Arizona Wildcats vs. Washington: Report Card
The Arizona Wildcats fell to 3-1 after a 31-13 loss to Washington Saturday. Here’s a report card from this past weekend’s game:
Quarterbacks: D
Senior B.J. Denker did not play well in his Pac-12 road debut, completing 14-of-35 passes for 119 yards, zero touchdowns and two interceptions. He also ran for 56 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown in his first career loss. He constantly looked nervous in the pocket, as he attempted to extend passing plays with his feet, to no avail. If not for a couple of big plays, this position easily would have received an F.
Running Backs: A
Junior Ka’deem Carey continued to show why he is one of the best running backs in the country, rushing for 132 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown. He also caught four passes for 49 yards, including a 24-yard reception on 4th-and-10 to set up Denker’s rushing touchdown in the third quarter. For the Wildcats’ sake, never leave, Ka’deem.
Wide Receivers: D
While Denker struggled to get the ball to the receivers, the receivers didn’t exactly help him out. Senior Terrence Miller and junior Garic Wharton, who head coach Rich Rodriguez challenged to step up, each had one catch for eight yards. Sophomore David Richards returned from injury, but didn’t make a catch. One bright spot were freshman Samajie Grant and Nate Phillips, who were both able to extend plays after catches with their feet.
Offensive Line: D
The protection for Denker was pretty bad, as he was constantly forced out of a collapsing pocket. While the Wildcats did record 199 rushing yards, they allowed two sacks in the first quarter. One bright spot was that they extended their streak of holding-less games to four.
Defensive Line: C
The defensive line wasn’t terrible, as Washington quarterback Keith Price looked pretty uncomfortable in the pocket for large chunks of the game. However, they failed to sack him and let him scramble for 29 yards. Senior Tevin Hood led the unit with six tackles, including one for loss.
Linebackers: B
The trio of seniors Marquis Flowers and Jake Fischer and freshman Scooby Wright played pretty well, combining for 24 tackles, including one for loss. However, they failed to stop the Huskies on the ground, as Washington ran for 262 yards, averaging 4.0 yards per carry.
Cornerbacks: C
Senior Shaquille Richardson looked really good at times, recording his first interception of the season and returning it 19 yards. He was able to defend the quick passes, recording two tackles around the line of scrimmage and three total. Junior Jonathan McKnight finished with six tackles, but was flagged twice for personal fouls.
Safeties: C
Junior Jared Tevis was all over the place, recording a team-high 13 tackles, forcing a fumble and breaking up two passes. Junior Tra’mayne Bondurant was pretty quiet, only recording four tackles. At times, junior Jourdon Grandon was the worst player on defense, as he was burned by the Huskies’ receivers and a received a personal foul on the Huskies’ first drive. He finished with three tackles.
Special Teams: F
A little bit of everything went wrong for the special teams. Senior kicker Jake Smith didn’t kick any of his four kickoffs out of the endzone and he missed his first PAT of the season. Sophomore punter Drew Riggleman botched a snap that eventually went out of the endzone for a safety. He also only averaged 31.5 yards on his six punts. The return game continues to be mediocre.
Coaching: C
Despite having two weeks to prepare for the game, the offense looked completely out-of-sync. While the execution of plays isn’t the coaches’ faults, the offensive play-calling was predictable and one-dimensional. Also, why did senior running back Daniel Jenkins, who had been averaging 79.7 yards per game, only receive four carries?