Two days after another uneven performance, Anu Solomon knocked on Rich Rodriguez’s office door and sat down.
There, the Arizona Wildcats’ embattled quarterback and frustrated head coach discussed how the offense can improve.
It will start, Rodriguez said Monday, by simplifying what’s asked of Solomon. The Wildcats (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) will take on USC Saturday at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
“Sometimes,” Rodriguez said, “you can think too much.”
Solomon started over Jerrard Randall in last week’s 49-3 loss at Washington and posted one of the worst statistical games of his career. The sophomore completed 18 of 31 passes for 160 yards and no scores, and was intercepted twice. His quarterback rating of 88.5 was the worst of the season, and about half of what he posted against Nevada and UTSA earlier this year.
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Randall replaced Solomon for drives and plays throughout the first half, then took over for good at the start of the fourth quarter. Randall completed 7 of 11 passes for 43 yards, a quarterback rating of 78.3, but added 46 rushing yards on 11 carries. They remain listed as co-starters for Saturday.
After watching film Sunday, Rodriguez believes he’s asking Solomon to do too much. Quarterbacks in Arizona’s read-option system must not only identify defensive fronts and read whether a defensive end is rushing or not, but must check down quickly and make often awkward throws on a split-second’s notice. Solomon seemed to improve in the short game against Washington, but missed on a few big plays downfield.
Whether that was rust, inconsistency or the byproduct of the gusting winds blowing off Lake Washington was never fully answered. Solomon has struggled since suffering a concussion against UCLA on Sept. 26, completing 69 of 118 passes for two touchdowns and two picks, but Rodriguez answered with a flat “no” when asked if the injury has affected him.
A simpler offense could Solomon to play quicker and with more rhythm.
“He’s played at a high level before,” Rodriguez said, “and I think he’ll play at a high level again.”
RichRod: Job rumors
are just “speculation”
Despite Arizona’s struggles, Rodriguez is still considered a hot commodity in coaching circles.
Rodriguez has been mentioned as a possible candidate at South Carolina, Miami and — most recently — Virginia Tech, where coach Frank Beamer announced Sunday that he will retire following the season.
Rodriguez has a relationship with Hokies athletic director Whitt Babcock from their time in West Virginia, which makes him — in some peoples’ eyes — Beamer’s ideal successor.
It’s all just noise to Rodriguez, who said he has no plans to address the rumor mill to his team.
“It’s all just rumors and speculation,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t think there’s anybody, not even myself, nobody’s getting called for jobs (right now). The speculation on Internet and message boards and all that, it’s just speculation for anybody — not just me or anybody else. Normally it happens around the last week or two of the regular season anyway.”
Wright, Turituri update
Rodriguez’s weekly press conferences have included an update on Scooby Wright since the star linebacker went down with a knee injury in Week 1.
The message isn’t changing much — Wright, who now has a foot injury, will miss Saturday’s game against USC. It’ll be the sixth straight game he’s missed since the Sept. 26 loss to UCLA.
Outside linebacker Derrick Turituri, out for each of the last five weeks with a hip injury, will also miss the USC game.
The possibility of a medical redshirt looms — more for Turituri than Wright, as there’s always the possibility he could declare for the NFL draft after the season — but Rodriguez said that’s up to the players.
“It’s up to them and the medical staff,” Rodriguez said. “Scooby’s is lingering, Derrick Turituri’s is lingering, and neither of them look like they’re going to play this week. They’re working hard, the medical staff is, too, you just can’t press it. We’ll see how they do.”
It remains to be seen if either will be ready to go when UA faces Utah at home next week.
“We have three big games left in the regular season,” Rodriguez said, “and we’ll see how they feel this time next week.”
Wright and Turituri aren’t the only ones banged up. Starting guards Jacob Alsadek and Freddie Tagaloa went down with injuries Saturday; their status for this week is unclear.
“Both of those guys are injured,” Rodriguez said. “You’ve got both your guards out, and that’s not the healthiest of situations, but the way our schedule is, it seems like it’s always hitting at one position, which doesn’t make it easy.”
Zach Hemmila, a starter at left guard for the early part of the season, would likely take one of the starting spots if either Tagaloa or Alsadek can’t go. Arizona’s depth chart lists redshirt senior Kaige Lawrence and redshirt junior T.D. Gross as the backups at both guard spots.
Extra points
- Arizona’s Nov. 14 game against Utah will start at 8 p.m. and air on Fox Sports 1. It will be Arizona’s third straight game to kick off after 8 p.m.
- Wide receiver
- Samajie Grant
- was dealing with the flu all week, Rodriguez said. “I don’t know if he was feeling 100 percent on Saturday,” Rodriguez said. Grant had two catches for 21 yards against the Huskies.
- N’Keal Harry
- , a five-star receiver in the 2016 class according to Scout.com, committed to Arizona State on Monday afternoon. The Chandler High School star had listed Arizona as one of his top 10 schools.
- Washington’s
- Travis Feeney
- was named the Pac-12’s defensive player of the week for his performance (11 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles) against UA.
