For two weeks, a dark cloud seemed to loom over the Arizona Wildcats.
Back-to-back losses to UCLA and Stanford by 64 points will do that to a program. And with Saturday’s temperature at over 90 degrees, it would have been easy for UA to feel uncomfortable about the situation it faced.
“I told them (Friday) night,” Rodriguez said after the game, “I think it’s going to be a hot day. Really hot, probably 100-something on the turf. The sun bearing down. It’ll be really uncomfortable. Then, they all started to get a smile on their face and I thought, ‘This is going to be perfect for Arizona.’
“And,” he added, “it was.”
But the Wildcats (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) were never uncomfortable, routing Oregon State 44-7 to pick up their first Pac-12 win of the season.
People are also reading…
With quarterback Anu Solomon back in the lineup — he missed the Stanford game and two quarters against UCLA — Arizona’s offense hummed along like it did in nonconference play, when the Wildcats put up a total of 163 points against UTSA, Nevada and NAU.
Solomon wasn’t perfect against the Beavers, but he was solid. The Wildcats opened the game with six straight passing plays, capped by a 50-yard completion from Solomon to David Richards. In the second quarter, Solomon had a 70-yard completion to a wide-open Johnny Jackson.
Both plays eventually led to Nick Wilson rushing touchdowns, and although Solomon didn’t pass for any touchdowns, he also didn’t throw any interceptions. He finished 17 of 30 with 276 yards.
“I thought he was pretty sharp,” Rodriguez said. “This probably wasn’t his sharpest game, but he makes big plays because he sees some big plays developing. He was rusty at times, but I thought he saw the field well.”
Early in the third quarter, center Cayman Bundage snapped the ball, and it went flying over Solomon’s head.
It was a feeling of déjà vu — two weeks earlier, a bad Bundage snap over Solomon’s head led to a turnover, allowing UCLA to grab momentum. Solomon later left the game with a concussion, and the ruckus of the last two weeks commenced.
Not this time, though — Solomon jumped on the ball.
The Wildcats had 644 total yards, including 368 rushing with five touchdowns. Orlando Bradford, a true freshman, had three of them. Wilson had two, and although Jared Baker didn’t score any touchdowns, the redshirt senior led all rushers with 123 yards on 10 carries.
“I was just excited,” said Bradford, who had 83 yards on a team-high 19 carries. “I was just doing my job. Coach called my number, and I just wanted to do this for my team.”
The defense wasn’t bad, either.
After allowing 111 points the last two weeks, it held the Beavers to just seven, the lowest by a Pac-12 opponent in five years, dating back pre-Rodriguez.
Some big names — Scooby Wright, Derrick Turituri and DaVonte’ Neal — were out, but some lesser known-names, like Paul Magloire and Anthony Fotu, stepped up.
Magloire, a converted safety as of this week, started at outside linebacker in place of Turituri, and led the team with nine tackles, two for loss. Fotu, a reserve defensive lineman, deflected an Oregon State pass from Seth Collins to himself for an interception in the second quarter, which led to one of Bradford’s three touchdowns, this one from 1 yard. At that point, Arizona already led 27-7, and by halftime, the lead had ballooned to 34-7.
Oregon State didn’t even pass for 100 yards, finishing with 98.
“When you’re out there having fun and high-fiving each other, and not worrying about the other stuff where guys get their heads jumbled up,” Magloire said, “you just win games. We want that to keep going.”
It was dark the last two weeks. Saturday, the sun was shining, and Arizona was smiling again.
“It was good being out there just having fun,” cornerback Jarvis McCall said, “and winning.”
