We now have something to go on. Arizona officially has a game under its belt and while it wasn’t perfect it was a win and the Wildcats now can move on to more important games and a more significant opponent beginning this week.
Since it is the start of the season and a holiday weekend we will keep the War Room nice and short for you focusing in on the football team and its season opener. Let’s get right into it.
Football
Rich Rodriguez was able to get answers to some of his questions Saturday night as the Wildcats opened the the season with a 62-24 win over Northern Arizona playing 13 true freshmen in the opener and getting a glimpse at what he has to work with this season. There are a lot of new pieces on the field and on the coaching staff this year so it was a good game to break everyone in and get a better read on the program.
* As we do after every Arizona game every season here is our weekly rundown of the Wildcats by position group taking a closer look at what we noticed after re-watching the TV broadcast of the game and combining that with what we saw in person.
- Quarterbacks: We’ll start right at the top where we always do and that is with the quarterback position and in this case that means beginning with Brandon Dawkins. He was of course the star of the show on the ground Saturday rushing for a team-high 92 yards and a couple of scores with a couple more getting called back because of penalties on the offensive line – more on that in a bit. As far as Dawkins goes his performance on the ground was as you expected. He has set a precedent of being that impact player in the ground game, so it wasn’t a shock when he showed what he did against the Lumberjacks. Like it or not, it’s what he’s supposed to do. Where the progress will need to come moving forward, unless Arizona wants to fully embrace that it is a run-oriented team and ditch the pass altogether, is with the passing attack. Dawkins can’t go through the season throwing less than 20 passes. Teams are going to start forcing the Wildcats to throw it more and that will start as soon as this Saturday with Houston.
Intermediate throws are where the issues are for Dawkins. He made the short pass in the flat to Tony Ellison, and even that wasn’t a crisp pass, that the receiver then took 40 yards for the touchdown. He can hit deep passes, but it is in the middle of the field where he still has issues. On one throw toward the end of his time on the field Dawkins missed a streaking DeVaughn Cooper wide open about 20 yards out and instead opted to go for the shorter, safer pass. That is an area that has to improve moving forward and he has to see those things to progress this offense.
Khalil Tate was effective in his time being able to run the ball for big yards and even hit Tyrell Johnson an a beautiful pass over the middle for a touchdown that was called back for an illegal man down field. His other throw in the game went to Cooper down the sideline that was defended well and broken up. The big news with the sophomore is of course his shoulder. There was nothing wrong with Tate’s approach to the play that knocked him out of the game he just landed the wrong way while being tackled. At this point the severity is not known but Rodriguez remains confident it is not serious.
Freshman Rhett Rodriguez was the other quarterback to enter the game scoring a touchdown and guiding the offense the way you would hope for a signal caller when a game is out of hand. He managed the clock and didn’t make many, if any, mistakes. Rodriguez getting in there as the third quarterback is telling, but also not surprising. His dad values knowing the playbook and that is certainly one area the younger Rodriguez has an advantage over the others at his spot.
- Running backs: We all knew it had the potential to be special and the running back unit lived up to the expectations nearly setting a school record for rushing yards in a game for the second straight contest. The group finished with 506 yards overall and while some of those get credited to Dawkins, Tate and Tyrell Johnson it was a nice night for the running back unit. Each of the five running backs Rodriguez said would play, did, and they all contributed in some way. Senior Nick Wilson led the way with 87 yards and a touchdown while splitting time with redshirt freshman JJ Taylor, who had the most carries with nine. The co-starters each had their bright moments but Wilson was the more productive of the two.
He looked to be in great game shape and escaped the game without injury which is exactly what the staff wants to see. Taylor didn’t have any of his game-breaking plays but he did finish with 44 yards and a nice night as he bounces back from a broken ankle from last season. It may have surprised some fans when Zach Green was penciled in as the third back on the depth chart but it shouldn’t have. He has improved and he showed that Saturday night with a long touchdown run finishing his night with 57 yards and the score. He looked faster and his ability to hit the hole was something to watch.
Nathan Tilford and Branden Leon were able to get in at the end of the game and both showed what they have all of the last month. Tilford had a nice breakaway run for 65 yards that helped him finish third on the team in rushing with 79 yards on four carries while Leon scored a touchdown and had 30 yards on five carries. Overall, UA’s running backs did a good job of staying patient and waiting for holes to open up before hitting them with aggression. They avoided the big hits for the most part and that is an important development with the group.
If the group can stay healthy it is going to put up some outrageous numbers this season, but its first test comes this weekend as Houston will have the talent to take away the runs between the tackles for UA with Ed Oliver coming to town.
