Wildcats game day breakdown: Arizona's defensive growing pains, RichRod's unfavorable streak

Youthful defense seeks gains amid growing pains

With several freshmen playing prominent roles, Arizona Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez figured his defense would encounter some potholes on the road to improvement. He was just hoping they wouldn’t be sinkholes that could swallow cars whole.

Arizona’s defensive performance at Colorado last week was more like the latter. After three consecutive outings in which they surrendered fewer than 400 yards, the Wildcats fell into some old, bad habits.

The Buffaloes rolled up 300 rushing yards on the Cats and 551 overall. Each of Colorado’s final four possessions covered 75 yards and ended in a touchdown.

“I thought there would be some moments like this game,” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t want it to be this bad where we couldn’t get off the field and let them control the game.

“We’ve got to look at what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, who we’re doing it with and make sure we’re not overloading the freshmen mentally and they’re not forgetting about their fundamentals.”

As often happens when a unit struggles, fundamentals become a focal point. So it goes for Arizona’s defensive front entering Saturday’s game against UCLA.

Defensive line coach Vince Amey did not think his charges played with the proper pad level against Colorado. That enabled the Buffs to get a push and open lanes for tough tailback Phillip Lindsay, who rush for 281 yards and three touchdowns. That was 6 yards fewer than Arizona’s previous three opponents had combined.

“We’ve gotta get back to being stout,” Amey said. “We do a lot of movement and stuff. I have to make sure that when we have to hold the point of attack, we get back to that and do a good job at it.”

Amey doesn’t have as much youth in his group as some of his colleagues. Kurtis Brown, who rotates in off the bench, is the only true freshman who plays defensive tackle.

Three freshmen have started every game: “Stud” Kylan Wilborn, “Will” linebacker Tony Fields II and free safety Scottie Young Jr. A fourth, “Mike” linebacker Colin Schooler, joined them in the lineup last week.

“You’ve gotta make a point as a coach to not let them get comfortable (or) complacent,” Amey said. “It’s not going to just happen. You have to go out there and continue to perform, continue to play hard, well, fast, wrap up, tackle. As coaches, that’s our job – to hone in on that and make sure they’re doing those things.”

Although they anticipated growing pains, Rodriguez and his staff won’t use youth as a crutch. Defensive coordinator Marcel Yates flat-out said during training camp that he doesn’t care how old guys are as long as they can play.

“Obviously, it’s not going to go as smooth as (it would) having a bunch of veterans out there,” senior defensive tackle Parker Zellers said. “But at the same time, if (the coaches are) putting you in there and expecting you to perform and execute, you have to live up to their standards.

“Being young is a reason there could be bumps. But you can’t let that be an OK thing. We’ve got to improve.”

Freshman tight end Bryce Wolma has earned trust of coaches, quarterbacks

It was lost amid all of Khalil Tate’s highlights, but freshman tight end Bryce Wolma made as important a play as any in the Arizona Wildcats’ victory at Colorado last week.

Nursing a three-point lead late in the fourth quarter and facing third-and-4 from its 31, Arizona dialed up an RPO pass for Wolma. Tate hit him in the right flat. Taking advantage of blocks by receivers Tony Ellison and Cedric Peterson, Wolma turned upfield and gained 8 yards. The Wildcats never gave the ball back to the Buffaloes and won 45-42.

That Rich Rodriguez entrusted Wolma in that critical moment tells you how he and his staff feel about the Saline, Michigan, product.

“He’s very coachable,” tight ends coach Calvin Magee said. “He’s a tough kid. He’s got some very good ball skills. He understands football, and he loves football.”

Wolma wasn’t expected to have this big a role. But he capitalized on injuries to fellow tight ends Trevor Wood and Jamie Nunley and has emerged as one of Arizona’s steadiest pass catchers. Wolma has yet to start a game but ranks second on the team with 17 receptions.

“I think I’ve progressed a lot,” Wolma said. “At the beginning of the year I was kind of worried about my blocking, my adjustment into college football, especially in the Pac-12. Non-conference is a lot different than Pac-12. Guys are faster and bigger. I think after two games, I’m kind of getting the hang of it.”

Wolma credits Magee for getting the tight ends more involved in the passing game — something that largely has been missing from Rodriguez’s offense since he came to Tucson. Magee, Arizona’s associated head coach and co-offensive coordinator, added tight ends to his running back duties this past offseason.

“It’s obviously worked in the game plan so far,” Wolma said. “Hopefully it keeps going.”

