An uncomfortable win as seen from 201

[azpenguin]

First, I'm hoping Nevada's passing offense turns out to be really good, because that kind of pass defense will get you rolled in the PAC-12.

Solomon made two bonehead mistakes tonight. The pick never should have been thrown and that slide... you gotta know where that marker is. Aside from that, he was freaking fantastic. That TD throw to TJ was just fantastic. He threw only one ball that was way off target. Now to pick on the mistakes: on the pick, he took the play to the right, which is something RR is going to point out on film, because he had two guys on the left, on the field side, with one on one coverage. On the slide, that mistake helped keep Nevada in the game. That said...

...I don't put the uncomfortable closeness of the game on Solomon at all. The defense could not stop Nevada and that's not Solomon's fault. He was cool, calm, and didn't get rattled. The defense needs to get him the ball more and he'll light up the scoreboard.

One last point about Solomon - it was clear after UTSA and even more so now that this team goes as far as Solomon can take them. If he doesn't make those two freshman mistakes, they're looking at maybe putting up 50 and having the game be over by the third quarter.

Defense... um, stop the other team or something. The corners are not the strong point of this team and that's putting it mildly. Casteel has some great game film to show them and he's probably going to feel sick watching it. Scooby, though... more than the 14 tackles, it was the way he played tonight. He played with a Chuck Cecil-esque chip on his shoulder. It wasn't enough to stop ball carriers, he wanted to destroy them. He was knocking the hell out of guys tonight.

Skowron was fantastic even without any FG attempts. All six kickoffs were touchbacks. The rest of special teams was uneventful. However, we do have a return game now, not a fearsome one but at least guys are catching the ball and trying to make something happen.

Cayleb Jones is as advertised. When in doubt, throw him the ball.

Last - the reason Arizona beat Nevada and Wazzu couldn't is simple - the Cats can run the football. Wilson was solid tonight.

[cats101]

Worse than I thought

[dmjcat]

It wasn't any more comfortable from section 19

Solomon was terrific I can't even fault him too much for his two mistakes (int. and the slide).

The defense was, and is, horrific. We are going to struggle to win 6-7 games this year as the big boys that await have much stronger offensive lines and much better defenses than we faced tonight. I am begining to think that RRod is doomed to 6-7 win seasons unless he ditches the 3-3-5 and most of his defensive coaches. How is it that we are starting an undersized walk-on at the most important position in the 3-3-5 in RRods 3rd year (Zeller at NT)??? I think RRod should give consideration to start collecting DL's and DB's instead of Qb's for a while. I still believe that ditching Joe Salavea as the DL coach was a big mistake.......RRods boy from WV has shown that the can't recruit, can't coach, and can't adapt to PAC12 play. The DB's aren't much better....It is going to be tough watching Mariota/Halliday/Hunley/Goff/Kessler/Kelly (assuming his foot isn't broken) gash our secondary when PAC12 play starts. A handful of shoot outs with Cal/WSU/Utah will decide whether we can get to the 6-7 win mark and back to a bowl game.

[PieceOfMeat]

RR needs to stop turtling in the 4th quarter of games.

Play to the team's strength, keep the offense flowing.

[Reydituto]

First, I'm hoping Nevada's passing offense turns out to be really good, because that kind of pass defense will get you rolled in the PAC-12.

Solomon made two bonehead mistakes tonight. The pick never should have been thrown and that slide... you gotta know where that marker is. Aside from that, he was freaking fantastic. That TD throw to TJ was just fantastic. He threw only one ball that was way off target. Now to pick on the mistakes: on the pick, he took the play to the right, which is something RR is going to point out on film, because he had two guys on the left, on the field side, with one on one coverage. On the slide, that mistake helped keep Nevada in the game. That said...

...I don't put the uncomfortable closeness of the game on Solomon at all. The defense could not stop Nevada and that's not Solomon's fault. He was cool, calm, and didn't get rattled. The defense needs to get him the ball more and he'll light up the scoreboard.

One last point about Solomon - it was clear after UTSA and even more so now that this team goes as far as Solomon can take them. If he doesn't make those two freshman mistakes, they're looking at maybe putting up 50 and having the game be over by the third quarter.

