Arizona Football Journal Week 2: Cats Claw Wolf Pack
By Brad Malone
The Reno game Arizona Football fans were suddenly worried about after a sub par performance in week one, ended up being much ado about nothing when the Cats won 44-20 on the road against Nevada.
I’m usually the half glass full fan, but I was genuinely concerned for this road test.
How would the defense do in an unfamiliar venue on the road?
What happens if Anu goes down?
Will Johnny Jackson make any noise or be an option now that Samaji Grant is back from being suspended?
All these questions and more were answered on Saturday afternoon, and it made my evening after the game quite relaxing.
Sep 12, 2015; Reno, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez calls out a play late into the fourth quarter of their NCAA football game with the Nevada Wolf Pack at MacKay Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
Witness For the Defense
It wasn’t Desert Swarm two, but the defense showed a nice improvement from week one. The Cats gave up 202 fewer yards on offense than they did against UTSA
Nevada had a total of 15 offensive drives in the game. Ten ended in three-and-outs, and another ended by Jamar Allah‘s first interception of the year.
All this was coming from a defense held together by duct tape, after the injury bug continued to plague the Cats throughout the game.
We’re Not Worthy
It was a Senior occasion when the Arizona coaches announced safeties Jamar Allah, Will Parks, and defensive end Reggie Gilbert as defensive players of the week.
One guy that slipped under the radar that caught my eye was another senior. Defensive end Jeff Worthy.
He only finished with two tackles, but they were both colossal.
His first tackle was a sweet sack that was inches from being a safety. The second was a nice stop for no gain. Scooby noticed.
Worthy!!!!!!
— Scooby Wright III (@TwoStarScoob) September 13, 2015
The icing on the cake came in the third quarter when he tattooed Nevada quarterback Tyler Stewart, just as he released the ball.
Sep 12, 2015; Reno, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats running back Nick Wilson (28) runs for a first down in front Nevada Wolf Pack defensive back Asauni Rufus (2) in the third quarter of their NCAA football game at MacKay Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
Nick the Quick
The offensive player of the week went to the very deserving Nick Wilson.
Besides a fumble in the second quarter, Wilson shined bright against the Wolf Pack.
Last week, after Wilson fumbled against UTSA in the second quarter he was benched until the third quarter. He still managed to rush for 97 yards against the Roadrunners thanks mostly to a strong second half showing.
Against the Wolf Pack when Rich Rodriguez was interviewed at the end of the first half he didn’t seem as concerned with Wilson’s second fumble of the year. It might have had something to do with Wilson had already gained over 100 yards on the ground and added two touchdowns. Rodriquez was also told by his staff that it probably wasn’t a fumble anyway.
I don’t think it was a fumble, but with 243 cameras on the field, not one showed a definitive angle of it not being a clear fumble.
Wilson finished with 194 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He also added two catches for 30 yards receiving.
Whew! That was a close one.
Tucson sat in silence when Anu Solomon laid on the turf after a hard hit in the second half on Saturday. I was thinking ‘What next?’, when he didn’t get up right away.
Luckily after a short stay on the ground, Anu jumped to his feet and ran off the field with a minor limp.
Exhale.
Sep 12, 2015; Reno, NV, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Anu Solomon (12) quick kicks against the Nevada Wolf Pack in the fourth quarter of their NCAA football game with the Nevada Wolf Pack at MacKay Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
Rich Rod said Anu suffered a bruised calf and could have gone back in at the end of the game.
Redshirt senior quarterback Jerrard Randall finished the game for Arizona, and in the process participated in the Cats highlight reel tape against the Wolf Pack, with an incredible play up the middle.
I don’t remember much about last year’s Pac-12 Title Game loss to Oregon. What I do remember is late in the fourth quarter Randall had a 25-yard touchdown run that was one of the lone highlights for the Cats in Santa Clara.
At Nevada, Randall was at it again. This time he jetted 57-yards for the score.
A foot race between Randall and Wilson would be high-quality family entertainment.
Point After
Casey Skowron is human after all when it comes to converting extra points.
Skowron had made 66 straight extra point attempts until he missed one after a spinning Nick Wilson six-yard touchdown.
Skowron had also missed a 45-yard field goal, but recovered nicely scoring the last points in the game and made a 46-yard field goal.
Jackson Does it Again
Johnny Jackson was rewarded with another start after last week’s great game against UTSA.
Jackson helped set the stage early when he scored the Wildcats first touchdown of the day. Solomon found Jackson for a nine-yard score and the Cats led 7-0.
It was the second game in a row Jackson found the end zone. He finished with two catches for 14 yards receiving.
Arizona Wildcats
Final Thought
The Cats are 2-0 going into this weekend’s game against NAU. Might as well mark it as 3-0, right?
As Lee Corso would say, ‘Not so fast!’.
On paper there is no reason our Flagstaff brothers should come into Arizona Stadium and leave with the victory, but that’s why they play the games. Before the Cats start preparing for the UCLA game in two weeks let’s hope our boys stay focused on the Lumberjacks.
Rich Rod has washed the Michigan stink off himself, but maybe he should go into the film library and pull out a Wolverines tape from before he was at Michigan, to show our Cats.
It was 2007 and the blue blood Michigan Wolverines lost to little ole’ Appalachian State at the Big House.
Sure, Appalachian State was a division II powerhouse, but c’mon. YOU’RE MICHIGAN!
If the Wolverines win ten national titles in the next forty years America will still be talking about this game. There is not enough detergent in the world to get that Appalachian State stain out of the collective minds of college football fans, especially in Ann Arbor.
On to the next one.