Echoing the sentiment of most Arizona football fans, Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez said Monday that he isn’t happy with the team’s 1-1 start.
Asked specifically if the Cats have met his expectations thus far, Rodriguez said: “No. I’m a little disappointed certainly, including (in) us coaches. You want to be 2-0, and you want to be executing better.”
Arizona is 1-1, and getting to .500 was a struggle. The UA needed a massive second-half rally to defeat Grambling State, which came to Tucson as a 40-plus-point underdog.
The good news, as Rodriguez sees it, is that the players are doing everything the coaches are asking of them. Players regularly arrive 15-20 minutes early for meetings and 7 a.m. practices.
“The conscientiousness, the attitude, the effort, the want-to has been there,” said Rodriguez, whose team hosts Hawaii on Saturday. “It’s important to them, and they know we’ve got to get better.”
Specific areas in need of improvement include offensive execution, especially at the start of games and in short-yardage situations, and tackling on defense.
Rodriguez again said it’s critical for Arizona to establish a rhythm in the early going; the Wildcats have just three first-half points in two games.
They went for it on fourth-and-short four times against the Tigers but converted only once. Rodriguez said the success rate should be 80-90 percent in those situations.
Tackling has been a sore spot in both games and a daily point of emphasis. No matter what, Rodriguez doesn’t want the defense to lose its aggressiveness.
“You have a tendency, if you miss a tackle, to become more tentative and not be as aggressive – to kind of play passive defensively,” Rodriguez said. “We don’t want to do that at all. I hate playing passively. You’ve got to see the ball, get the ball.”
Arizona ended up forcing six second-half turnovers against Grambling. Two of those Tigers possessions lasted only three plays, but the Wildcats did not register any traditional three-and-outs (three plays and a punt). Their weekly goal is six.
“There’s always room for improvement,” said nose tackle Parker Zellers, who had two sacks and two forced fumbles against Grambling. “As long as we go out to practice wanting to get better, wanting to improve, wanting to succeed, I think that’s a recipe for success.”
Quarterback update
Rodriguez described quarterback Brandon Dawkins’ first start as “uneven.”
Dawkins flashed his playmaking ability in amassing 320 total yards and accounting for three touchdowns. He also completed only 51.7 percent of his passes (15 of 29) and misfired on some big-play opportunities.
“Brandon has a lot of skills,” Rodriguez said. “He’s got some experience in the offense. The more he plays, the better he’ll get.”
Whether Dawkins will start against Hawaii remains to be seen. Regarding the health of injured Week 1 starter Anu Solomon, Rodriguez said “we’ll find out more … later in the week.”
Solomon suffered a knee injury during practice Wednesday that will not require surgery. He sported a large brace on his left leg during Saturday’s game.
Hello, Larry?
Rodriguez said he plans to contact the Pac-12 Conference about some calls that went against Arizona on Saturday.
One was the targeting foul against linebacker Cody Ippolito in the fourth quarter. Because the penalty occurred in the second half, Ippolito has to sit out the first half against the Rainbow Warriors.
“I’ll discuss it with them,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not overly optimistic it’ll get anything changed.”
Rodriguez also will ask the league about two delay-of-game penalties called against the UA defense on the first series. The officials determined that Arizona violated the rule that prohibits defensive players from simulating “the sound or cadence of offensive starting signals.” Rodriguez said the Wildcats simply were calling their own signals to get the defense properly positioned.
“When they’re ready to snap ball, you have to allow them to say ‘go,’ ” Rodriguez said. “My argument was, if they’re a no-huddle team and you don’t know when they’re going to snap the ball, do you have to ask ‘Mother may I?’ before you can make your defensive call?”
Another late start
Arizona’s home game against Washington a week from Saturday will kick off at 7:30 p.m. It will be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
Each of the Wildcats’ first four games will start at 7:30 or later. The only other announced starting time, for the season-ending game against Arizona State, is also a 7:30 kickoff.
“I’d rather play early,” Rodriguez said. “I’d like to have an 11 a.m. time. That would really mess Hawaii up.”
Extra points
- Arizona will acknowledge the upcoming 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor before and during Saturday’s game. Activities include a special National Anthem performance and a halftime tribute to U.S.S. Arizona survivor Lauren Bruner and others. Past and present military members can buy tickets at 50 percent off with a valid ID.
- Arizona was among the schools approached by the conference to play a game in Australia in 2017 or ’18 but declined. “We don’t have anything planned,” Rodriguez said. Hawaii opened the 2016 college football season against Cal in Sydney.