Defense... um, stop the other team or something. The corners are not the strong point of this team and that's putting it mildly. Casteel has some great game film to show them and he's probably going to feel sick watching it. Scooby, though... more than the 14 tackles, it was the way he played tonight. He played with a Chuck Cecil-esque chip on his shoulder. It wasn't enough to stop ball carriers, he wanted to destroy them. He was knocking the hell out of guys tonight.

Skowron was fantastic even without any FG attempts. All six kickoffs were touchbacks. The rest of special teams was uneventful. However, we do have a return game now, not a fearsome one but at least guys are catching the ball and trying to make something happen.

Cayleb Jones is as advertised. When in doubt, throw him the ball.

Last - the reason Arizona beat Nevada and Wazzu couldn't is simple - the Cats can run the football. Wilson was solid tonight.

Good post. Some quibbles though from Section 22 ...

I'll reiterate what I said on another site here: While I agree that overall, Anu performed well, the few mistakes he made were glaring in contrast, and as you suggested kept Nevada in the game longer than they should have.

Many here and elsewhere were complaining about Anu's completion percentage through 2 games, and he went 22/26 last night with 3 TDs that were well thrown. However, Nevada never really stopped UA last night, UA - mostly through Solomon's errors - stopped themselves. The INT killed what would have been at least 3, likely 7 points, and the early slide killed what IMO would have been another TD, which would have put UA up 42-21 and effectively ended the game. RR blames Solomon for the 3 ineligible receiver penalties, and while I disagree to an extent, I understand where RR is coming from (OL have an internal clock in this offense before they know to release). I think Anu bears responsibility for holding the ball too long in a couple of those instances, but I'd have to watch those plays again to see what the first option was supposed to be, if the OL should have had more field awareness, or if Anu missed that WRs were open earlier, as I don't think it's always all on the QB in those situations.

Having said that, I chalk up those errors, as I have in the preceding two games, to Solomon being an inexperienced RS FR. Things he can learn from. Mistakes he likely won't repeat much, if at all. Good outweighed the bad, and Anu's (and the UA's as a result) future is bright.

IMO the final margin had more to do with Solomon's errors than UA's defense; It was huge that the Defense a.) held Nevada to 2.7 ypc running the ball, and b.) held Nevada to FGs instead of TDs on their first two red zone visits, which helped UA to play with the lead for much of the game. I also disagree with your claim that UA never stopped Nevada - the Defense stopped Nevada when it mattered the most on 3 of their last 4 drives of the game. My biggest complaint on the D last night was allowing 8 of 16 on 3rd Down conversions - previous 2 games UA held opponents to 7/27 - and the lack of turnovers caused trough 3 games against mediocre competition.

UA's running game only stands to improve when TJG returns to give a change of pace and keep Wilson fresher for later in the game.

It wasn't any more comfortable from section 19

Solomon was terrific I can't even fault him too much for his two mistakes (int. and the slide).

The defense was, and is, horrific. We are going to struggle to win 6-7 games this year as the big boys that await have much stronger offensive lines and much better defenses than we faced tonight. I am begining to think that RRod is doomed to 6-7 win seasons unless he ditches the 3-3-5 and most of his defensive coaches. How is it that we are starting an undersized walk-on at the most important position in the 3-3-5 in RRods 3rd year (Zeller at NT)??? I think RRod should give consideration to start collecting DL's and DB's instead of Qb's for a while. I still believe that ditching Joe Salavea as the DL coach was a big mistake.......RRods boy from WV has shown that the can't recruit, can't coach, and can't adapt to PAC12 play. The DB's aren't much better....It is going to be tough watching Mariota/Halliday/Hunley/Goff/Kessler/Kelly (assuming his foot isn't broken) gash our secondary when PAC12 play starts. A handful of shoot outs with Cal/WSU/Utah will decide whether we can get to the 6-7 win mark and back to a bowl game.

So much to disagree with there - For starters, that 2.7 ypc figure against a solid Nevada OL speaks well of not only this D, but provides a counter to those who think the 3-3-5 can't stop the run, never mind that Fajardo is a very good QB, or that ridiculous bit on Salave'a and Kirlavich - I'll just say that the issues with UA's D this year are more related to personnel (i.e., talent, and depth depletion due to injury) than scheme, that otherwise I disagree with everything you said, and leave it at that.

