Arizona Vs. Washington: Examining Keith Price's struggles this season

The Arizona Wildcats face a big challenge this weekend when quarterback Keith Price and the Washington Huskies come to Tucson. Some believed Price could be a dark horse candidate to win the Heisman trophy this season, but those talks have evaporated after a somewhat disappointing start.

After a breakout sophomore campaign, he has thrown for 1,080 yards, seven touchdowns and six interceptions through six games. As SB Nation's Wildcats blog, AZ Desert Swarm, learned in their weekly preview, a lot of Price's struggles have come due to the players around him.

The biggest problem with this year's squad has been the offensive line. Since the end of last season, 4 players who were going to be starters have been lost to injury, so they're basically trotting out a second string offensive line every week. [...]

Price has been down, and it's hard to say if it's him or what's around him, but like pretty much everything he answers is probably that it's a little of both. In addition to the OL, he's also missing WR James Johnson who would have been one of his top targets, and there's almost no depth at all at RB. But he's also missed some throws that it seems like he would have made last season.

It will be interesting to see how Price plays against Arizona's inexperienced secondary. The 'Cats have been torched through the air this season, with their latest disappointing effort coming at the hands of Stanford quarterback Josh Nunes.

If UA allows Price to get into a rhythm early, it could be a long night for the defense. Look for defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel to disguise his coverage schemes and throw a couple of extra blitzes in to hopefully rattle the junior signal caller.