When Anu Solomon guided the Wildcats to their first Territorial Cup victory of the Rich Rodriguez era in 2014, the thought was that he’d be around to compete in these rivalry games for the next three years.
That hasn’t exactly panned out, though — last year, Solomon was injured and missed the game.
He’s listed as questionable this week with a foot injury.
Solomon’s frailty, in part, is what contributed to Brandon Dawkins’ introduction to the Arizona fan base last year, and his insertion into an offseason quarterback battle this year.
Jerrard Randall started the game last year, but after ineffective play, Arizona inserted Dawkins into the game for the first meaningful snaps of his playing career.
It was a mixed bag, but Dawkins flashed some dual-threat potential. Dawkins came in to play during the second quarter with the Wildcats trailing 21-7 and proceeded within 38-30 with six minutes left in the fourth before his inexperience took hold. Dawkins, just a redshirt freshman at the time, threw two consecutive pick-sixes to put the game out of reach.
His final numbers: 16 of 30 passes completed for 305 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, with 78 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. Dawkins actually has yet to throw for that many passing yards in a game this year, even though he’s started eight times.
The Star spoke with Dawkins this week, looking back on his coming-out party for the Wildcats, one year later.
On his first experience with the raucous rivalry game environment: “I embrace it. I think it’s fun. Especially last year with all the guys talking all kinds of trash, guys on the field, guys on the sideline, guys in the stands, everybody was talking trash, and that’s just all motivation, that’s all fun, that’s why I do it. I love the game, I love the trash talk, and I embrace it.”
On what that ASU game experience did for him: “It was a building block, like I always preach. Every game I get is more experience, more knowledge, and just getting a lot of starts and playing time this year, I learned a lot fast.”
On his mindset and emotions when he was inserted into that game: “I was excited, it was a lot of fun. People always said, ‘Oh, it must have been hard; you went out there and lost.’ At the end of the day, a loss is a loss and it hurts, but being out there playing the game I love was so much fun.”
