After the Arizona Wildcats overhauled their defensive staff and scheme, it was a given that they would endure some growing pains this season.
That indeed has been the case: The UA has allowed at least 34 points each game during its five-game losing streak.
The corresponding assumption was that the offense would be OK. This was a Rich Rodriguez-coached team, after all. When did a RichRod offense ever struggle for a sustained period of time?
Yet here we are, eight games into Rodriguez’s fifth season, and the offense is trending in the wrong direction.
Arizona registered season lows in several offensive categories during its 34-10 loss to Stanford on Saturday night: points (10), total yards (286), yards per play (4.5), first downs (15), pass completions (5) and passing yards (116).
The last two are particularly surprising and alarming given that veteran quarterbacks Brandon Dawkins and Anu Solomon both were available for the first time since Week 1.
Dawkins made his sixth start, and it was unequivocally his worst. He completed 5 of 15 passes for 116 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He never looked comfortable when dropping back to throw. Dawkins did rush for a team-high 65 yards, but more often than not, Stanford was ready for his rollouts and scrambles.
Rodriguez inserted Solomon on Arizona’s second possession of the second half. The first resulted in a three-and-out — the Wildcats’ third of seven drives that lasted three or fewer plays (not including the one-play, run-out-the-clock possession at the end of the first half).
Solomon hadn’t played since Sept. 3, and he had only two weeks of practice in “team” drills before Saturday. On his first two pass plays, he rolled right and threw the ball away. On the third he got sacked.
On Solomon’s next possession, he appeared to have Cam Denson open down the right sideline but threw the ball too far out of bounds. On the next play, Solomon fumbled an exchange with Samajie Grant, giving the ball to the Cardinal. Solomon didn’t play the rest of the game.
“We were going to play both,” Rodriguez of his decision to use Solomon. “He certainly hadn’t played in a while, so there’s a little bit of rust in there. We had some protection issues. The turnover was something that’s avoidable.
“He’s a good player. He’s probably not 100 percent. We’ll just keep working. … He’s a starting quarterback, as is Brandon.”
Grant sensed that Solomon was trying to do too much after nearly two months of inactivity.
“He knew what he was capable of, and he wanted to do more than just get in and keep doing what we were doing, which was not moving the ball,” Grant said. “He wanted to get in and make bigger plays, and it frustrated him to not be able to do that. I could see it in his eyes — he was definitely upset with himself.”
Lack of continuity has been one of Arizona’s biggest issues on offense. Grant started at running back for the first time in his UA career after spending his first three-plus seasons at receiver. He became the fourth player to start at tailback in eight games.
Five quarterbacks have played for Arizona this season, including true freshman Khalil Tate (who was supposed to redshirt), converted tight end Matt Morin and walk-on Zach Werlinger.
But the offensive line, which deserves its share of the blame for the offense’s overall struggles, has remained largely intact. Three players have started every game, and the Wildcats have used only three different starting line combinations.
Additionally, the receivers — who haven’t gotten open consistently — are mostly a veteran group, and they largely have avoided the injury bug that has infected other parts of the team.
Collectively, the Wildcats aren’t getting it done. Arizona’s point totals have decreased every week since they scored 47 against Hawaii: 28, 24, 23, 14, 10. The UA is averaging 24.1 points per game — down from 37.4 last season. The Wildcats never have averaged fewer than 33.5 in a season under Rodriguez.
Arizona ranks next to last in the Pac-12 in scoring. They Wildcats are ninth or worse in total offense (415.1 yards per game), passing offense (198.6), passing efficiency (120.9 rating), third-down percentage (34.9) and fourth-down percentage (28.6).
Asked specifically about the quarterback play vs. Stanford, Rodriguez quipped: “We’ve played better.”
It rings true for the offense as a whole.
Afternoon start at WSU
Some good news for the Wildcats: They won’t have to come home from Pullman, Washington, in the middle of the night.
The kickoff time and TV assignment have been announced for Arizona’s game at Washington State on Saturday. The game will begin at 1 p.m. local and Arizona time. It will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
It’s only the second afternoon game for the Wildcats this season.
The start time for Arizona’s penultimate home game against Colorado on Nov. 12 could be announced as early as Monday.
Extra points
- Arizona’s five completed passes were its fewest since Sept. 2, 2000, when the UA had just three against Utah.
- The loss to Stanford was Arizona’s fifth in a row in the series. It marked the fourth time the margin was 24 or more points.
- Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst, in his first career start, passed for only 104 yards — the second-fewest passing yards allowed by Arizona against a Pac-12 opponent under
- Rodriguez
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