The grades are in for Arizona’s 34-10 loss to Stanford on Saturday night at Arizona Stadium:
QUARTERBACKS
Grade: D-minus
Comment: It’s hard to find positives when your quarterbacks combine to complete only five passes in 20 attempts with two turnovers. Starter Brandon Dawkins never could establish a rhythm, and even though he rushed for a team-high 65 yards, most were hard to come by. Anu Solomon (0 of 3, one fumble) looked like a guy who hadn’t played in almost two months. Khalil Tate went 0 of 2 with a 19-yard run in mop-up duty.
RUNNING BACKS
Grade: C-plus
Comment: Converted receiver Samajie Grant performed well in his first career start at running back – with the exception of one bad decision. On a run to the right in the second quarter, Grant had nowhere to go. He would have lost several yards by going down – but not nearly as many as he ended up losing by trying to cut back. The 24-yard loss was his only negative run of the day and greatly impacted his final stat line (19 carries, 64 yards).
RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS
Grade: C-minus
Comment: There weren’t a ton of catchable balls that the receivers didn’t catch. They obviously didn’t get open in certain situations when the quarterbacks had to throw the ball away. Trey Griffey had the lone offensive touchdown, an impressive 38-yard catch-and-run. Nate Phillips had a 43-yard grab. The tight ends weren’t part of the passing attack in any noticeable way.
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
Grade: D
Comment: A disappointing performance by one of the most disappointing units on the team. Arizona gained 170 rushing yards but averaged only 3.9 yards per attempt. Dawkins and Solomon were sacked five times. Several times rushers burst into the backfield untouched. The UA line shouldn’t be suffering this many breakdowns this far into the season.
DEFENSIVE FRONT
Grade: C-plus
Comment: Stanford’s rushing numbers – 237 yards on 42 carries – suggest a subpar performance. The front obviously wanted to contain Christian McCaffrey better than it did (23-169-2). But the group hung in there and generally made life miserable for first-time starting QB Keller Chryst, sacking him four times and hitting him several other times. Linebackers Paul Magloire Jr., Michael Barton and Jake Matthews combined for 2.5 sacks.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Grade: B
Comment: Chryst completed 14 of 30 passes for a paltry 104 yards. That’s 3.47 yards per attempt. He missed a couple of open receivers, but in general the secondary didn’t give him many open looks. Dane Cruikshank had an interception, Arizona’s first takeaway in a month, but immediately fumbled the ball back to Stanford. Sophomore safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles tied for team-high honors with eight tackles and broke up a pass. Freshman safety Isaiah Hayes had five tackles and his first career sack.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Grade: B-minus
Comment: It didn’t always look pretty, but Josh Pollack’s assortment of wobbly, line-drive rugby punts generally kept McCaffrey in check. Pollack punted seven times, and McCaffrey returned three of them for 29 yards, including a 24-yarder. Arizona kicked off three times, and only one was returned, for 2 yards. UA returners got very few at-bats. Six of Stanford’s seven kickoffs went for touchbacks.
COACHES
Grade: D
Comment: Although continuity has been a season-long issue, Arizona had its veteran quarterbacks back, so there’s no reason the offense should have been that inept. Were they properly prepared by Rich Rodriguez and his staff for whatever Stanford’s defense threw at them? Marcel Yates threw some unexpected wrinkles at the Cardinal, including the occasional use of a five-man defensive line. But a handful of breakdowns, leaving McCaffrey in the clear, proved costly.
