To get some inside information on the Arizona football team, Daily Bruin Sports reached out to The Daily Wildcat – Arizona’s school newspaper – and asked a few questions about the Wildcats before their upcoming game against UCLA this Saturday.
All of the responses below come from Justin Spears, a senior writer at The Daily Wildcat.
Daily Bruin Sports: Both UCLA and Arizona narrowly lost to national top 10 teams last week. Here in Los Angeles, it seems like most feel that the Bruins controlled the game for most of the night before just handing it away to the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal in the last few minutes. What’s it like in Tucson right now?
[Related: Final two-minute touchdown drive seals Stanford victory]
Justin Spears: First and foremost, the Wildcats were a 10-point underdog against Washington and especially against a top-10 team, not many people trusted Arizona to win the game. Arizona went in the game with a depleted rotation at running back and were down to the third-string back J.J. Taylor and not even the 5-foot-6 spark could stay healthy as he went down with a broken ankle.
Considering the three receivers Trey Griffey, Samajie Grant and Nate Phillips that Rich Rodriguez leaned on consistently in big games didn’t produce with only four combined receptions, the Wildcats should’ve been counting their blessings after a game that went down to the very last play in overtime. Arizona showed hope against a team that could be in the Rose Bowl even with missing pieces so fans are feeling confident moving forward.
DB Sports: It seems that Arizona didn’t just lose a game against No. 10 Washington, but also its starting running back in J.J. Taylor for the rest of the season. He actually started in place of junior Nick Wilson, who sat out with an ankle injury. How does the running back core look like now without the freshman, assuming Wilson isn’t able to go against the Bruins?
JS: Not pleasant. (Coach) Rich Rodriguez will be moving pieces around to figure out who will be getting touches this weekend. Wilson was listed in the depth chart this week so they may have someone to lean on, but receiver Tyrell Johnson got a few touches against Washington, but fumbled deep into their own territory so he hasn’t built up his trust just yet in the backfield, even though he’s the fastest player on the team.
Another player that could run the ball for Arizona is Samajie Grant who played running back in high school at Centennial in (Compton, California). Assuming Nick Wilson isn’t playing, the Bruins defense should have a field day with that backfield.
[Related: UCLA coaches confident that victories are around the corner]
DB Sports: Injuries have certainly piled up early this season – outside of the running backs, redshirt junior quarterback Anu Solomon has been out. In his place, redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Dawkins has shown that he can be a dangerous dual threat playmaker in the past three weeks. How does he compare to another dual threat quarterback that both UCLA and Arizona has seen this season, BYU’s Taysom Hill?
JS: Dawkins is more similar to Taysom Hill than people think. Even though Dawkins has more breakout speed, which he showed with a 79-yard touchdown run against Washington, his zone read option plays are almost automatic. He can either hand it off to the speedy backs or he can fake out everyone in the stadium and next thing you know, he’s bolting for 15-yards. That’s exactly what Hill did against Arizona in the Cactus Kickoff Classic.
Plus his footwork in the pocket and on the scramble adds another dimension to the offense, because he can add an additional 10 seconds to each play without taking a sack and that’s a trait Tucsonans love to see out of their quarterback.
DB Sports: Defensively, what do you think the Wildcats could do to try and slow down (sophomore quarterback) Josh Rosen and the Bruins?
JS: Turnovers will be the biggest factor for the Wildcats. The Wildcats are 24-4 whenever the defense creates multiple turnovers. Just this season alone, the Wildcats are +8 in the turnover margin in their wins, but have been -4 in two losses. Arizona’s secondary has intercepted a pass in three consecutive games so if the Wildcats are going to match up with UCLA’s offense just trading points, then the Bruins will win handedly.
However, if the Wildcats can force Rosen to second guess himself especially in the second half, then Arizona may have a shot to steal one on the road against the Pac-12 South superior.