CORVALLIS, Ore. — Arizona Wildcats nose tackle Parker Zellers was sitting on his couch one night earlier this week when a thought crossed his mind.
“I was like, damn, I kind of forgot what it was like to win,” Zellers said. “It’s been awhile.”
It’s going to be at least a little while longer.
Arizona lost its eighth game in a row Saturday night, falling to Oregon State 42-17 in front of an announced crowd of 35,059 at Reser Stadium.
Both teams entered the game with 2-8 records. The Wildcats are the only team in the Pac-12 without a conference victory. After Kansas’ upset of Texas earlier Saturday, Arizona and Rutgers are the only Power Five schools without a league win in 2016.
“I feel bad for our school,” UA coach Rich Rodriguez said. “I feel bad for our fans. I feel bad for our program. We shouldn’t get to this point. I guarantee we’ll get out of it.”
All that’s left for Arizona is the season-ending Territorial Cup against Arizona State on Friday night. It’s a huge game for the Sun Devils. After losing at Washington on Saturday, 5-6 ASU needs to beat Arizona to become bowl-eligible.
The Wildcats turned their attention to the Sun Devils almost immediately after Saturday’s game.
“We’ve got to let this one go,” receiver Shun Brown said, summarizing Rodriguez’s postgame message to the team. “We’ve got a rivalry game to look forward to and win.”
Whether Arizona can play well enough to pull it off – even against a struggling ASU team – remains to be seen. The Wildcats have given little indication lately that they’re capable of it, although rivalry games sometimes bring out the best in coaches and players.
Asked how he felt heading into the Territorial Cup, Rodriguez said: “I feel like crap. That’s because we lost another game. But as I told the team, the one thing about it is, we have our rival, it’s at home, it’s (a night for) our seniors, who have had a good career up until this year. It’s their last game.
“Gosh, if we can’t put all of our energy into putting our best (foot) forward for that one, then I’d be extremely disappointed. I think they will.”
Rodriguez played one of the few cards he had left Saturday night: He started redshirt junior Anu Solomon at quarterback.
“He had really good week of practice,” Rodriguez said. “He was more accurate with his throws. I thought he was going to be ready to play a good game.”
Solomon won the job out of training camp and started the Sept. 3 opener against BYU. He suffered a knee injury in practice four days later and missed the next six games.
Solomon came off the bench the past three weeks and sparked the offense at times. He didn’t last a half against Oregon State.
Solomon was slow to get up after getting sacked by OSU’s Caleb Saulo early in the second quarter. Brandon Dawkins, who started eight of the UA’s first 10 games, came in on the next series.
Later in the period, Solomon took off his left shoe and limped into the locker room. He also had a towel draped over his head.
Solomon had a walking boot on his left foot as he left the field after the game. Rodriguez said Solomon suffered a toe injury.
Solomon twice led Arizona inside the OSU 30-yard line but failed to produce any points. By the time he exited, the Wildcats trailed 14-0. It was the fourth game in a row in which they failed to score in the first quarter.
Dawkins’ first touchdown pass since Sept. 29 against Stanford cut Arizona’s deficit to 14-7 with 9:45 left in the first half. Dawkins rolled to his right and hit Nate Phillips, who slipped inside the front right pylon. The 10-yard hookup was Phillips’ first touchdown reception of the season – and his first since catching the game-winner against Utah last November.
The Arizona defense couldn’t keep the offense within striking distance. The Wildcats reverted to their Washington State form, struggling to stop the run and the pass against a team that isn’t nearly as explosive as the Cougars.
Even when they had the Beavers pinned deep in their territory, the Wildcats couldn’t stop them.
Oregon State started from its own 4-yard line after Dawkins’ touchdown pass to Phillips. It took the Beavers nine plays to cover 96 yards and bump the lead back up to 14 points. Marcus McMaryion’s 27-yard touchdown pass to Timmy Hernandez made it 21-7 with 4:14 left in the second quarter.
Dawkins led a field-goal drive at the end of the half. Josh Pollack’s 22-yarder at the buzzer made it 21-10. With the Wildcats getting the ball to start the second half, they had a chance to get within one score.
It didn’t happen. Arizona went three-and-out on each of its first two possessions of the second half, gaining zero net yards. In between, McMaryion threw his fourth touchdown pass, a 35-yarder to Trevon Bradford. The Beavers started at the Wildcats’ 45 after Tellas Jones incurred a 15-yard penalty for kick-catch interference.
Rodriguez called the penalty “ridiculous” and “stupid.” He had other adjectives to describe another poor defensive performance.
“We struggle stopping anybody,” Rodriguez said. “We’re too small or too weak. We can’t get off blocks.”
Bruising running back Ryan Nall rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. McMaryion threw a career-high five touchdown passes. He had five TD passes in five career starts entering Saturday.
