TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona Wildcats redshirt freshman quarterback Anu Solomon will be making his first appearance at Oregon's Autzen Stadium. So, too, will sophomore receiver Cayleb Jones. And sophomore linebacker Scooby Wright.
Former UA linebacker Jake Fischer played twice in Eugene -- in 2010 (he recovered a Kenjon Barner fumble) and in 2012 (he recovered a fumble by DeAnthony Thomas). His advice to the young 'uns: Tune it all out and focus on the opportunity presented by playing the No. 2 team in the country Thursday night.
"Some teams are already defeated before the start the game," Fischer said on this week's episode of The Sports Guys.
"They see the crowd noise. They see them come out in their crazy uniforms. They see the Duck ride out on the motorcycle. They kind of get enamored by what's going on pregame. ... Some of these younger guys, they might a little jittery at first, but once they settle down, I think they will be OK."
Arizona was more than OK last season against the Ducks, stunning fifth-ranked Oregon 42-16. Part of the reason for that was a quick start; the Cats intercepted Marcus Mariota on the first play from scrimmage, eventually got a 14-0 lead and then used Ka'Deem Carey (48 rushes) to play keep-away.
"The biggest key to beating them is keeping their offense off the field," Fischer said. "Last year, we were able to do that with a good run game."
If Solomon and the Arizona offense are giving the ball back quickly to the Ducks, then Mariota and all that speed can get rolling against a UA defense that gave up 45 points and 573 yards to Cal in its most recent game.
"If we play defense like we did last week, they're going to put up 70," Fischer said of the Ducks. "That's just how good their offense is."
Fischer -- who called last year's game against Oregon the best victory of his Arizona career -- joined myself, FOXSportsArizona.com's Steve Rivera and Matt Moreno of goazcats.com -- to discuss the matchup and talk about some of the best games we've seen in person.
Follow Anthony Gimino on Twitter
