Arizona is back on the winning track as it heads into Pac-12 play and that means we are inching closer to the important part of the season plus things continue to roll on with other parts of the Wildcats as well.
Football is again the focus of this week’s War Room, so lets get right into it.
Football
Arizona made easy work against likely the worst opponent it will see all season long. UTEP fired its offensive coordinator after the game and it was not the type of opponent to truly challenge the Wildcats but it was a game for the team to get some confidence back heading into this week’s contest against Utah.
It will be a battle of two strong elements as Arizona brings its top-10 (nationally) rushing attack into the game against Utah’s top-five run defense. Utah has the quarterback to get the job done now and run a system that is similar to Arizona’s so there will be some similarities on both sides. The Utes still sit as around a three-point favorite going into Friday night’s contest, but there are certainly some things that UA will have an advantage at.
* Before we get to this week’s game lets take a look back like we do every week at the Wildcats’ last game and its win over UTEP. The Wildcats truly didn’t struggle much at all with the Miners after a slow start in the first quarter. There has become a recipe for UA wins this year and it features strong quarterback play, some turnovers created by the defense and a big play on special teams.
Rich Rodriguez’s team was able to have all those elements once again in last Friday’s game leading to a big margin of victory.
- Quarterbacks: It was clearly Brandon Dawkins’ best game of the season Friday night and he had a bounce-back performance that he needed to have to hold onto this job for the long term. The redshirt junior was able to run the ball like he has done so many times before and the coaches gave him an easier set of options to work from allowing for some high-percentage throws that led to just three incompletions. It was the baby step with the passing game that could help him progress as things move along this season. Friday night’s win was a step in the right direction for Dawkins’ mindset but there were still things to critique about his performance. Many of the designed runs he had remained telegraphed and deliberate and the throws he was being asked to make weren’t necessarily difficult. It is a nice starting off point after his debacle against Houston, but he will have to continue to improve. The different attitude he showed might be the most important thing to take away from his performance against UTEP. Dawkins has had to earn respect from his teammates at times and Friday’s game was a big step to getting the entire team on board with him and now he can move forward.
In addition to getting Dawkins back on track the coaches were able to get Rhett Rodriguez and Donovan Tate some more time. Tate’s time on the field is more important in this instance because it allows him to get his feet wet, but it will be interesting to see if it helps him make some more progress this season.
- Running backs: Arizona was able to get back to running the ball well and again that was paced by Dawkins, but the win over UTEP also marked the return to the field for senior running back Nick Wilson who finished the game with 13 carries for 39 yards. Not outstanding number to be sure, but it was all a warm up for the rest of the season. Wilson is practicing fully this week and is expected to be ready to go for Friday’s game against Utah. JJ Taylor handled the other big part of the workload in the win over the Miners carrying the ball 12 times for 55 yards. The redshirt freshman also had a receiving touchdown in the game as the Wildcats look to exploit some of the other parts of his skill set. Don’t be surprised if you see UA use more of the two-back set that features both players as things continue to unfold this season. It has been successful when the staff has used it.
Zach Green had 10 carries for 36 yards as the other featured back, but it was the freshman that fans had been calling for who made his presence felt. Nathan Tilford had two touchdowns in the game and ran for 37 yards on eight carries. UA used him sooner than it had in the two previous games giving him a shot in the red zone to make something happen. Rodriguez has maintained that Tilford still has work to do but it could be nearing his time to have a bigger role.
- Tight ends: As co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Calvin Magee has had more time to work with the tight ends the group has become a bigger part of the offense. UA has the best crop of tight ends it has had under Rodriguez this season and so far the group has become a bigger part of the offensive game plan. For the second week in a row freshman Bryce Wolma led the team in catches and scored the first touchdown of his career in the game on a play that was truly all effort.
Wolma has become the go-to player of the group as Trevor Wood heals from an ankle injury and Jamie Nunley works through a back issue. It has left the group a bit thin outside of Wolma and that is why Arizona has now went to redshirt senior defensive end Jack Banda. He caught a pass for 10 yards in the game and has now made the mostly-permanent move over to tight end – a position he played in high school. Arizona likes what it has with its tight end group and it should continue to increase the role of those players.
- Receivers: The passing attack has taken some time to come together and some of the issues have been on what has happened at the quarterback position, but the group itself is not actually doing a ton right now. Shun Brown has been the star of the group as expected with a touchdown in the game on three catches and 42 yards. The group can only catch what is thrown its way and at times that has been an issue. One positive for the Wildcats is that Tyrell Johnson has looked like a bigger part of the game plan this season and he led the receiving group with four catches and 45 yards in the win over UTEP. Arizona can take advantage of his speed moving forward and he has shown some improved control with his hands.
There is another level the group needs to reach as the passing game becomes more relied on and that could begin this week against Utah.
