Arizona Football: A History of Rich Rodriguez’s offenses throughout his career

So far in 2017, Arizona Football has been predominately a run team, with close to double the amount of runs than passes. Has that been the case for Rich Rodriguez his whole coaching career?

When Rich Rodriguez first came to Arizona in 2011, he was supposed to bring passion, joy, excitement, and most of all a winning attitude to a football program that was in the midst of a rebuild.

For the first few years, he had brought all those things. As the team won the Pac-12 South in 2014, the first divisional championship throughout the programs’ storied history. Since that amazing year, the Wildcats have not done much winning. Since then, the Wildcats are 12-15 in  (including 2017).

Currently this year, if you go by the stats the offense has been one of the best in the nation. However, we must search deeper than that, as the two wins that the team has, have been against Northern Arizona, an FCS program who is consistently mediocre and UTEP, who is currently ranked as the third worst team in all of college football.

Through the ups and downs, the team has stuck with Brandon Dawkins. Whether that be because Khalil Tate is not ready, or he just isn’t good enough yet, or maybe Rodriguez is too scared to admit failure with one of the best quarterback recruits he has gotten to come to Tucson.

Think of that, Dawkins, who just had four turnovers against Utah, is one of the best recruits to come to the desert. His production thus far just isn’t going to work. The offense needs major change, but can Rich Rod do that? Let’s take a look at how Rodriguez’s offenses have fared throughout history.

More from Zona Zealots

• Arizona Football begins Conference play against Stanford
• Arizona Football starts slow but runs away from UTEP
• How Wildcats Fans Can Claim $200 INSTANT Bonus at BetMGM Betting $10 Right Now
• Costly Mistakes doom Arizona Football in loss to Mississippi State
• Arizona Basketball likely to schedule Florida Atlantic for 2023

West Virginia

When Rich Rodriguez first took over for Don Nehlen, who chose to retire after the 2000 season, things did not go as smoothly as WVU had hoped. The team finished 3-8, that record secured last place in the Big East. Throughout the season, Rodriguez chose to play four different quarterbacks, including Rasheed Marshall who wound up being a 3-year starter the following year. The vision was clear, Rodriguez wanted to have a running game that was among the best in the country.

That idea worked, as the team would make three consecutive bowl games from 2002-2004, although they lost each of them, they were close matches. In 2005, with the addition of one of the top dual-threat QB’s in Pat White, West Virginia and the Mountaineers’ offense took off, finishing with an 11-1 record and a win in the Sugar Bowl.

All three seasons with White under center were considered a major success. Each year they won a major bowl game and were among the top four offenses in all of college football. Here are the statistics and play breakdowns for each season Rich was coaching for West Virginia.

• 2001: 3,803 total yards, 474 runs – 355 passes (57 percent run)
• 2002: 5,440 total yards, 714 runs – 279 passes (72 percent run)
• 2003: 4,796 total yards,  600 runs – 252 passes (70 percent run)
• 2004: 5,027 total yards, 589 runs – 259 passes (69 percent run)
• 2005: 4,667 total yards, 625 runs – 193 passes (76 percent run)
• 2006: 5,998 total yards, 590 runs – 233 passes (72 percent run)
• 2007: 5,931 total yards, 628 runs – 265 passes (70 percent run)

Michigan

When Rodriguez left West Virginia for Michigan, they were expected to win right away. That never quite happened, as the best record Rich Rod would have at the Big House was 7-6 (his final season). The team may not have won many games, but one thing was for certain. They were fun to watch, as one of the nations best offenses gained close to 500 yards per game in his final season with the Wolverines.

• 2008: 3,490 total yards, 453 runs – 338 passes (57 percent run)
• 2009: 4,614 total yards, 494 runs – 329 passes (60 percent run)
• 2010: 6,353 total yards, 556 runs – 243 passes (70 percent run)

Arizona Wildcats Football

Arizona

In what is now his sixth season with the Arizona program, there have been many ups and downs. Recently there have been plenty of downs, as it seems the program is stuck in neutral. Not able to take the next step forward with Rodriguez, but also not bad enough for the school to fire him. So far in 2017, Rich Rod has mistakenly stuck with Dawkins at QB, in my opinion. Dawkins has played uninspired compared to the rest of the football team through four games except maybe against NAU. Consistently making bad decisions with the pigskin has put Dawkins behind on the proverbial hot seat, and things will only get hotter if he loses against Colorado next weekend.

• 2012: 6,841 total yards, 508 runs – 579 passes (47 percent run)
• 2013: 5,961 total yards, 647 runs – 383 passes (63 percent run)
• 2014: 6,492 total yards, 575 runs – 564 passes (51 percent run)
• 2015: 6,435 total yards, 527 runs – 466 passes (53 percent run)
• 2016: 4,957 total yards, 503 runs – 303 passes (62 percent run)

So far in 2017, there have been 192 rushing attempts, compared to only 116 passes. Clearly, the focal point of the offense has been put on Dawkins’ rushing ability, and the three-headed monster of JJ Taylor, Zach Green, and Nick Wilson. The running game has worked so far, but again, two of those games came against Northern Arizona and UTEP. The Arizona defense has kept this team in each of the four games making turnovers and stops when needed. Coach Marcel Yates has been coaching from the field and not the box because he has a lot of young guys to mentor. It’s working.

Related Story: Indoor Practice Facility to come

For Arizona to even have stone’s throw of a chance in the heart of the Pac-12 play the passing game has to step up. Will that happen with Brandon Dawkins? Or could Rich Rodriguez have a change of heart and go with Khalil Tate after this bye week? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook! Bear Down, Arizona!