Arizona's report card for its 77-13 win over NAU.
Offense:
Quarterbacks: A. Hard to criticize much of anything for this group. Anu Solomon had maybe his best game, completing 25-of-35 passes — if not for some early dropped balls, that would’ve looked even better — for 285 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Through three games, he still has yet to throw a pick. He added a rushing touchdown, too. Once the game was already out of hand, the back-ups came and it pushed it further in that direction — Jerrard Randall had touchdown runs of 73 and 72 yards, Brandon Dawkins had one for 43, and walk-on fourth-stringer added one for 11 yards for good measure. All told, the quarterbacks combined for 267 rushing yards with five touchdowns on 11 carries.
Running backs: A. No fumbles, no problems. Nick Wilson was his usual productive self, running for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. The back-ups all were solid too who played (Jared Baker, Zach Green, Jonathan Haden), combining to average 8.1 yards per carry. The Wildcats debuted a new formation at the goal line in the second quarter, with Wilson, Green and fullback Jamadre Cobb all in the backfield, and a Green block helped spur Wilson for a 1-yard score.
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Receivers: B. There were a couple dropped passes early, and Cayleb Jones and Samajie Grant both left the game banged up — Rich Rodriguez said they will be OK — but all in all was still a solid night for the wideouts. David Richards was a stand-out in a career night, getting career bests of 8 catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Samajie Grant and Johnny Jackson ahd the other two touchdowns, making it three straight games with one for Jackson.
Offensive line: A-. Only allowed one sack, and it was in the third quarter when Arizona was already ahead 42-13. Solomon didn’t face too much pressure all night, and the line did a nice job of opening up holes for the running game, helping the UA to rush for a school-record 499 yards. The previous record was 492 yards, set in 1988 against Eastern Michigan.
Defense
Front six: C+: The defense as a whole had some issues tackling, but for a front seven decimated by injury — defensive tackle Luca Bruno was out with a concussion, DeAndre’ Miller, Scooby Wright and Haden Gregory were out with various injuries, and Derrick Turituri barely played after the opening series — but all in all, it was still a solid night. The front seven had two sacks (Calvin Allen, Sani Fuimaono) after having just one on the season coming in. No linebacker had more than four tackles, which isn’t ideal, either. In his first career start, Tre Tyler had three tackles.
Back five: B-: It’s hard to judge this group in particular since most of their big plays came with the game already out of hand — including Tucsonans Cam Denson and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles interceptions in the second half — and there were some particularly bad moments in the first half. Denson especially had his ups and downs, getting a unnessecary roughness penalty in the first half, pass interference in the second and allowing NAU wideout Emmanuel Butler to score on 62 yard touchdown in the second quarter. Denson and safety Anthony Lopez both had sacks, and Tellas Jones led the UA with six tackles, one for loss.
Special teams: B-. Nothing much to report here. Drew Riggleman had a 60-yard punt, Casey Skowron was 10-of-10 on PATs and didn’t attempt a field goal. The Wildcats gave up an average of 21.5 yards on returns which is a concern.