- Offensive line: It was a productive night for the offense as a whole and it wasn’t a poor night for the offensive line, but it also wasn’t the group’s best effort either. There were some issues getting push early on and it prevented the running game from picking up until later in the game and there just wasn’t a ton to be excited about with the offensive line in the game. It’s fair to think there was a bit of a hangover effect after the loss to Houston because there was some extra motivation and a hyper focus in that game because of the players on the other side, but it was a game that the group just didn’t look as sharp in.
- Defensive line: On the other side of the ball there was a good amount of action with the group up front. Parker Zellers was out with an ankle injury meaning everyone else on the depth chart moved up a bit. There was some shifting within the group and some others had an expanded role. When the defensive line is doing its job it is making it easier on the linebackers and safeties to come up and make plays. That is what went on quite a bit, but Vince Amex’s group did a good job of winning at the line of scrimmage. Dereck Boles had a tough task going up against All-American Will Hernandez in the game and he performed well finishing with a couple tackles in the win. Finton Connolly continues to make some noise up front for Arizona and he finished the game with a couple tackles including 1.5 for loss and a quarterback hurry.
For the group to be successful it doesn’t have to rack up the stats, and that was the type of performance the group had in Friday’s win.
- Linebackers: Friday’s game was one of the best overall performances for the linebacker group when it came to impacting the game with big plays. Each of the young players had something to contribute and the way the players were utilized allowed the team to try some different looks and make things a bit confusing for the UTEP offense. Colin Schooler had his first signature performance ending the game with two takeaways, a forced fumble and an interception that he nearly returned for a touchdown. Tony Fields II finished with four tackles and a sack in the game while Kylan Wilborn had three tackles and a tackle for loss. JB Brown came into the game for the first time in his young career as did Anthony Pandy who finished with two tackles and a sack.
Starting middle linebacker Brandon Rutt will be the one to watch this week as he went through the concussion protocol on the sideline in the game. Schooler would step into that starting spot if Rutt can’t go this week.
- Safeties: For the first time this season the safeties weren’t as impactful as they had been but that is almost a good thing in some ways since the defense has been relying on that group to start the year. Scottie Young led the group with three tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss, but it was Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles who came up with the big play recovering the fumble created by Schooler to help the Wildcats secure another turnover. Dane Cruikshank pitched in with two tackles half of a tackle for loss as well.
The workload should go up this week with Utah coming to town and an offense that will look similar to what the Wildcats run meaning more chances for the safety group to make some more plays.
Football is again the focus of this week’s War Room, so lets get right into it.
Football
Arizona made easy work against likely the worst opponent it will see all season long. UTEP fired its offensive coordinator after the game and it was not the type of opponent to truly challenge the Wildcats but it was a game for the team to get some confidence back heading into this week’s contest against Utah.
It will be a battle of two strong elements as Arizona brings its top-10 (nationally) rushing attack into the game against Utah’s top-five run defense. Utah has the quarterback to get the job done now and run a system that is similar to Arizona’s so there will be some similarities on both sides. The Utes still sit as around a three-point favorite going into Friday night’s contest, but there are certainly some things that UA will have an advantage at.
* Before we get to this week’s game lets take a look back like we do every week at the Wildcats’ last game and its win over UTEP. The Wildcats truly didn’t struggle much at all with the Miners after a slow start in the first quarter. There has become a recipe for UA wins this year and it features strong quarterback play, some turnovers created by the defense and a big play on special teams.
Rich Rodriguez’s team was able to have all those elements once again in last Friday’s game leading to a big margin of victory.
- Quarterbacks: It was clearly Brandon Dawkins’ best game of the season Friday night and he had a bounce-back performance that he needed to have to hold onto this job for the long term. The redshirt junior was able to run the ball like he has done so many times before and the coaches gave him an easier set of options to work from allowing for some high-percentage throws that led to just three incompletions. It was the baby step with the passing game that could help him progress as things move along this season. Friday night’s win was a step in the right direction for Dawkins’ mindset but there were still things to critique about his performance. Many of the designed runs he had remained telegraphed and deliberate and the throws he was being asked to make weren’t necessarily difficult. It is a nice starting off point after his debacle against Houston, but he will have to continue to improve. The different attitude he showed might be the most important thing to take away from his performance against UTEP. Dawkins has had to earn respect from his teammates at times and Friday’s game was a big step to getting the entire team on board with him and now he can move forward.
In addition to getting Dawkins back on track the coaches were able to get Rhett Rodriguez and Donovan Tate some more time. Tate’s time on the field is more important in this instance because it allows him to get his feet wet, but it will be interesting to see if it helps him make some more progress this season.
