Rivals has once again teamed up with PFF to bring you grades and other stats each week of the college football season. PFF has a team of analysts who watch each game to determine a grade for each participant in every game. Arizona opened up its season Saturday night in Las Vegas against BYU. The Wildcats came away with their 13th straight loss, but the feeling among the team was much more positive than it has been in the other 12 games of the streak. There were some definite bright spots for the Wildcats, and some of that was reflected in the grades handed out by the PFF staff.
Here's a rundown of how things look for UA one week into the season with many of the players at the top of the list not being a big surprise.
📈 PFF Top Performers – OFFENSE (min. 40 snaps)
1. RB Michael Wiley (Grade: 75.4/Snaps: 43) – 15 carries, 64 yards; 6 catches, 66 yards
2. WR Stanley Berryhill III (Grade: 69.5/Snaps: 80) – 12 catches, 102 yards
3. LT Donovan Laie (Grade: 67.5/Snaps: 88)
Other top performers: RG Josh Donovan (Grade: 67.4/Snaps: 88), RB Drake Anderson (Grade: 66.1/Snaps: 45), C Josh McCauley (Grade: 65.9/Snaps: 88)
📈 PFF Top Performers – DEFENSE (min. 40 snaps)
1. CB Christian Roland-Wallace (Grade: 73.2/Snaps: 64) – 5 tackles, 1 PBU
2. LB Kenny Hebert (Grade: 69.2/Snaps: 42) – 3 tackles
3. VIPER Christian Young (Grade: 68.1/Snaps: 59) – 4 tackles, 1 PBU
Other top performers: LB Rashie Hodge Jr. (Grade: 77.5/Snaps: 9), NT Kyon Barrs (Grade: 67.2/Snaps: 39), S Gunner Maldonado (Grade: 65.6/Snaps: 31)
↗ Top graded player by position (vs BYU)
Offense
QB: Will Plummer – 61.7/9 snaps
RB: Michael Wiley – 75.4/43 snaps
WR: Stanley Berryhill III – 69.5/80 snaps
TE: Alex Lines – 64.2/30 snaps
OL: Donovan Laie – 67.5/88 snaps
Defense
DL: Kyon Barrs – 67.2/39 snaps
OLB/VIPER: Rashie Hodge Jr. – 77.5/9 snaps
ILB: Anthony Pandy – 57.6/62 snaps
S: Gunner Maldonado – 65.6/31 snaps
CB: Christian Roland-Wallace – 73.2/64 snaps
📝 Overview and final notes• One of the first things that jumps out about the PFF grades this week for Arizona is that a newcomer sits at the top. Rashie Hodge Jr. made the most of his nine plays to finish with the highest grade on either side of the ball, 77.5. He received the highest grade against the run (77.5) on the team helping to put him in the top spot. He also received a solid mark for his tackling (76.0) against the Cougars. The New Mexico State transfer had two tackles in the game and 1.5 of them went for a loss, including his big TFL to secure a momentum-changing safety.
• Running back Michael Wiley accounted for 130 all-purpose yards in Saturday's game sparking the offense with his ability to make plays out of the backfield. He received the highest mark on the team in the pass play category with an 80.2. He had solid grades in all categories including a respectable 73.5 in pass protection, which was second only to right guard Josh Donovan who had a 79.5. Drake Anderson had a better grade in the run category as he finished with a 73.7 to Wiley's 71.2 in Saturday's game. The duo nearly had identical time on the field as Anderson played 45 snaps while Wiley was on the field for 43 plays.
• In all the Wildcats had 17 offensive players take the field for at least six snaps Saturday night. Fullback Clay Markoff had the fewest while all five offensive linemen played the entire game, which added up to 88 snaps. Don Brown played 19 players in the loss to BYU with Christian Roland-Wallace, Jaxen Turner and Jalen Harris playing all 64 snaps to lead the way. Linebacker Jerry Roberts was on the other end of the list with one snap played in Saturday's game. Of the 19 players who got in the game defensively for Arizona 15 of them played at least 10 snaps.
• One good sign for Arizona is that its biggest strength defensively in the opener was its tackling ability. The Wildcats had 10 players grade out with at least a 73.4 in the tackling category led by Roland-Wallace who received a grade of 82.4 in that area. Christian Young was the only other player to receive a grade in the 80s on defense as he was given an 80.7 for his work Saturday night.
• There actually wasn't a whole lot shocking about Gunner Cruz's performance in his first start. It should come as no surprise that he was most effective with passes behind the line of scrimmage out to 10 yards. He completed 31 of his 34 passes in that area with the middle of the field being the area he worked most going 14 for 16 on short throws in the middle of the field. He was at his best on short passes to the right side of the field by after completing all 12 of his throws in that area. Unsurprisingly, play action was the key part of the offense for Cruz as he was 8 of 9 on play action in Saturday's game for 114 yards. He averaged 12.7 yards on those throws.
• On the ground Arizona had the most success running outside the tackles with 21 yards coming on Donovan Laie's side of the field.
• Receiver Stanley Berryhill III had an impressive 83 yards after the catch in Saturday's game. He had the best grade handed down in any one category for Arizona as PFF's staff awarded a 91.0 for his short routes from 0-9 yards. He caught eight passes for 74 yards on those plays. Berryhill had just one ball thrown his way that he didn't pull in on 13 attempts.
🏈 Snap counts vs BYUOffense
1. LG Josh Baker — 88
2. RT Paiton Fears — 88
3. RG Josh Donovan — 88
4. LT Donovan Laie — 88
5. C Josh McCauley — 88
6. WR Stanley Berryhill III — 80
7. QB Gunner Cruz — 79
8. WR Brian Casteel — 77
9. TE Bryce Wolma — 76
10. WR Tayvian Cunningham — 58
11. RB Drake Anderson — 45
12. RB Michael Wiley — 43
13. TE Alex Lines — 30
14. WR Jalen Johnson — 17
15. QB Will Plummer — 9
16. WR Boobie Curry — 8
17. FB Clay Markoff — 6
Defense
1. CB Christian Roland-Wallace — 64
2. S Jaxen Turner — 64
3. DE Jalen Harris — 64
4. LB Anthony Pandy — 62
5. VIPER Christian Young — 59
6. DT Trevon Mason — 53
7. LB Treshuan Hayward — 50
8. Anchor JB Brown — 50
9. CB Isaiah Rutherford — 48
10. LB Kenny Hebert — 42
11. NT Kyon Barrs — 39
12. S Gunner Maldonado — 31
13. S Jaydin Young — 28
14. CB Treydan Stukes — 18
15. Anchor Mo Diallo — 10
16. LB Rashie Hodge Jr. — 9
17. CB Malik Hausman — 9
18. DT Leevel Tatum III — 3
19. LB Jerry Roberts — 1
Others who participated on special teams: RB Bam Smith, OL Matthew Stefanski Jr., OL Sam Langi, LB Matt "Mojo" Weerts (freshman), LB John Burton, LB RJ Edwards, LB Dante Smith, LB Rourke Freeburg, LB Malik Reed, DT Shontrail Key, S Rhedi Short, S Dalton Johnson (freshman), S Isaiah Taylor (freshman)
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