Quick hitters from the Arizona Wildcats’ weekly news conference at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility on Monday afternoon:
* UA coach Rich Rodriguez said Samajie Grant got more comfortable at running back as the Stanford game went along Saturday, and the plan is to keep him there for the rest of the season, health permitting.
* The team quickly transitioned Sunday to game-prep mode for Washington State because the Cougars’ style of play is so different from the Cardinal’s. Arizona crowded the line of scrimmage, focused on stopping the run and left its cornerbacks in one-on-one coverage vs. Stanford. That won’t work against WSU’s spread attack.
* Rodriguez defended the play of quarterbacks Brandon Dawkins and Anu Solomon. I’ll have more on that topic later today.
* Despite injuries and other issues, Rodriguez said he’s “disappointed” in the offense’s performance this season. “We expect to score and move the ball,” Rodriguez said.
* Rodriguez said he looks at other team’s offenses, including Washington State’s, during the offseason to try to figure out what they’re doing well and possibly incorporate that into his system. He watched the record-breaking Oklahoma-Texas Tech game during Arizona’s bye week. “I’m like everybody else,” Rodriguez said. “I’m curious. What happened?”
* Rodriguez attributed linebacker DeAndre’ Miller’s recent struggles to him being less than 100 percent. Miller missed time because of an ankle injury.
* Rodriguez declined to comment on the status of middle linebacker Michael Barton, who missed the second half vs. Stanford because of a knee injury. Jake Matthews said he’s ready to take on a bigger workload if necessary. The Wildcats don’t have many other options at that position with Cody Ippolito out for the season.
* Rodriguez credited the 6-2 Cougars’ turnaround from an 0-2 start to remaining patient, sticking with their system and executing better.
* Receiver Trey Griffey blamed himself for being unable to catch a pass from Dawkins that would have converted a fourth-and-15. Griffey said he made a poor adjustment on a “perfect ball.”
* Rodriguez on Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey being left open for a TD reception: “Watching that you’re probably thinking, ‘Somebody probably should have been guarding him.’ And that would have been a 100 percent correct assessment. That would have been a pretty good critical analysis there. Somebody should have guarded him. We didn’t. Dang it. Wish we would’ve.”
