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 69-7 loss to Washington State on Saturday:
1. The Real B-Dawks
The subhead is an ode to quarterback Brandon Dawkins’ Twitter handle, which is appropriate here because his stat line doesn’t reflect his actual performance. The one that appeared in the box score was factually incorrect. A 3-yard pass to Shun Brown that was credited to Anu Solomon should have gone to Dawkins. His numbers should have been 2 of 5 for 1 yard. Not exactly what you want to put atop your résumé – especially with one of the incomplete passes being a killer interception. But let’s dig a little deeper. On the first play of the game, Dawkins completed a 75-yard touchdown pass to Nate Phillips that was wiped out by a penalty. (It was a completely legitimate call; guard Christian Boettcher was 5 yards downfield.) One of Dawkins’ incomplete passes was a drop by Shawn Poindexter. Another was a completed pass to Trey Griffey that the replay booth inexplicably ruled incomplete, even though Griffey took four strides with the ball before it popped loose. (The call was straight out of the NFL’s “What is a catch?” rulebook of confusion.) Dawkins’ day looks a lot different if all of those passes count. All that being said …
2. Time for change
If something is to be salvaged from this disastrous season, Rich Rodriguez needs to hand the keys to Solomon. You basically know what you’re getting from Solomon, and that’s OK. What Arizona needs right now is someone to run the offense and distribute the ball to the playmakers. There’s just a different feel when Solomon is out there. Everything operates at a brisker pace. Obviously, he was far from perfect. He held the ball too low and too carelessly on that second-quarter fumble. And those two laterals were borderline reckless. But for the most part, Solomon gets the ball out of his hand on time, or something close to it. The receivers need to have it in theirs more frequently. Brown, Arizona’s leading receiver, is on pace for 33 catches. At least three receivers had more than that – in some cases way more – in each of Rodriguez’s first four seasons. I know some of you believe freshman Khalil Tate should start with little to play for at this point. I’m not of that mind. Arizona needs to win games down the stretch to build momentum for 2017, reassure recruits that they made the right decision in committing to the UA and boost morale around the building.
3. Less was not more
Having watched and re-watched every UA game this season, I’ve become a big fan of defensive coordinator Marcel Yates’ scheme and aggressiveness. He had a bad day Saturday in Pullman, Washington. The Wildcats were uncharacteristically unaggressive and historically ineffective. Their basic game plan against Washington State’s quick-hitting, spread passing attack was to rush three and drop eight. It rarely worked. According to my calculations, the Cougars had 57 dropbacks (including QB scrambles and plays wiped out by penalty). Arizona sent only three rushers on 40 of those plays. The Wildcats sent four rushers six times, five eight times and six three times. Incredibly, according to my review of the game, WSU quarterbacks were hit or pressured on only eight of those 57 plays. It’s no wonder Luke Falk and Tyler Hilinski combined to complete a record 90.4 percent of their passes. I understand the premise of the game plan: The Cougars run a lot of quick screens and hitches; their quarterbacks don’t hold the ball long. Mike Leach’s system also seems to have built-in checkdowns. You run the risk of allowing more big plays by leaving fewer defenders in coverage. But if you hit Falk, maybe you can get him out of the game, or at the very least affect his timing. As it was, he just stood back in the pocket, untroubled, and picked his target. It was death by a thousand papercuts.
4. This time it’s personnel
Every week I’ll provide some notes on individual players, so here goes … Samajie Grant made some incredible individual plays in his second game at running back; he spun away from multiple tacklers on his 50-yard run. But on a couple of occasions he bounced runs outside when cutting upfield would have been the wiser course of action. His tailback instincts haven’t been fully reprogrammed yet. … What a confidence-building day for Cam Denson, who caught a career-high four passes for 77 yards and a TD. (He could have had five catches if not for a blatant pass interference that wasn’t called.) Finishing the season strong would be big for a guy who’s going to be counted on in 2017. … I continue to like what I see from tight end Trevor Wood as a blocker. He has made great strides in that area since the start of the season. … I know many of linebacker Paul Magloire Jr.’s team- and career-high 15 tackles were simply a case of him cleaning up the mess, but I thought he played with more physicality for the second week in a row. … Defensive lineman Larry Tharpe Jr. got called for two hands-to-the-face penalties. But he also had Arizona’s lone tackle for loss and got pressure a couple of times. Other walk-ons have become prominent players for the UA. Why can’t Tharpe? … I love freshman safety Isaiah Hayes’ aggressiveness. He plays with an attitude. He appeared to cramp up or just be out of gas on River Cracraft’s 71-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. … Safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles needs to work on his tackling technique. Too many times he’s going low and missing. He needs to keep his head up see what he’s hitting. … Josh Pollack as the punter isn’t working. Let him concentrate on placekicking, where he has performed well, and see what Matt Aragon can do the rest of the way.
5. Decisions, decisions
Finally, I’d like to address two decisions made by Rodriguez during the game. Second-guessing the coach is low-hanging fruit, but I think these are important. With seven minutes left in the second quarter, Rodriguez elected to punt on fourth-and-5 from the WSU 48-yard line. Arizona was down 31-0 at the time. What did the Wildcats have to lose at that point by going for it? If Pollack and the punt team had shown any consistent ability to pin opponents deep, maybe it makes sense. But that obviously hasn’t been the case. The UA ended up losing 6 yards in the transaction. Then, with about 45 seconds left in the half, Rodriguez elected to not call time out when WSU faced fourth-and-3 from its 37. Arizona had all three of its timeouts and finally had scored on its previous possession. Again, what was there to lose? I asked Rodriguez about it afterward, and he said there was some confusion on the sideline and he wanted to get to halftime to regroup. I get that. But what message are you sending by not at least giving it a shot?