RichRod seeking first win against Bruins in lopsided series

The last time Arizona beat UCLA, Rich Rodriguez was an analyst for CBS Sports. Mike Stoops was unemployed. Instead, interim head coach Tim Kish guided the Wildcats through one of the wildest nights of football in Arizona Stadium history.

The Wildcats blew out UCLA in a game that featured an all-out brawl just before halftime. The scuffle began when a streaker dressed as an official ran onto the field and stripped down to his underwear.

Short of Khalil Tate rushing for 400 yards against the Bruins on Saturday, that kind of craziness won’t happen again, but UA is due for a win against UCLA.

Rodriguez certainly wants it — the Bruins are the only Pac-12 team that Rodriguez hasn’t beaten since he was hired in 2012.

“That’s been a talk,” freshman linebacker Kylan Wilborn said.

“We’ve talked about changing the culture in terms of going out there and getting our first win against them.”

Here’s a look back at those five losses:

2012: UCLA 66, Arizona 10

Good for UCLA: RB Jonathan Franklin (166 rush yards, 2 TDs), QB Brett Hundley (288 pass yards, 4 total TDs)

Bad for Arizona: RB Ka’Deem Carey (16 carries, 54 rushing yards)

What went wrong? Uhh. Just look at the score. The game was over by halftime and quarterback Matt Scott suffered a concussion.

2013: UCLA 31, Arizona 26

Good for UCLA: LB Myles Jack (8 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 120 rushing yards)

Bad for Arizona: 5 of 14 on third downs

What went wrong? Wildcats were down 21-10 at halftime and stormed back within five with 8 minutes to play, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

2014: UCLA 17, Arizona 7

Good for UCLA: QB Brett Hundley (189 pass yards, 131 rushing yards)

Bad for Arizona: QB Anu Solomon (18 of 48, 175 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT)

What went wrong? UA scored first, then never scored again.

2015: UCLA 56, Arizona 30

Good for UCLA: Bruins rushed for six touchdowns

Bad for Arizona: Quarterbacks were a combined 10 of 28 for 115 passing yards

What went wrong? ESPN’s “College GameDay” was in town, LB Scooby Wright rushed back from injury and the Wildcats just weren’t ready.

2016: UCLA 45, Arizona 24

Good for UCLA: QB Josh Rosen (350 pass yards, 3 TDs)

Bad for Arizona: Quarterbacks a combined 13 for 31 for 145 yards

What went wrong? QB Brandon Dawkins was injured, the UA burned Tate’s redshirt and Arizona’s season spiraled out of control.

De'Andre Miller, Kylan Wilborn could give pass rush a boost

DeAndre Miller is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs nearly 240 pounds — a muscular, athletic football player who has always looked the part of a freakish pass-rusher.

But injuries have been a problem for the fifth-year senior.

Miller missed most of 2014 season and parts of the last two seasons with various ailments.

This year, he was set to join offensive lineman Jacob Alsadek and coach Rich Rodriguez in Los Angeles for the preseason Pac-12 Media Day. In the days leading up to the preseason event, Miller injured his foot working out.

He didn’t play again until last week’s win over Colorado.

“It was just overworking my body,” Miller said. “I did one of the drills out there for our speed and agility and I pushed it to the edge.”

Miller may be back, but his starting spot belongs to someone else.

Freshman Kylan Wilborn has emerged as one of Arizona’s most talented defenders and, through five games, may be the Wildcats’ most consistent pass-rusher. Wilborn has 14 tackles — three for loss — and registered one sack so far this season.

With Miller injured, Wilborn received reps that he might not have received otherwise, and he capitalized.

“It helped me” getting those reps, Wilborn said. “The game has gotten slower every game, so that’s one thing that’s really helped. It’s pretty cool in terms of just getting a feel for the game and understanding the strength of these big Pac-12 tackles.”

Miller and Wilborn will switch off and play together as Arizona’s best edge rushers.

“I was doing everything I can, trying to coach the young guys, and as you can see, Kylan is doing a great job,” Miller said. “He works his butt off. He gives it 100 percent every play so it’s nice to go out there and see a young guy with potential like him.”

If Miller can get back to where he was at in 2015, when he finished the season with 50 tackles, eight for loss and two sacks, Arizona’s pass rush will be in better shape.

Having Miller back “is helpful,” Wilborn added. “I’ve been waiting for him all summer, so it’s cool to finally be playing with him.”