TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona found itself again.
On the ground and through the air, Arizona's offensive attack returned to what it looked like earlier in the season, and it surely looked much better than a week ago in what was a punch-less 17-7 loss to UCLA. On Saturday night, Arizona rushed for 288 yards in its 38-20 win over Colorado on Homecoming at Arizona Stadium.
The running game is "the big key to our offense" as sophomore receiver Samajie Grant put it when talking about what drives UA's offensive machine. "As we kept making big runs with Nick (Wilson) and TJ (Terris Jones-Grigsby), the linebackers starting scooting in and that left me one-on-one with the safety.
"Last time I checked, it's pretty hard to cover somebody just by yourself with so much room."
It opened up lanes for Wilson, a freshman who earlier this season looked a little like former UA All-American Ka'Deem Carey.
Arizona's running game had been MIA for two of the last three games (77 in loss to USC and 80 vs. UCLA) in part because Wilson had been suffering from an ankle injury and the other backs had been ineffective. The injury didn't appear to bother him as he rushed for 153 yards, 130 in the second half.
"It feels good to be back on the ground running, especially since I was struggling through the past few games, kind of hobbling through," Wilson said. "It's good to be back."
Arizona sealed the win with 120 yards on the ground in the fourth quarter, 86 coming from Wilson. He had runs of 33 yards, 19 yards to start a drive and 39 yards on a crucial third-down, and 10 with UA up 31-20. He also gained 18 yards on a shuttle pass in the late third quarter.
"You want to be able to run the ball when everybody knows you're going to run it," Rodriguez said. "When we had to run it and everyone knew we were going to run it, (that) was key."
Arizona is 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Pac-12 South, in the mix with Arizona State (5-1) and USC and UCLA (5-2). Rodriguez said he told the team, "The more you win the more is at stake, and there's a lot at stake the next three weeks."
Rodriguez, who has guided UA to two consecutive bowl game victories, has Arizona sitting pretty for some sort of invite next month. The next three weeks with Washington, Utah and Arizona State lingering sets up for an important month.
"Every game you win now you climb up the bowl ladder," Rodriguez said. "It'll all be settled in the next few weeks."
Quarterback Anu Solomon added another 115 yards, a career-high that kept Colorado off-balance most of the night.
"He looked nice out there," Grant said.
Solomon's success on the ground was mostly impromptu, with other runs coming as part of the zone-read attack. Rodriguez said Solomon had been a bit slowed with an ankle injury, but not enough to restrict him.
"I told him he could walk around campus and with one of those big boots on, (but) you're going to get people talking and tweeting it and taking pictures of it," Rodriguez said. "He said, 'I know. I need to wear a disguise -- a hat and a beard."
Solomon was not made available to the media after the win, but Rodriguez said Solomon is a "tough guy" and he "made some big, big runs that made a difference for us."
The entire run game opened up Solomon's passing with quick, short strikes. He was 21 of 38 for 211 yards and four touchdowns.
Arizona's first four touchdowns came after Colorado turnovers.
"That was the difference in the game," Rodriguez said.
Still, Arizona's offense is much more effective when the run is involved.
"Our spread (offense) is not run-based but we'd like to have balance," Rodriguez said. "But we want to force the balance. When they give you the numbers to run and you can't run we're in trouble."
No trouble Saturday night.
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