Arizona lost to BYU 18-16 in the season opener Saturday night at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. Here are some pertinent notes, quotes and statistics:
NOTES
* Marcel Yates, Arizona’s new defensive coordinator, had been 3-0 at U of P Stadium in his career before Saturday and had coached from same the sideline each time.
* Arizona held BYU to 18 points. The Wildcats surrendered fewer than 30 points only three times last season (Northern Arizona, Nevada and Oregon State, all at home).
* UA junior receiver Shawn Poindexter made his Wildcats debut late in the game and recorded his first career catch, for 19 yards. Poindexter is a transfer from Glendale Community College.
* Nick Wilson scored both of Arizona’s touchdowns. It was the junior running back’s first touchdowns since Oct. 10 last year against Oregon State, a stretch spanning eight games.
* As expected, redshirt sophomore Josh Pollack won both the placekicking and punter jobs and performed well at each. He missed a 52-yard field goal but later made a 46-yarder and averaged 47.5 yards on four punts, pinning one inside the 20-yard line.
* Cal transfer linebacker Michael Barton made his Arizona debut in relief of Cody Ippolito at inside linebacker but didn’t record any tackles.
* After safety Tellas Jones went down with an injury, redshirt freshman Anthony Mariscal stepped in and finished the game with six tackles, including one tackle for a loss. Other notable Arizona debuts: defensive end Justin Belknap (two tackles, one TFL), safety Isaiah Hayes (one tackle), linebacker Carrington Vaughn (one tackle, one sack) and cornerback Dane Cruikshank (eight tackles, one pass breakup).
QUOTES
UA coach Rich Rodriguez on the offense’s struggles: “Well, I have to watch film to give you the concrete answer. We certainly didn’t execute well. It starts with play-calling and execution, recognition and the whole offense. But I’ll watch the film, and I’ll have a better answer tomorrow.”
Rodriguez on the defense keeping Arizona in the game: “I thought they played well enough for the majority of the game. We played a new scheme, and we are a little undersized of course. They gave us a chance to win the game. There were still a lot of things out there that we could fix. The tackling was poor. I’m concerned about that.”
Rodriguez on making adjustments during the game: “It was a little different – things that they were doing in all three phases. But they could probably say the same thing, so I don’t know if that was as big of a factor. Our guys didn’t look wide-eyed and totally confused, but again there are a lot of reasons we didn’t execute.”
Rodriguez on whether he considered replacing Anu Solomon with Brandon Dawkins: “Well, we talked about it a little bit. Not so much from Anu’s play (but) because of how they were playing us. There might have been a thing or two that Brandon could have changed up … but I have 100 percent confidence in Anu Solomon.
STATS
* BYU had 24 first downs to Arizona’s 17
* BYU outgained Arizona 415-328 – although the Wildcats averaged more yards per play (5.9 to 5.5).
* BYU ran 76 plays to Arizona’s 56 and possessed the ball for 37 minutes, 37 seconds
* BYU had eight penalties for 65 yards, Arizona four for 20 yards
* BYU scored on all four of its trips into the red zone (two touchdowns, two field goals); Arizona made only two trips the red zone and scored once (touchdown).
* BYU’s Jamaal Williams carried 29 times for 162 yards (5.6 per carry)
* Arizona’s Wilson carried 17 times for 138 yards (8.1 per carry) and two touchdowns
* Nate Phillips led Arizona receivers with seven catches for 69 yards
* Trey Griffey ranked second with four catches for 66 yards
* Paul Magloire led Arizona with 10 tackles, including two TFLs
* Arizona had seven TFLs but only one sack