I will say that UA should still beat Cal, Wazzu and Colorado, none of whom are significantly better than Nevada, and that their season will be determined by what they are able to do against USC, UCLA, Utah, UW, and ASU.

[azcat49]

Good post Rey and I especially agree that this offense should at least generate 5 conference wins, maybe more

[azpenguin]

Rey, fair points. I agree that Solomon could have put this game away without the mistakes, but a lot of my claim about the defense has to do with how long they were on the field. The first drive, where they held Nevada to a FG, lasted nine and a half minutes. Their next drive, another field goal, lasted over six minutes. Their TD drive to start the second half took over seven minutes. RichRod will tell you that number of possessions is more important than time of possession, and Arizona did not get a lot of possessions last night. The defense needs to get off the field and get the offense more possessions. If they do that then these games get blown open early by Arizona.

Did really like that Solomon showed no panic at all, by the way.

[Reydituto]

Rey, fair points. I agree that Solomon could have put this game away without the mistakes, but a lot of my claim about the defense has to do with how long they were on the field. The first drive, where they held Nevada to a FG, lasted nine and a half minutes. Their next drive, another field goal, lasted over six minutes. Their TD drive to start the second half took over seven minutes. RichRod will tell you that number of possessions is more important than time of possession, and Arizona did not get a lot of possessions last night. The defense needs to get off the field and get the offense more possessions. If they do that then these games get blown open early by Arizona.

Did really like that Solomon showed no panic at all, by the way.

I would suggest that part of the credit for that belongs to Nevada, between good QB play and clock management as they took their sweet time in the first 3 quarters between plays. I would agree that the D needs to do a better job of getting off the field as well, which is why I pointed to 3rd Down Conversions (8/16) as an issue. Still, the larger part of the blame on the final margin for me falls on the offensive mistakes.

Solomon's a cool customer. Bodes well.

[Catstatic]

Solomon makes that slide 1/2 yard further up field and we are on our way to going up by 3 scores. Probably 21 points. Not sure how much time was left in the 4th, but it wasn't much. Game over.

Teachable moment.

I am concerned that we are not getting the defensive turnovers that have almost become expected with this scheme. 3 - 0 is still 3 - 0.

Go cats!!

[Salty]

Arizona should beat UW, WSU, Cal, and Colorado.

Arizona may be favored against Utah but we may lose that game.

Arizona may be a dog against USC but I think we will win that game.

I do not expect us to beat Oregon.

50/50 against asu.

65/35 against UCLA, we can beat them, but they have home field and a little more experience.

I think 8 wins is what we should expect, with 9 being well within reach. AZ has not looked great... But neither has UW, WSU, Cal, CU, asu, USC, or UCLA. They've all got weaknesses that Arizona can expose.

[Spaceman Spiff]

From the Pac12 Network, I grew more concerned with our defense. It's not only the difficulties, it is the fact we seem to have a different issue each game. The inability to stop Nevada (who sputtered against the Coogs) was really concerning.

Loved Solomon's game. You have to expect a few errors from a freshman, but he came back strong from the bad decision on the pick and was about as good as you could expect from his experience level. Nevada looked solid vs WSU, but Solomon looked more mature than Halliday, a senior.

Our offense should only get better, but the D needs to stop short of constant shootouts.

[Good For You]

After seeing Nevada effectively play keep away I am in favor of a more aggressive approach defensively. Our offense, by my count, was stopped 3 times. The int. The slide. And the poor decision/play call/execution on 3rd and 2 (FTR, just give the damn ball to Nick Wilson in that situation). The problem was we didn't have the ball enough. We ran 64 plays which is 20-30 fewer than we want to run. So why not just start bringing the house every play if the game is going like this? Just sell out. Either make a play defensively to get our offense back on the field, or give up a big play and get our offense back on the field. The net effect is either it's still going be a close, albeit higher scoring, game or we are going to win going away because we won more plays than we lost defensively. In the end I think more offensive possessions for both teams will favor our team and playing all or nothing defensively vs. bend but don't break is going to result in more possessions. It would also be fun to watch.

[azpenguin]

So why not just start bringing the house every play if the game is going like this? Just sell out. Either make a play defensively to get our offense back on the field, or give up a big play and get our offense back on the field.

Only if the rushers yell "Leeerooyyy Jennkinnns!!!" every time they attack the QB.