On a night when Arizona won with minimal drama, the Wildcats’ quarterback situation became a lot more interesting.
Arizona trounced undermanned Hawaii 47-28 in front of an announced crowd of 50,116 Saturday night at Arizona Stadium. QB Brandon Dawkins was the star of the show.
Dawkins, making his second consecutive start, passed for 235 yards, rushed for 118 and accounted for four touchdowns. The question now is whether he’ll make a third straight start in the Pac-12 opener next week against No. 8 Washington.
Anu Solomon, who started the season opener against BYU, did not suit up for the second game in a row because of a knee injury. His status for the Huskies is to be determined. Solomon spent much of the game sitting by himself behind the UA bench.
"Me and Anu are competing every day," Dawkins said. "Sadly he hasn’t been able to be out there. But I gotta take advantage of my opportunity when I get it, and that’s what I did the last couple of weeks."
Arizona improved to 2-1 and looked a lot sharper, especially on offense, than the previous week against Grambling State. The Wildcats trailed 21-3 at halftime of that game and needed a massive rally to avoid an embarrassing upset.
Slow starts plagued the UA in its first two games; Arizona had just three points in its first two first halves.
The Wildcats had no such trouble against the Rainbow Warriors (1-3). Arizona raced to a 20-0 lead less than 11 minutes into the game.
Dawkins scored the first two touchdowns on read-option keepers; he rushed for a team-high 111 yards and three scores in the first half. His running ability gives the Wildcats’ offense a different dimension.
"He’s a competitive runner," UA coach Rich Rodriguez said. "He tries to score every time he runs. That was a big lift for us. There were some things he’d like to have back. But overall I thought his play improved, certainly from last week."
Dawkins’ backfield mate for most of the night was freshman J.J. Taylor. Starting tailback Nick Wilson left the game in the first quarter because an apparent injury to his left ankle or foot. He did not return.
With Orlando Bradford having been dismissed from the team earlier in the week, Taylor was the next man up. The 5-foot-6, 170-pound freshman displayed some dazzling moves in rushing for 168 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
Dawkins and Taylor operated behind a rejiggered offensive line. Cody Creason and Christian Boettcher entered the starting lineup, displacing Gerhard de Beer and Freddie Tagaloa.
The shuffling continued during the game, as Tagaloa replaced Boettcher at right guard and Boettcher started for Jacob Alsadek in the third quarter. Breakdowns by the offensive line played a big role in Arizona’s first-half struggles the first two games.
Hawaii is down as a program and in the midst of a major rebuilding project under first-year coach Nick Rolovich. The Rainbow Warriors entered Saturday allowing 50 points per game. But Arizona was favored by almost twice as many points against Grambling and struggled to win, so Saturday’s game represented a step in the right direction.
The defense didn’t make as many splashy plays as last week, when it registered six takeaways in the second half. But the unit contributed a key play in the first quarter.
Dawkins’ first two touchdown runs staked Arizona to a 13-0 lead. On the first play of the next drive, freshman safety Tristan Cooper, making his first career start, deflected a pass by quarterback Ikaika Woolsey. Fellow safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles intercepted it at the Hawaii 24-yard line.
Arizona scored on the very next play. Dawkins flipped the ball to speedy Tyrell Johnson on an end-around, and Johnson raced untouched into the end zone.
Woolsey responded with a 15-yard touchdown pass to John Ursua, and the game stood at 20-7 until Dawkins struck again. This time he did it with his arm, rolling left and hitting Shun Brown for a 56-yard touchdown. Dawkins added a 6-yard TD run later in the second quarter, sweeping around left end and extending the ball over the pylon.
The UA defense wasn’t as crisp in the second half. Behind backup quarterback Dru Brown, Hawaii drove for touchdowns on its first three possessions. In between the first two, Taylor ripped off his 61-yard run, sprinting around the Rainbow Warriors defense and down the left sideline.
Aside from sorting through a suddenly mounting list of injuries, the biggest task for Rodriguez this week is figuring out who his quarterback should be. He picked Solomon to start the season and stuck with him despite a shaky performance in Week 1. Dawkins was inconsistent against Grambling. He looked dominant at times against Hawaii.
"That’s a fair question. But it’s not fair for me to answer it," Rodriguez said of the quarterback dilemma. "I think Anu’s a really good player when he’s healthy. I’m hoping he’s healthy so we have two starting quarterbacks."
