Oregon State vs. Arizona final score: Wildcats pound Beavers 44-7

Hey, defense! Hey, offense!

In a huge swing from the past couple of weeks, the Arizona Wildcats were absolutely dominant on the defensive side of the ball, and had rhythm on the offensive side of the ball. They got out to a quick start, eventually pasting the Oregon State Beavers by a score of 44-7

The offense was clicking from the get-go with Anu Solomon back in the game. But the more notable thing was the changes made at linebacker, and the effect that had on the team. Jake Matthews started at MLB, with DeAndre' Miller and Paul Magloire flanking him, and that led to huge success stopping Oregon State's potent rushing game. The Beavers only managed 4.9 yards per carry on the day, with that number getting inflated at the end, while Arizona was hovering above seven yards on each toting of the ball until the end.

Multi-headed rushing attack: There were several times close to the goal line when Arizona went to a three-back set, leading to Orlando Bradford TDs, many of them. If you had bet me money at the beginning of the year on Arizona having three running backs in the game at once, I would have laughed in your face. But here we are. Solomon also tried to hit Jamardre Cobb with a short TD pass, but just went over his hands.

Jared Baker went well over 100 yards, Nick Wilson had two touchdowns, and Bradford had his three touchdowns too. Pretty good day to be an Arizona running back.

Anu Hope: The Arizona quarterback returned, and did typical Anu Solomon things. 17-30 for 276 yards and no interceptions. He also got to rest most of the fourth quarter. Win-win situation.

Hard hits: Not only did the defense play better than they had all year, but they were laying down the wood all day as well. Jarvis McCall had a big hit on Seth Collins, and then the very next play, Williams Parks did this to a poor OSU receiver. I think having Magloire in there at linebacker really set the tone for physicality on this team.

Magloire Magic: It probably can't be said enough how important it was for Arizona to get Magloire in, even if it was at linebacker instead of safety. He led the team in tackles...by a lot, and had a couple tackles for loss as well. This could be an important development for the rest of the season.

Empty seats: With the unfortunate 1 PM kick, combined with family weekend, the amount of fans in attendance for this smackdown was a bit disappointing. This was just after halftime:

Parent’s weekend + non-close game + hot 1 p.m. start = empty ZonaZoo http://pic.twitter.com/qiuftnxwcn

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapireUA) October 10, 2015

The Big Unit: Randy Johnson was at the game, and it was glorious

GUYS RANDY JOHNSON IS SITTING BEHIND ME AT THE UOFA GAME http://pic.twitter.com/0FqwrA2b83

— Ryan Channels (@zoso56) October 10, 2015

Casey Skowron, linebacker?: Arizona may have found a fix to its linebacking problems, but the Wildcats' kicker wanted to put his name in the hat as well. Special teams looked good all around, which is strange to say. Kick coverage was good, kicking was good, and punting was good. Just need a return broken for a touchdown to get everything going.

The Wildcats will look to start a winning streak next weekend when they travel to Boulder to take on the Colorado Buffaloes. That game is slated to start at 6 PM PT on Fox Sports 1.

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