Record-setting Solomon still leaves room to improve in Arizona's rout of UNLV
TUCSON, Ariz. -- It took him a little time to get settled -- he is just a redshirt freshman, after all -- but Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon eventually found his groove.
A non-freshman-like groove. In fact, no freshman in the history of the Arizona football program has been any better.
E-V-E-R.
Solomon helped Arizona finish with a school-record 787 yards of total offense in a 58-13 victory over UNLV at Arizona Stadium on Friday night.
Late in the game, when he saw himself on Arizona's big video board, he gave a smile and a Hawaiian "hang loose" sign. All things were good in Solomon's world, which meant all was good in Arizona's as it won its season-opener in style and shattered the former school record for yardage of 691, set in 1969 vs. New Mexico.
"I feel great," said Solomon. "You have to thank everyone: the wide receiving corps, the running backs, and the defense for giving us the ball."
Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, who said there was a lot to fix, conceded, "It was a good win."
Yes, it could have been better. Solomon went just 25-for-44 passing, with a number of overthrows. He admitted to having "a little jitters" because "you could see my bad passes."
They were very apparent to Rodriguez.
"Whatever he had -- what 425? -- he could have had 700 if he didn't miss a few," Rodriguez said about Solomon's yardage total, which was a school record for a freshman. "I'll reserve judgment until I review the film."
S/O to my dog king Solomon @anu_solomon for the amazing performance tonight. Mr. smooth. On to the next #1-0
— Cayleb S Jones (@1caylebjones) August 30, 2014
Solomon threw four touchdown passes and was not intercepted. He also ran eight times for 50 yards.
He won a four-player competition in camp, but if there were any lingering doubts in Solomon, he put them away in the Wildcats' rout.
Solomon had a stuttering start, but then looked like a savvy upperclassman. Rodriguez said Solomon was "mentally pretty sharp."
"Anu did a good job of keeping his poise," Rodriguez said, "even though he missed a lot of throws early."
Then he started to find his plethora of wide receivers. Rodriguez said he felt UNLV would challenge Arizona to throw, by "loading the box" to "see if we could pitch and catch a bit."
Challenge accepted. Arizona went on plenty of fast breaks. It scored on drives that went 38 seconds, 40 seconds, 14 seconds and 13 seconds. Arizona's longest touchdown drive -- before its final one -- lasted no longer than 3:26.
Arizona scored so quickly -- and often -- Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller was likely taking notes.
And Solomon had no clear-cut favorite, hitting eight different receivers by midway through the second quarter. Why play favorites when you have so many good ones?
Solomon called it a "blessing" to have so many talented targets.
"You throw it to one guy and then throw it to another guy," Solomon said. "Hopefully they will make a big play."
Said Rodriguez: "It's a good feeling to have so many guys to keep fresh throughout the course of the game."
The most rewarding play might have been senior Austin Hill's catch-and-run that went 92 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half. It made the score 31-6. Hill broke free after the catch with a nice stiff arm.
It was reminiscent of a play he made against Washington in 2012, when he stiff-armed a defender to the ground en route to a touchdown. Hill had to sit out last season because of an ACL injury.
"I know the guys know I've worked hard to get back on the field," Hill said. "I like to stiff arm people, I guess. I wasn't expecting it to go that far, but once I got the man off me I really wanted to score. I think I showed the speed I didn't really think I had."
By the early third quarter the hottest topic was when Arizona would use its No. 2 quarterback. And who would it be?
It was Jesse Scroggins, who came in with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Jerrard Randall and Connor Brewer also assisted on the final drive.
After the Wildcats failed to score on their first two possessions, Solomon helped set the tone for the rest of the night with a 39-yard scoring pass to sophomore Nate Phillips for 39 yards. From there, the race was one.
"It kind of gave him confidence and opened (him) up a little bit," Rodriguez said. "It was good. If you're going to load the box and commit to the run, you've got to take some shots downfield."
Arizona did that plenty.
Samajie Grant scored on a 63-yard pass to make it 14-0. Hill had his 92-yard score.
"We didn't hit them all but we hit a few," Rodriguez said.
Arizona also did well on the ground, rushing for 363 yards. Senior Terris Jones-Grigsby, the replacement for two-time All-American Ka'Deem Carey, ran for 124 yards, giving the Wildcats a 100-yard rusher in 18 consecutive games.
"I thought Terris ran really well," Rodriguez said. "He pressed the right gap and made the right cuts. He ran hard. He's a tough, competitive guy. You get spoiled when you have a guy like Ka'Deem Carey, but everyone ran well."
Jones-Grigsby wasn't the only 100-yard rusher. True freshman Nick Wilson ran for 104 yards -- 85 coming on his fourth carry for a touchdown. Could freshman debuts be any better?
Solomon's was. And it was quite a team effort.
"I'm very proud of the offensive corps as a whole," Solomon said.
Redshirt freshman Anu Solomon overcame some early anxiousness to have a superior game. He finished with a school freshman record 425 passing yards, including four touchdowns and no touchdowns. There will be no quarterback questions heading into the second game.
Sophomore linebacker Scooby Wright III had the most impact on defense. He had a team-high eight tackles, seven solo. He also came up with Arizona's only sack. No surprise he'll be Arizona's cornerstone on defense.
-- Safety Tra'Mayne Bondurant did not start, but he played in the game and registered a tackle. Bondurant, who was off the team for about 24 hours at the start of camp, is working his way back into Rodriguez's good graces. William Parks took the place of Bondurant, who has 30 career starts, and intercepted a pass and had the biggest hit of the night.