- Running backs: Arizona was able to get back to running the ball well and again that was paced by Dawkins, but the win over UTEP also marked the return to the field for senior running back Nick Wilson who finished the game with 13 carries for 39 yards. Not outstanding number to be sure, but it was all a warm up for the rest of the season. Wilson is practicing fully this week and is expected to be ready to go for Friday’s game against Utah. JJ Taylor handled the other big part of the workload in the win over the Miners carrying the ball 12 times for 55 yards. The redshirt freshman also had a receiving touchdown in the game as the Wildcats look to exploit some of the other parts of his skill set. Don’t be surprised if you see UA use more of the two-back set that features both players as things continue to unfold this season. It has been successful when the staff has used it.
Zach Green had 10 carries for 36 yards as the other featured back, but it was the freshman that fans had been calling for who made his presence felt. Nathan Tilford had two touchdowns in the game and ran for 37 yards on eight carries. UA used him sooner than it had in the two previous games giving him a shot in the red zone to make something happen. Rodriguez has maintained that Tilford still has work to do but it could be nearing his time to have a bigger role.
- Tight ends: As co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Calvin Magee has had more time to work with the tight ends the group has become a bigger part of the offense. UA has the best crop of tight ends it has had under Rodriguez this season and so far the group has become a bigger part of the offensive game plan. For the second week in a row freshman Bryce Wolma led the team in catches and scored the first touchdown of his career in the game on a play that was truly all effort.
Wolma has become the go-to player of the group as Trevor Wood heals from an ankle injury and Jamie Nunley works through a back issue. It has left the group a bit thin outside of Wolma and that is why Arizona has now went to redshirt senior defensive end Jack Banda. He caught a pass for 10 yards in the game and has now made the mostly-permanent move over to tight end – a position he played in high school. Arizona likes what it has with its tight end group and it should continue to increase the role of those players.
- Receivers: The passing attack has taken some time to come together and some of the issues have been on what has happened at the quarterback position, but the group itself is not actually doing a ton right now. Shun Brown has been the star of the group as expected with a touchdown in the game on three catches and 42 yards. The group can only catch what is thrown its way and at times that has been an issue. One positive for the Wildcats is that Tyrell Johnson has looked like a bigger part of the game plan this season and he led the receiving group with four catches and 45 yards in the win over UTEP. Arizona can take advantage of his speed moving forward and he has shown some improved control with his hands.
There is another level the group needs to reach as the passing game becomes more relied on and that could begin this week against Utah.
- Offensive line: It was a productive night for the offense as a whole and it wasn’t a poor night for the offensive line, but it also wasn’t the group’s best effort either. There were some issues getting push early on and it prevented the running game from picking up until later in the game and there just wasn’t a ton to be excited about with the offensive line in the game. It’s fair to think there was a bit of a hangover effect after the loss to Houston because there was some extra motivation and a hyper focus in that game because of the players on the other side, but it was a game that the group just didn’t look as sharp in.
- Defensive line: On the other side of the ball there was a good amount of action with the group up front. Parker Zellers was out with an ankle injury meaning everyone else on the depth chart moved up a bit. There was some shifting within the group and some others had an expanded role. When the defensive line is doing its job it is making it easier on the linebackers and safeties to come up and make plays. That is what went on quite a bit, but Vince Amex’s group did a good job of winning at the line of scrimmage. Dereck Boles had a tough task going up against All-American Will Hernandez in the game and he performed well finishing with a couple tackles in the win. Finton Connolly continues to make some noise up front for Arizona and he finished the game with a couple tackles including 1.5 for loss and a quarterback hurry.
For the group to be successful it doesn’t have to rack up the stats, and that was the type of performance the group had in Friday’s win.
- Linebackers: Friday’s game was one of the best overall performances for the linebacker group when it came to impacting the game with big plays. Each of the young players had something to contribute and the way the players were utilized allowed the team to try some different looks and make things a bit confusing for the UTEP offense. Colin Schooler had his first signature performance ending the game with two takeaways, a forced fumble and an interception that he nearly returned for a touchdown. Tony Fields II finished with four tackles and a sack in the game while Kylan Wilborn had three tackles and a tackle for loss. JB Brown came into the game for the first time in his young career as did Anthony Pandy who finished with two tackles and a sack.
Starting middle linebacker Brandon Rutt will be the one to watch this week as he went through the concussion protocol on the sideline in the game. Schooler would step into that starting spot if Rutt can’t go this week.
- Safeties: For the first time this season the safeties weren’t as impactful as they had been but that is almost a good thing in some ways since the defense has been relying on that group to start the year. Scottie Young led the group with three tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss, but it was Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles who came up with the big play recovering the fumble created by Schooler to help the Wildcats secure another turnover. Dane Cruikshank pitched in with two tackles half of a tackle for loss as well.
The workload should go up this week with Utah coming to town and an offense that will look similar to what the Wildcats run meaning more chances for the safety group to make some more plays.
