Every Monday throughout the season, we’ll take a look back at Arizona’s previous game after re-watching the TV broadcast and present five key takeaways. Here are the five from the UA’s 36-23 loss to Utah on Saturday night:
1. Quarterback analysis, Part 1
Quarterback Brandon Dawkins’ competitiveness is admirable. It might be his best trait – even above his speed and strength. But sometimes Dawkins is too competitive for his own good. Playing with sore ribs, he took a ton of shots against the Utes. On his very first run of the game, he went down to avoid contact. But after that, for the most part, his instincts took over. He only knows one way to play. You can’t blame him for it. He made some terrific plays under duress, in particular the long throw to Trey Griffey from the UA end zone; Dawkins had two defenders closing on him, was up against the end line and threw a catchable ball that Griffey adjusted to and snagged. There were a handful of occasions where it appeared Dawkins had outlets that he didn’t use. He could have avoided some hits by dumping the ball off in those situations. The first interception looked like a simple misfire, although Dawkins did have to throw it over a leaping Chase Hansen, the Utah safety who disrupted a ton of plays. All in all, a gutsy effort by Dawkins, who sacrificed his body for his team.
2. Quarterback analysis, Part 2
Khalil Tate’s first appearance in the game came under trying circumstances – backed up at the 2-yard line while Dawkins tried to regain his breath and bearings. The safety that ensued wasn’t in any way Tate’s fault. The interception he threw absolutely was, and you could tell he knew he made a mistake almost as it was happening. But other than that – and an overthrow on the two-point try – Tate played really well again against a defense that was more prepared to face him. He didn’t have as many chunk running plays as he did against UCLA, but Tate still glided around defenders and finished runs with determination and power. You can see that he has a great feel for running the read option; he looks like a guy who’s done it his whole life (which he basically has). His touch and placement on the TD pass to Samajie Grant were excellent; Utah’s Brian Allen had tight coverage. Tate also froze the safety with his eyes, a veteran move. Tate’s upside is extremely high if he continues to work and develop.
3. Positive defensive changes
Obviously it wasn’t a good night overall for Arizona, which lost its third in a row and collapsed in the second half for the second week in a row. But a couple of changes on defense brought promising results. Michael Barton started for the first time and ended up playing almost the whole game after Cody Ippolito got hurt. (Fox reported that Ippolito had a knee injury, and I heard the same – although he jogged off the field and didn’t look impaired doing so. I’ll try to find out more later today.) Barton was extremely active around the line of scrimmage, although he appeared to wear down a bit by the fourth quarter. If Ippolito is out, Barton is the guy at “Mike.” Who his backup would be, with Jake Matthews (toe) also banged up, is a mystery. The other change was the insertion of Jace Whittaker into the starting lineup. The coaches had little choice; DaVonte’ Neal was really struggling. Whittaker is a true sophomore, and he played really well. Even on the touchdown he surrendered, Whittaker played physically against a bigger receiver. I feel bullish about Arizona’s CB corps next year with Whittaker, Dane Cruikshank and some promising youngsters (including Lorenzo Burns, who’s been hurt despite his absence from the injury report).
4. This time it’s personnel
Every week I’ll provide some notes on individual players, so here goes. … Griffey continues to impress. He’s got great hand-eye coordination to win jump balls and plays physically once the ball is in his hands. I don’t know whether it’s enough to make it to the next level, but if he can run a decent 40 time, he’ll get a long look. … What an amazing catch by Cedric Peterson on the sideline – twisting around and keeping his foot inbounds. Arizona needs a non-senior other than Shun Brown to emerge in the WR corps, and Peterson flashed big-time ability on that play. … If you’d have asked me before last week who Arizona’s most consistent offensive lineman was, I’d have said left tackle Layth Friekh. Then he went out and had his worst game. Utah’s defensive ends gave Arizona’s tackles trouble, as expected. No sacks allowed, but several plays blown up. … Safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, who had been the Wildcats’ most consistent defensive player, also had an off game. He should’ve been beaten for a TD on a ball that was overthrown, and he missed a couple of open-field tackles. Consider it part of the growing pains for a player who’s still young and learning. … Jarvis McCall Jr. came back into the lineup after Isaiah Hayes got hurt and didn’t look like the aggressive, confident player we saw early in the season. McCall didn’t attack the ball at all in pass coverage.
5. Can the problems be fixed?
As I wrote last week, Arizona had to at least split against Utah and USC to have a realistic shot at bowl eligibility. That’s still in play, but the Wildcats are seven-point underdogs against a more talented Trojans team that’s getting better. The real question is whether Arizona can fix its problems over the second half of the season. Even without a healthy RB corps, the Wildcats still have enough playmakers to score enough points to be competitive. Whether the defense can hold up is a bigger issue. It’s hard to pinpoint precisely what’s gone wrong in the second half the past two weeks besides sheer attrition. One thing I noticed against Utah is that the Wildcats weren’t playing good team defense in the second half. For example, on Armand Shyne’s 26-yard TD run in the third quarter, Barton took on a blocker in the hole - but fellow LB Paul Magloire Jr. missed the tackle. And on a Troy Williams first-down run in the fourth quarter, McCall and Tellas Jones both got caught outside. For undersized, undermanned Arizona to have a chance, the defense needs to play as a unit for four quarters. The Wildcats have yet to prove they can do that.