- Receivers: It was just one of those nights for Arizona’s receivers and one that will frustrate the group whether they will admit it or not. Nobody likes to block for an entire game but with less than 20 targets for the group as a whole it is going to be downright boring at times for them. Ellison had a big night finishing with five catches for 79 yards and the touchdown, but outside of that it was a rough one for the receivers. Shun Brown had one catch for five yards as did Cedric Peterson. Arizona is going to have to figure this out because teams are going to start being able to have the talent to takeaway some of the running game as things move along and the receivers will have to be able to be part of the offense again.
There were plenty of times when the receivers were able to get open or get separation but the quarterbacks just missed them. When it comes to blocking the group did a commendable job in that category.
- Tight ends: It’s happening again. The tight ends didn’t get looked at much when they were in the game and were used mostly in blocking situations. Both Trevor Wood and Bryce Wolma played and performed well in what their duties were, but neither was able to get involved in the passing game. Neither is going to complain about it, but it comes back to utilizing the middle of the field and right now the Wildcats aren’t doing it. Wood left the game in the third quarter with an injury and that meant one healthy tight end to finish the game and that could prevent UA from using the position even more if Wood’s injury is significant.
- Offensive line: It’s hard to find an issue with an offensive line that helped the team rush for over 500 yards but there were some definite miscues and mistakes by the group up front. There were three instances where touchdowns were called back by penalties. Jacob Alsadek had two of them and Layth Friekh had another. Both of those players are seniors and shouldn’t be making those mistakes even if a couple were questionable calls. The run-pass option makes it difficult on offensive line to not get down field because they can’t see what’s going on behind them, but having as much time as some of the upperclassmen do in this offense it shouldn’t be happening in games. The good news is everything that went wrong with the offensive line is correctable and things that shouldn’t happen with regularity.
For the second game in a row, going back to last season’s ASU game, the quarterback stayed upright as the Wildcats didn’t allow a sack for the second consecutive game. Now, that is a bit of a misleading stat when you consider the quarterback is only sitting in the pocket for 14 pass attempts but it is still positive for Jim Michalczik’s group. Arizona was able to get some reserves in the game and none stood out more than backup tackle Cody Creason who had a strong block on one of the rushing scores and played a solid game. He is No. 6 on the rotation right now and should continue to see time at right tackle and left tackle if needed.
Since it is the start of the season and a holiday weekend we will keep the War Room nice and short for you focusing in on the football team and its season opener. Let’s get right into it.
Football
Rich Rodriguez was able to get answers to some of his questions Saturday night as the Wildcats opened the the season with a 62-24 win over Northern Arizona playing 13 true freshmen in the opener and getting a glimpse at what he has to work with this season. There are a lot of new pieces on the field and on the coaching staff this year so it was a good game to break everyone in and get a better read on the program.
* As we do after every Arizona game every season here is our weekly rundown of the Wildcats by position group taking a closer look at what we noticed after re-watching the TV broadcast of the game and combining that with what we saw in person.
- Quarterbacks: We’ll start right at the top where we always do and that is with the quarterback position and in this case that means beginning with Brandon Dawkins. He was of course the star of the show on the ground Saturday rushing for a team-high 92 yards and a couple of scores with a couple more getting called back because of penalties on the offensive line – more on that in a bit. As far as Dawkins goes his performance on the ground was as you expected. He has set a precedent of being that impact player in the ground game, so it wasn’t a shock when he showed what he did against the Lumberjacks. Like it or not, it’s what he’s supposed to do. Where the progress will need to come moving forward, unless Arizona wants to fully embrace that it is a run-oriented team and ditch the pass altogether, is with the passing attack. Dawkins can’t go through the season throwing less than 20 passes. Teams are going to start forcing the Wildcats to throw it more and that will start as soon as this Saturday with Houston.
Intermediate throws are where the issues are for Dawkins. He made the short pass in the flat to Tony Ellison, and even that wasn’t a crisp pass, that the receiver then took 40 yards for the touchdown. He can hit deep passes, but it is in the middle of the field where he still has issues. On one throw toward the end of his time on the field Dawkins missed a streaking DeVaughn Cooper wide open about 20 yards out and instead opted to go for the shorter, safer pass. That is an area that has to improve moving forward and he has to see those things to progress this offense.
Khalil Tate was effective in his time being able to run the ball for big yards and even hit Tyrell Johnson an a beautiful pass over the middle for a touchdown that was called back for an illegal man down field. His other throw in the game went to Cooper down the sideline that was defended well and broken up. The big news with the sophomore is of course his shoulder. There was nothing wrong with Tate’s approach to the play that knocked him out of the game he just landed the wrong way while being tackled. At this point the severity is not known but Rodriguez remains confident it is not serious.
