It was a tough loss in a game that was there for the taking, but Arizona came up short on the road against UCLA Saturday night at the Rose Bowl. Rhett Rodriguez had a solid night at quarterback as he replaced Khalil Tate, but the defense just couldn't hold long enough to earn a victory.
As I have done every week I will take a look at the Pro Football Focus grades for the Wildcats, and this week the numbers looked better and were among some of the better grads across the board – mostly – despite the loss to the Bruins.
If you want to take a look back at last week's grades for a comparison here is the full rundown from the Utah game.
Now let's jump into the grades and find out what PFF had to say about who stood out against UCLA.
Offense (players who played 35+ snaps)
1. Shawn Poindexter- 83.7 (53 snaps)
2. Gary Brightwell- 77.3 (32 snaps)
3. JJ Taylor- 77.1 (41 snaps)
4. Devaughn Cooper- 72.7 (37 snaps)
5. Donovan Laie- 70.2 (73 snaps)
6. Cody Creason- 64.4 (73 snaps)
7. Bryson Cain- 61.5 (73 snaps)
8. Tony Ellison- 60.4 (44 snaps)
9. Rhett Rodriguez- 58.5 (73 snaps)
10. Bryce Wolma- 56.0 (40 snaps)
11. Josh McCauley- 53.6 (73 snaps)
12. Shun Brown- 53.0 (44 snaps)
13. Michael Eletise - 51.1 (73 snaps)
Defense (players who played 35+ snaps)
1. Dereck Boles - 79.8 (62 snaps)
2. PJ Johnson - 73.7 (63 snaps)
3. Jalen Harris - 67.6 (51 snaps)
4. Finton Connolly - 65.6 (37 snaps)
5. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles - 65.3 (79 snaps)
6. Tristan Cooper - 63.0 (63 snaps)
7. Scottie Young Jr. - 61.3 (85 snaps)
8. Colin Schooler - 61.2 (85 snaps)
9. JB Brown - 60.0 (61 snaps)
10. Christian Young - 57.6 (82 snaps)
11. Anthony Pandy - 57.5 (35 snaps)
12. Tony Fields II - 55.6 (50 snaps)
13. McKenzie Barnes - 54.5 (55 snaps)
- As of now there aren't any special teams grades in the system, so I will update once that happens.
Takeaways
* Offense: It was an interesting week for the offense and some players you would hope are at the top were at the top this week starting with Shawn Poindexter who was clearly the player of the game Saturday night with his two touchdown catches. It was interesting that his receiving grade (79.9) was not as good as his run blocking grade (86.9) and goes to show that sometimes it's the little things and not necessarily the production that matters to those doing the evaluating. That run blocking grade was the best on the team for the UCLA game.
Kevin Sumlin mentioned the protection from the offensive line and someone it's good for Arizona to see earn the best pass blocking grade was freshman Donovan Laie who had an 89.2 to lead the entire team in an single category. Overall, Arizona had four players finish with a 78.0 or better in the pass blocking category.
UA having two running backs near the top of the list was a good thing this week as well with both Gary Brightwell and JJ Taylor sitting at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Brightwell had good scores in both the rushing and pass blocking categories to finish behind only Poindexter. Both players finished with two of the best grades among Pac-12 running backs for the week.
* Defense: Dereck Boles hasn't led the team yet this season, but a big showing against the Bruins helped him earn the top spot this week. The biggest help to his grade was the 90.7 he received in the pass rush category. That was the top individual grade for the entire team in the UCLA game. His run defense grade (62.0) lowered his overall average, but it was his best grade of the season. The fact that Arizona had so many members of the defensive front at the top of the list is a good development for the Wildcats. PJ Johnson has been consistent and that is important and he came in at the No. 2-spot this week, but Jalen Harris is up there as is Finton Connolly.
After some struggles, Colin Schooler earned a strong grade for his tackling in the UCLA game with an 84.4 to go with a 77.7 in the pass rush category. Where he was hurt was in his coverage grade and run defense with both being under 57.
The bottom of the list is interesting with so many strong tackling grades from players like Tony Fields II, Anthony Pandy and McKenzie Barnes but the other grades for those players all put them near the bottom with less than 58 for that group.
* Here's how Arizona currently stacks up nationally through eight games when it comes to the top categories with last week's positions in parenthesis.
Overall: 81.1 (No. 87 - up from No. 90)
Some interesting jumps and bumps in this week's overall grades for Arizona. Based on some of the numbers above it was pretty predictable what would happen, but with others there were some surprises.
On offense the number that obviously jumps out is the rushing record. It feels like Arizona might have found something Saturday. Now, every team coming up ain't gonna be UCLA, but it was certainly a good showing for the rushing attack and that move all the way up to No. 62 reflects that.
Defensively, the pass rush and coverage grades stand out for different reasons. UA's pass rush has gone through ups and downs, but with the group playing consistently right now there has at least been some more activity up front and that showed with a nice bump up this week. The coverage grade has gone through quite a turnaround in the wrong direction. It wasn't all that long ago that UA was among the top teams in that category and now it is outside the top 100.
As I have done every week I will take a look at the Pro Football Focus grades for the Wildcats, and this week the numbers looked better and were among some of the better grads across the board – mostly – despite the loss to the Bruins.
If you want to take a look back at last week's grades for a comparison here is the full rundown from the Utah game.
Now let's jump into the grades and find out what PFF had to say about who stood out against UCLA.
