Arizona football roundtable: On the UCLA game, Utah's statement and the WIldcats' quarterbacks

Let's move on to the next one

That game by the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday was pretty painful, so let's move on to other things in this week's roundtable, including the impressiveness of the Utah Utes.

Here are our thoughts on some things that are not Arizona's defense, because we all know it isn't good.

1. What song describes your emotions at halftime of that game?

Gabe Encinas: Meek Mill's diss track, because we had already taken the L not even half way through the game. That was a pretty embarrassing performance.

David Potts: "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. The song opens with the line, "hello darkness, my old friend," and I doubt any words could better describe how I felt.

Jason Bartel: "Sloop John B" by The Beach Boys. I feel so broke up, I wanna go home

Ryan Kelapire: Bad Day by Daniel Powter. We went through all of that College GameDay stuff just to be down by 28 at the half. That's definitely not a good day.

2. Should we be worried about the kicking game on top of everything else?

GE: I think that's just college kickers in general. Casey Skowron has done great things for Arizona and not so great things throughout his career. Missing two PAT's through four games isn't a good look, and the missed field goal in the first half just kinda summed up the game for Arizona. This is a big game next week, and it's not a game where Arizona can leave points on the board, making Skowron's kicking game a key to success.

DP: Is it even worth worrying about at this point? There are so many other problems - the offensive line, the defense's ability to stop the run, the defense's ability to get to the quarterback, the defense, etc. - that I'd rather just chalk this up to a bad game and only worry about it if it becomes a trend.

JB: I only bring this up because Skowron didn't miss an extra point last year, and he already has two misses this year, and it's not like college is playing with the new NFL PAT rules. I am concerned, because it's leaving points on the field that you can't be leaving out there. Did it matter this week? No. But will it matter in a game down the road? Probably.

RK: College kickers are what they are. They'll make some, and they'll miss some. Unless Skowron has a horrible streak where he can't make anything, I don't think the kicking game is something to worry about. And let's not forget that, despite the missed short field goal and extra point, Skowron did manage to make 44-yarder against UCLA too. He hasn't been that bad, and either way, you never want to have to rely on your kicker in college football.

3. Is Utah actually the team to beat in the Pac-12 South or is Oregon that bad?

GE: I think it's a mix of both. What Utah is going through right now makes it seem pretty similar to Arizona last season. No one will give them the true credit they deserve, and everyone one will continue to pick against them. Somehow, someway they've beaten four very respectable opponents and handled them fairly easily.

I never thought that Oregon was going to be that great to begin with, but I wouldn't have expected them to get pounded like that vs Utah, especially at home. With a FCS quarterback, trying to replace a Heisman winning quarterback in Marcus Mariota, of course they're going to encounter a lot of issues, whether it's a system or not. But the defense has been absolutely terrible through four games and Oregon might be the third best team in the North now.

DP: I think it's mostly that Utah is really good. Lest we forget, that Oregon team hung with Michigan State on the road a couple of weeks ago, so I think Oregon can't possibly be as bad as they looked this past week. That said, they're looking a lot more like a contender for the Las Vegas Bowl or the Foster Farms Bowl than the Rose Bowl or even the Holiday Bowl at this point.

JB: I never expected big things from Oregon, but I did not expect them to suffer their worst home loss in 40 years. I have never been a believer in Helfrich, and so far, this season is playing out in my favor with that. I just can't believe that the Utah offense will be consistent enough to win the South over UCLA, but the Utes are certainly either the best team or the second-best team in the division right now behind the Bruins.

RK: I think it's still really close between Utah and UCLA atop the Pac-12 South. Oregon did play Michigan State tough on the road, so I don't think they're as bad as they played against Utah on Saturday.

4. If Anu Solomon is out, do you want to see Jerrard Randall, Brandon Dawkins, or a mix of both?

GE: I would like to see a mix of both, just to throw the pace of the game off for the defense. Dawkins is still fast, so when he's in, he can still scramble. And if Randall can earn the respect of the secondary, he could be deadly, but that's a big if. Randall is such a playmaker, that he might be best at receiver, with Dawkins in at quarterback. There's just too much explosiveness to be had in Randall for him to not be on the field.

DP: Randall. He established himself as the number two guy in camp, and he has been electric when given the opportunity. If Solomon is out, I think our best bet is to ride Randall and go to Dawkins only if that doesn't work.

JB: Definitely a mix of both. Randall kind of showed why we can't take him seriously as a passer, going 4-16 through the air. For what it's worth, Dawkins was 2-2 at the end of the game. If you put both of them in the backfield with Nick Wilson, what in the world is a defense to do? That could be amazing or a trainwreck.

RK: I'm torn on this. I don't like Randall having to throw the ball, but his running ability is outstanding and he's a big play waiting to happen. Plus, I'm not sure Dawkins is THAT much of a better thrower that he's worth taking Randall off the field for. That said, I do think that Dawkins should be used if Arizona is in an obvious passing sitation, like a two-minute drill or if they're down by multiple scores late in the game.

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