Arizona Wildcats rewind: Five takeaways from the UA’s 45-24 loss to UCLA

We’re breaking from form today with our weekly deep dive into Arizona football.

Because of my travel schedule this week, I couldn’t re-watch Saturday’s 45-24 loss to UCLA in time to produce this blog. But it wouldn’t be Monday without five takeaways from the game. So here they are, without the benefit of replay. We’ll resume our normally scheduled programming next week.

1. From bad to worse

I may or may not have written this in August: “The Wildcats are likely to have better injury luck than last season because … it couldn’t be worse than it was.” Or could it? Incredibly, Arizona finds itself in arguably a worse predicament than last season, when it literally ran out of scholarship middle linebackers. Five games into the season, the Wildcats already have used four quarterbacks, including a walk-on (Zach Werlinger) and a 17-year-old freshman they wanted to redshirt (Khalil Tate). They have used two wide receivers at running back (Tyrell Johnson, Samajie Grant). We all know injuries are part of the fabric of football. But what has happened to Arizona the past two seasons – multiple injuries striking a handful of key positions – is unusual. Check that; it’s ridiculous. I asked Rich Rodriguez last week whether he’d consider changing any of his training or practice methods. He said he wouldn’t, chalking up the injuries to bad luck. When Werlinger and Grant were in the backfield at various points Saturday night, I wonder if RichRod was reconsidering that stance.

2. Real-deal Khalil?

If Arizona’s QB situation was mildly interesting before, it’s completely fascinating now. By playing Tate, Rodriguez eliminated the possibility of him being redshirted. Now, regardless of the health of the other quarterbacks, there’s no reason not to give Tate some playing time – although the availability of those other QBs could dictate what form that takes. If Brandon Dawkins and Anu Solomon are unavailable for the Utah game, Tate will start; there’s no other choice. If Dawkins or Solomon can go, the guess here is that Tate would come off the bench in a change-of-pace role. He looked fantastic once he finally got in there against UCLA, running with the power of a fullback and throwing with the touch of a veteran pocket passer. But before we anoint Tate, let’s remember that he did most of his damage during garbage time. The Bruins didn’t have a chance to game-plan for him as they did Dawkins. It won’t be so easy against the Utes or and other future opponents. But it’ll be fun as hell to watch.

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3. Defending the defense

Arizona gave up 45 points, including 31 in the second half. That’s not good. But the defense really wasn’t that bad. Yes, the secondary struggled after intermission. Too many tackles were missed, and too many receivers had too much separation. But for about three quarters, the defense kept the Wildcats in a game they had no business being in. The offense, crippled by injuries, barely could gain a first down. The special teams were a mess. Meanwhile, UCLA couldn’t run the ball, and Josh Rosen took a beating in the first half, when he completed only 9 of 24 passes. The Bruins’ inability to run is nothing new, but many thought they’d break out against a UA defense that allowed 352 rushing yards to Washington the previous week. Arizona used a 3-4 front at times against UCLA, a look I hadn’t seen previously. I’m guessing we’ll see more of that against “pro-style” teams such as Utah and Stanford. Surrendering 45 points and 475 yards isn’t something you want to put on your résumé, but I left the Rose Bowl late Saturday night feeling better about the defense than when I arrived.

4. Plucking the positives

There weren’t a ton of positives to take from Saturday’s game aside from the defense in the first half and Tate in the second. But there were some. Shun Brown was one. The sophomore receiver again led Arizona in receptions. He has done it three weeks in a row and leads the Wildcats in receptions, yards and receiving touchdowns through five games. That’s an important development for 2017. Tyrell Johnson looked a lot more comfortable at running back in the second half with Tate as his backfield mate. At 5-7, 164, Johnson isn’t cut out for a 20-carry-a-game workload. But he at least looked a viable running back by night’s end. Despite catching only two balls, Trey Griffey had a good night. One of the grabs required Griffey winning a jump ball. And he would have had much bigger numbers if Tate hadn't missed him for a sure TD. On defense, the front – again missing DeAndre’ Miller and Parker Zellers – was extremely active against a very good quarterback who did a superb job of avoiding sacks (and eventually hitting open receivers downfield).

5. Will they go bowling?

From a record standpoint, the Wildcats aren’t far off from where I expected them to be at this point. I thought they would beat BYU and enter Pac-12 play undefeated before faltering against Washington and UCLA. But it feels like there’s a big difference between this 2-3 and that 3-2. The QB and RB situations are serious problems. With the defense still a work in progress, the offense needs to be clicking for Arizona to have a chance. It seems silly to say this a week after Arizona nearly beat Washington – which then destroyed Stanford – but it’s going to be a struggle for the banged-up Wildcats to qualify for a bowl game. They’re going to have to win one of their next two games to have a shot at it. They seem to have Utah’s number, and the Utes are banged up as well, so that’s at least a maybe. From the start I penciled in USC as an upset, and that’s still on the table. But the Trojans have looked like a different and better team with Sam Darnold at quarterback. I also penciled in a November victory over Colorado, which might win the Pac-12 South. Getting this team to a postseason bowl might be the biggest challenge of Rodriguez’s UA tenure.