Offense (players who played 35+ snaps)
1. Shawn Poindexter- 83.7 (53 snaps)
2. Gary Brightwell- 77.3 (32 snaps)
3. JJ Taylor- 77.1 (41 snaps)
4. Devaughn Cooper- 72.7 (37 snaps)
5. Donovan Laie- 70.2 (73 snaps)
6. Cody Creason- 64.4 (73 snaps)
7. Bryson Cain- 61.5 (73 snaps)
8. Tony Ellison- 60.4 (44 snaps)
9. Rhett Rodriguez- 58.5 (73 snaps)
10. Bryce Wolma- 56.0 (40 snaps)
11. Josh McCauley- 53.6 (73 snaps)
12. Shun Brown- 53.0 (44 snaps)
13. Michael Eletise - 51.1 (73 snaps)
Defense (players who played 35+ snaps)
1. Dereck Boles - 79.8 (62 snaps)
2. PJ Johnson - 73.7 (63 snaps)
3. Jalen Harris - 67.6 (51 snaps)
4. Finton Connolly - 65.6 (37 snaps)
5. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles - 65.3 (79 snaps)
6. Tristan Cooper - 63.0 (63 snaps)
7. Scottie Young Jr. - 61.3 (85 snaps)
8. Colin Schooler - 61.2 (85 snaps)
9. JB Brown - 60.0 (61 snaps)
10. Christian Young - 57.6 (82 snaps)
11. Anthony Pandy - 57.5 (35 snaps)
12. Tony Fields II - 55.6 (50 snaps)
13. McKenzie Barnes - 54.5 (55 snaps)
- As of now there aren't any special teams grades in the system, so I will update once that happens.
Takeaways
* Offense: It was an interesting week for the offense and some players you would hope are at the top were at the top this week starting with Shawn Poindexter who was clearly the player of the game Saturday night with his two touchdown catches. It was interesting that his receiving grade (79.9) was not as good as his run blocking grade (86.9) and goes to show that sometimes it's the little things and not necessarily the production that matters to those doing the evaluating. That run blocking grade was the best on the team for the UCLA game.
Kevin Sumlin mentioned the protection from the offensive line and someone it's good for Arizona to see earn the best pass blocking grade was freshman Donovan Laie who had an 89.2 to lead the entire team in an single category. Overall, Arizona had four players finish with a 78.0 or better in the pass blocking category.
UA having two running backs near the top of the list was a good thing this week as well with both Gary Brightwell and JJ Taylor sitting at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Brightwell had good scores in both the rushing and pass blocking categories to finish behind only Poindexter. Both players finished with two of the best grades among Pac-12 running backs for the week.
* Defense: Dereck Boles hasn't led the team yet this season, but a big showing against the Bruins helped him earn the top spot this week. The biggest help to his grade was the 90.7 he received in the pass rush category. That was the top individual grade for the entire team in the UCLA game. His run defense grade (62.0) lowered his overall average, but it was his best grade of the season. The fact that Arizona had so many members of the defensive front at the top of the list is a good development for the Wildcats. PJ Johnson has been consistent and that is important and he came in at the No. 2-spot this week, but Jalen Harris is up there as is Finton Connolly.
After some struggles, Colin Schooler earned a strong grade for his tackling in the UCLA game with an 84.4 to go with a 77.7 in the pass rush category. Where he was hurt was in his coverage grade and run defense with both being under 57.
The bottom of the list is interesting with so many strong tackling grades from players like Tony Fields II, Anthony Pandy and McKenzie Barnes but the other grades for those players all put them near the bottom with less than 58 for that group.
* Here's how Arizona currently stacks up nationally through eight games when it comes to the top categories with last week's positions in parenthesis.
Overall: 81.1 (No. 87 - up from No. 90)
- Offense: 72.8 (No. 69 - up from No. 80)
- Passing: 66.8 (No. 95 - down from No. 88)
- Pass blocking: 81.2 (No. 46 - up from No. 56)
- Receiving: 70.9 (No. 59 - up from No. 71)
- Rushing: 73.0 (No. 62 - up from No. 101)
- Run blocking: 59.2 (No. 113 - down from No. 108)
- Defense: 84.5 (No. 92 - down from No. 79)- Passing: 66.8 (No. 95 - down from No. 88)
- Pass blocking: 81.2 (No. 46 - up from No. 56)
- Receiving: 70.9 (No. 59 - up from No. 71)
- Rushing: 73.0 (No. 62 - up from No. 101)
- Run blocking: 59.2 (No. 113 - down from No. 108)
- Run defense: 85.8 (No. 88 - down from No. 80)
- Tackling: 84.3 (No. 45 - up from No. 49)
- Pass rush: 64.8 (No. 98 - up from No. 126)
- Coverage: 78.8 (No. 103 - down from No. 76)
- Special teams: 68.7 (No. 96 - up from No. 97)- Tackling: 84.3 (No. 45 - up from No. 49)
- Pass rush: 64.8 (No. 98 - up from No. 126)
- Coverage: 78.8 (No. 103 - down from No. 76)
Some interesting jumps and bumps in this week's overall grades for Arizona. Based on some of the numbers above it was pretty predictable what would happen, but with others there were some surprises.
On offense the number that obviously jumps out is the rushing record. It feels like Arizona might have found something Saturday. Now, every team coming up ain't gonna be UCLA, but it was certainly a good showing for the rushing attack and that move all the way up to No. 62 reflects that.
Defensively, the pass rush and coverage grades stand out for different reasons. UA's pass rush has gone through ups and downs, but with the group playing consistently right now there has at least been some more activity up front and that showed with a nice bump up this week. The coverage grade has gone through quite a turnaround in the wrong direction. It wasn't all that long ago that UA was among the top teams in that category and now it is outside the top 100.
