It’s never one player’s fault. That’s especially true in football, where every play features a multitude of moving parts.
But there Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon stood Tuesday, putting it all on himself. He delivered the same message immediately after the UA’s season-opening loss to BYU on Saturday night. Even after a couple of days to review the film and reflect on his performance, Solomon felt the same way.
“I’m still mad at myself,” said Solomon, who threw two interceptions in the Wildcats’ 18-16 loss. “There’s some things I didn’t see when they brought some people up.
“All week long, we’d been practicing (against) a defense we didn’t end up seeing. That kind of screwed us up. Regardless, we’re all veterans. It shouldn’t take us two quarters to figure out what they were running. It shouldn’t take us that long.”
Solomon is a redshirt junior. He had 25 career starts before Saturday. BYU’s defense — featuring more zone coverage than man-to-man — wasn’t what Solomon or the Wildcats were expecting. But as quarterbacks coach Rod Smith said, “It ain’t like we never see it.”
Smith and coach Rich Rodriguez expect more from Solomon, and they’re confident he will improve. Although Rodriguez lamented missed “touchdown opportunities” against BYU, Solomon is determined to keep it simple in the home opener against Grambling State.
Solomon felt he tried to do too much at times against the Cougars. One prime example: the sack he took late in the second quarter.
Trailing 9-0, Arizona faced third-and-four at the BYU 19-yard line. The Wildcats had enough time to score a touchdown; at worst, they were in range for a relatively easy field goal.
The UA lined up in an empty-backfield set. In that situation, Rodriguez said, it’s possible that a pass rusher will be unblocked. It’s up to the quarterback to recognize that and get rid of the ball quickly.
BYU’s Francis Bernhard did indeed have an unimpeded path to Solomon. But instead of throwing the ball, Solomon tried to elude Bernard. The sack cost Arizona 16 yards and forced Josh Pollack to attempt a 52-yard field goal that missed wide left.
“That play was on me,” Solomon said. “I should have thrown the ball away. Everybody ran the right route; the linemen blocked the right assignment.
“I was just trying to be greedy. I was just trying to make a big play by making him miss. That didn’t happen.”
Solomon is spending this week working on getting his eyes right. In order to get rid of the ball faster, he needs to recognize what’s happening sooner.
“When we’re throwing the football, we’ve got to anticipate windows and throws a little quicker, more so than we’re doing now,” Smith said. “It seems like we’re trying to see it open and fit it in there. … We’ve got to be better.”
The day of
Solomon said he learned he was starting the day of the game — specifically after the team’s walk-through practice Saturday morning. His reaction wasn’t joy so much as “let’s go do it.”
Challenger Brandon Dawkins undoubtedly was disappointed in the outcome of a quarterback battle that began in spring. Dawkins was unavailable for interviews Tuesday, but Smith described the redshirt sophomore’s mindset: “He’s a competitor. He wants to play. But he’s also supportive of his team. He’s a team guy. He’s fine. I told him, ‘You’re one snap away. Prepare like you’re the starter, because you never know when your time’s called. And when it is, go in and kick that door down.’ ”
Smith said one of the deciding factors was that Solomon seemed to be “a little bit ahead from a mental standpoint and decision-making.”
“Obviously,” Smith added, “it didn’t show on Saturday.”
RB rotation?
Although Nick Wilson had a throwback performance with 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns, running backs coach Calvin Magee said he wants to get Orlando Bradford and J.J. Taylor more touches. Wilson carried 17 times, Bradford and Taylor just once apiece.
The disparity largely was a byproduct of game flow; Arizona ran only 56 plays.
Rodriguez and Magee said throughout the offseason that they consider Wilson and Bradford co-starters, and they are listed as such on the depth chart. Wilson said Bradford provided invaluable support despite barely playing.
“He was helping me out,” Wilson said. “He was telling me stuff I couldn’t see from the sideline.”
Extra points
- Rodriguez’s message to the team coming out of Week 1: “There’s nothing that happened in the last game that we can’t correct. That’s an encouraging thing.”
- Rodriguez declined to say whether safety Tellas Jones (ankle) practiced. Jones, the Wildcats’ most active defender, missed the second half after getting hurt in the second quarter.
- Rodriguez said defensive coordinator Marcel Yates had the defense do more turnover drills Tuesday after the unit had zero takeaways against BYU.
- Solomon confirmed what one replay angle seemed to show about his second interception: that BYU safety Kai Nacua bumped intended target Tyrell Johnson, knocking him off balance before the ball arrived. “If the ref didn’t see it, he didn’t see it,” Solomon said. “It is what it is. I can’t take it back.”
- Rodriguez said his goal is to run 80-plus plays per game. The Wildcats averaged at least 76 plays per game in each of his first four seasons.
- Rodriguez said the defense has a goal of six three-and-outs per game. Arizona had one against BYU.
