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ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ kicks off its season on Saturday against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and there are a few questions that even the experts — the ones who attended every training camp practice — don’t have answers to.

That won’t stop us from soliciting questions from football-hungry ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ fans as the season gets underway.

After analyzing fall camp, which side of the ball (offense or defense) will begin with a more improved performance? — AZ Ant

For the Hawaii game, the defense. For the entirety of the season, as quarterback Noah Fifita continues to settle into offensive coordinator Seth Doege’s system and develop chemistry with pass-catchers, the offense has the potential to make huge strides.

There is a learning curve for an entirely new offense. Plus, it’ll be the first game with potentially an entirely new starting offensive line besides right guard Alexander Doost. The status of Rhino Tapa’atoutai (knee) remains questionable for Saturday.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s defense won’t look much different under Danny Gonzales, who was the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™ linebackers coach last season. The ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ are expected to still use their 4-2-5 defense, but will incorporate a 3-3-5 scheme with the third linebacker being an edge-rushing type of player, like Montana transfer Riley Wilson or former defensive end Chase Kennedy.

Ever since Gonzales was hired as ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s defensive play-caller, UA players and coaches described the defense as aggressive and creative. They weren’t kidding. Between the different linebacker and defensive back blitzes, defensive linemen standing up pre-snap and the unpredictable movement shown in the spring and training camp, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s defense is going to be crafty this season.

Considering Hawaii only scored 23 points in its season-opening win over Stanford and Rainbow Warriors starting quarterback Micah Alejado is nursing a leg injury, it bodes well for ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s defense to set the tone this season.

What’s the longest field goal you could imagine Brent Brennan sending Michael Salgado-Medina out to try? — Chris Halligan

Arguably the biggest position downgrade — with all due respect to Michael Salgado-Medina, Tyler Prasuhn and Illinois State transfer Ian Wagner — is kicker. And that’s only because the aforementioned players are replacing arguably the greatest kicker in UA football history in Tyler Loop.

Salgado-Medina, Wagner and Prasuhn will replace Loop by committee. Wagner will handle kickoff duties, while Salgado-Medina is expected to start at placekicker.

Both Salgado-Medina and Prasuhn are capable of knocking down the long balls (50-plus yards), but it’s not the same consistency as Loop, who set a program record with a 62-yard field goal last season. Salgado-Medina will have his opportunities for long field goals this season, but the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ will more likely go for it on fourth down if they ever get into L.T. (Loop territory).

Can ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ make a bowl game and should that be the expectation? Or what is a successful season for ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ this year? — BearDownBeatMM

Gonzales ended his last two press conferences by mentioning Rose Bowl expectations for the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥, which would mean the UA qualifies for the College Football Playoff — which would mean ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ either winning the Big 12 championship or finishing as one of the top at-large bids in college football.

Gonzales’ theory: if ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ State can go from last place in the preseason Big 12 media poll to winning the conference and going to the CFP, “Why not us?â€� he asked.

It sounds crazy to us, but if you’re a Power 4 college football player and your coaches didn’t believe in you and the team to reach those standards, would you want to play for a staff like that?

Star columnist and senior writer Michael Lev laid out the path to 6-6 and he’s absolutely right: Texas Tech and TCU not on ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s schedule is a positive for the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥. Plus, in the first half of the schedule, five of the games — including all three nonconference contests — are at home, which hasn’t happened since 2012.

There’s an opportunity to build momentum and confidence before the meat and potatoes of the Big 12 schedule, and a few of the road games in the second half of the schedule — Colorado, Houston and Cincinnati — are contests the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ could conceivably win. Reaching six wins before the Territorial Cup is a strong possibility.

What would constitute a successful season for ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥? Bowl eligibility and close losses. The setbacks have to feel like ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ had a chance. Not only were ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ fans furious about the 4-8 season last year, they were upset with how the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ lost games — and rightfully so.

A year after ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ lost three games — including two overtime games on the road — by a combined 16 points, the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ lost eight games by a combined 191 points. When your average margin of defeat is nearly 24 points and the four wins are against three bowl-less teams and Northern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥, the fans have a right to be critical, especially when the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ had Big 12 title aspirations.

After an offseason of changing multiple spots on the coaching staff and adding around 60 newcomers, along with seven home games, 6-6 — with six competitive losses — seems fair.

I see that we have some big offensive line transfers from some bigger schools. What kind of experience do they have and are they going to be Game 1 contributors? — Jenna Talls

The headliners of ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s newcomers on the offensive line are Texas Tech transfer Ty Buchanan and Michigan transfer Tristan Bounds.

Both Buchanan and Bounds have played a combined 851 snaps at the Power 4 level, with the 6-6, 314-pound Buchanan logging a lion’s share of those snaps (810). The 6-8, 291-pound Bounds was a reserve tackle for a Michigan program that won a national championship two seasons ago.

Similar to former ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ defensive tackle Bill Norton, who hardly played at Georgia before transferring to the UA and became a standout for the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥, just because Bounds wasn’t good enough to start at Michigan, it doesn’t mean he’s not talented enough to start at ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥.

Even though he doesn’t come from a “bigger school,â€� Hawaii transfer Ka’ena Decambra has settled in as ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s starting center, even though he only played guard and tackle prior to his ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ career. Georgia Tech transfer Jordan Brown, who suffered an upper-body injury in the spring, is expected to return for the second half of the season and contribute at left guard.

Tapa’atoutai’s spot on the offensive line is the biggest question for ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ entering the season. He’s a bona fide starter and leader of the group, but does he play left guard alongside Buchanan? Does Tapa’atoutai move to right tackle and Bounds is used as a swing tackle for Tapa’atoutai and Buchanan? We’ll either find out on Saturday or at some point during the nonconference schedule.