Arizona vs. Washington: Wildcats benefitted greatly from bye week

The Arizona Wildcats need a bye week in the worst possible way. After a promising 3-0 start to begin the season, three tough losses to three ranked conference foes had the Cats limping around on the field both literally and figuratively.

With many starters dealing with injuries, the off week helped UA get healthier before the second half of Pac-12 play begins. According to head coach Rich Rodriguez, the time off helped, but they could have benefitted from another week or two off. Here is Anthony Gimino of the Tucson Citizen with the latest from RichRod.

"We probably needed more time," Rodriguez said.

"I think there were something like 13 starters that were out last week, and six or seven of them didn't play in the last game. I'm hoping with one more week, we get a couple of them back."

Among the more notable players injured were safety Jared Tevis with a sprained ankle and receiver Johnny Jackson, who really emerged in the Stanford game. Quarterback Matt Scott is also clearly dealing with a hip issue, although the coaching staff has not elaborated on it much in recent weeks.

The Wildcats' brutal schedule will not let up in the coming weeks. A big conference showdown with the Washington Huskies awaits on Saturday night. This is followed by Matt Barkley and the USC Trojans coming to town, and then a road trip to UCLA wraps up the month of October. Arizona will need to be healthy to come out victorious in these games, and the bye week could not have come at a better time.