Arizona football: Playbook and confidence continue to open up for Anu Solomon in year two

Big things might be coming for the Arizona quarterback

Anu Solomon is the clear cut starter for Arizona, giving Rich Rodriguez a returning quarterback for the first time in three years at Arizona. Heading into his second year as the starter, entering his redshirt sophomore season, Anu Solomon is much more comfortable with the offense, and is ready for his experience to help him progress in the system.

But heading into camp, Anu said his job wasn't safe. "Going into camp this year, my job wasn't secure. I still had to go in and compete for it. I know there's three guys wanting my job so bad, so it's just basically pushing myself to make everyone better around me this time," he said.

But now in year two, he feels a lot more comfortable with himself, as do the coaches, noting that the playbook has expanded quite a bit now that he has more experience. "I think the coaches are comfortable with me, checking plays myself. I think that just goes on with repetition in practice, being successful and executing the play," Solomon said about the added responsibilities in year two.

Although we didn't see much from the tight ends in the spring game, and Trevor Wood looks to be out for an unknown amount of time, the use of tight ends adds more variety to the offense. "Oh yeah, we have talented tight ends. They have athletic abilities to make a play and I like throwing them the ball so that's going to be useful throughout the season."

There are some critics of the 3-3-5 defense, with many wishing that there was more of a pass rush presence, but having five defensive backs can mess with the quarterback's head. "The disguise. With the 3-3-5, they can hold a disguise. But the problem with that is, if they hold it long enough, they're not lined up where they're supposed to be. With the run game, we can attack that," when asked about the difficulties of going up against this defense every day.

Despite the shake up on the offensive line, with Carter Wood out for the year, ending his career, and Cayman Bundage at center now, with a new offensive guard, Anu feels good about the offensive line. "With the addition of Freddie (Tagaloa) and Lene (Maiava), we have the potential to be better than we were last year."

And in case you were wondering, his favorite restaurant in Tucson is between Raw or Mr. An's, and his favorite emoji is the gas tank. "It's just kind of a high school joke. Gas tanks is just kinda a saying like bear down."

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