Freshman Rhett Rodriguez was the other quarterback to enter the game scoring a touchdown and guiding the offense the way you would hope for a signal caller when a game is out of hand. He managed the clock and didn’t make many, if any, mistakes. Rodriguez getting in there as the third quarterback is telling, but also not surprising. His dad values knowing the playbook and that is certainly one area the younger Rodriguez has an advantage over the others at his spot.
- Running backs: We all knew it had the potential to be special and the running back unit lived up to the expectations nearly setting a school record for rushing yards in a game for the second straight contest. The group finished with 506 yards overall and while some of those get credited to Dawkins, Tate and Tyrell Johnson it was a nice night for the running back unit. Each of the five running backs Rodriguez said would play, did, and they all contributed in some way. Senior Nick Wilson led the way with 87 yards and a touchdown while splitting time with redshirt freshman JJ Taylor, who had the most carries with nine. The co-starters each had their bright moments but Wilson was the more productive of the two.
He looked to be in great game shape and escaped the game without injury which is exactly what the staff wants to see. Taylor didn’t have any of his game-breaking plays but he did finish with 44 yards and a nice night as he bounces back from a broken ankle from last season. It may have surprised some fans when Zach Green was penciled in as the third back on the depth chart but it shouldn’t have. He has improved and he showed that Saturday night with a long touchdown run finishing his night with 57 yards and the score. He looked faster and his ability to hit the hole was something to watch.
Nathan Tilford and Branden Leon were able to get in at the end of the game and both showed what they have all of the last month. Tilford had a nice breakaway run for 65 yards that helped him finish third on the team in rushing with 79 yards on four carries while Leon scored a touchdown and had 30 yards on five carries. Overall, UA’s running backs did a good job of staying patient and waiting for holes to open up before hitting them with aggression. They avoided the big hits for the most part and that is an important development with the group.
If the group can stay healthy it is going to put up some outrageous numbers this season, but its first test comes this weekend as Houston will have the talent to take away the runs between the tackles for UA with Ed Oliver coming to town.
- Receivers: It was just one of those nights for Arizona’s receivers and one that will frustrate the group whether they will admit it or not. Nobody likes to block for an entire game but with less than 20 targets for the group as a whole it is going to be downright boring at times for them. Ellison had a big night finishing with five catches for 79 yards and the touchdown, but outside of that it was a rough one for the receivers. Shun Brown had one catch for five yards as did Cedric Peterson. Arizona is going to have to figure this out because teams are going to start being able to have the talent to takeaway some of the running game as things move along and the receivers will have to be able to be part of the offense again.
There were plenty of times when the receivers were able to get open or get separation but the quarterbacks just missed them. When it comes to blocking the group did a commendable job in that category.
- Tight ends: It’s happening again. The tight ends didn’t get looked at much when they were in the game and were used mostly in blocking situations. Both Trevor Wood and Bryce Wolma played and performed well in what their duties were, but neither was able to get involved in the passing game. Neither is going to complain about it, but it comes back to utilizing the middle of the field and right now the Wildcats aren’t doing it. Wood left the game in the third quarter with an injury and that meant one healthy tight end to finish the game and that could prevent UA from using the position even more if Wood’s injury is significant.
- Offensive line: It’s hard to find an issue with an offensive line that helped the team rush for over 500 yards but there were some definite miscues and mistakes by the group up front. There were three instances where touchdowns were called back by penalties. Jacob Alsadek had two of them and Layth Friekh had another. Both of those players are seniors and shouldn’t be making those mistakes even if a couple were questionable calls. The run-pass option makes it difficult on offensive line to not get down field because they can’t see what’s going on behind them, but having as much time as some of the upperclassmen do in this offense it shouldn’t be happening in games. The good news is everything that went wrong with the offensive line is correctable and things that shouldn’t happen with regularity.
For the second game in a row, going back to last season’s ASU game, the quarterback stayed upright as the Wildcats didn’t allow a sack for the second consecutive game. Now, that is a bit of a misleading stat when you consider the quarterback is only sitting in the pocket for 14 pass attempts but it is still positive for Jim Michalczik’s group. Arizona was able to get some reserves in the game and none stood out more than backup tackle Cody Creason who had a strong block on one of the rushing scores and played a solid game. He is No. 6 on the rotation right now and should continue to see time at right tackle and left tackle if needed.
