors.

We can all agree that the offense this season will be better than it was a year ago. Well, two years ago the offense scored 16.6 points per game. Last year, the offense scored 28 points per game. At that same pace, the UA would score almost 40 points a game this season.

Now, that probably isn’t realistic, but there will be an improvement from year one to year two, especially with such a good offensive coordinator in Sonny Dykes leading the charge.

This offense should put up a minimum of 35 points a game this season. How significant would that be? If you gave the UA 32 points in every game it lost last season, the team goes 11-1 in the regular season.

On top of that, the defense has to be better than it was a year ago, when it gave up 24 points to NAU, 29 to New Mexico, 45 to California, and so on.

In an interview with ESPN.com, Dykes seemed confident that the offense would significantly improve.

“I think so,” Dykes said. “And Year 2 to Year 3 would be a big change as well. I think the guys get comfortable and you don't just teach them what to do, you teach them how to do it.

“You spend most of the first year just trying to get them in the right place at the right time. Now you get to teach them the nuances that really make the thing work. We're still learning those. We're not there by any stretch, but it seems like we're starting to play a little more consistently.”

So there you have it. No need to worry about the offense yet. With an easy schedule and year two with a very good offensive coordinator at the help, Arizona will be just fine.