Oregon State vs. Arizona: Grading the Wildcats' performance against the Beavers

The Wildcats passed their midterm

The past couple of weeks, our grade checks have not been so kind to the Arizona Wildcats.

But Arizona turned it around, and certainly passed their midterm with flying colors against the Oregon State Beavers.

Here's how I see the positions grading out:

Quarterback: A-

Can we all agree that Anu Solomon is the most important player when it comes to this team's success? We can? Good.

His numbers may not have been dazzling (17-30, 276 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs), but there's no denying now just how valuable he is for the overall competence and effectiveness of the offense. This is a totally different team when he's on the field. And that's not a knock on Jerrard Randall. Solomon just has that great of command of the offensive scheme.

Running backs: A++

A+ just isn't enough to describe the running backs on Saturday, so two pluses it is! Jared Baker led the way with 123 yards, but didn't even get one of the FIVE rushing TDs by the Wildcats. Nick Wilson finished THIRD in rushing yards on the day. Orlando Bradford had his breakout moment, scoring three times, getting 19 carries, and picking up 83 yards along the way.

We also got a Tyrell Johnson sweep for eight yards, and five Jonathan Haden carries at the end of the game. Zach Green didn't get in the game because he was injured on kick coverage early in the game. But still, 368 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Doesn't get much better than that during conference play.

Wide receivers: B-

Part of the reason that Anu's numbers weren't very lofty was because the WRs did him no favors on the day. There were several dropped balls, and then when Cayleb Jones is doing things like this, your grade automatically goes down a notch:

Let's check in on the latest Arizona play, "going backwards". http://pic.twitter.com/cLu5FZ8ccw

— Avinash Kunnath (@avinashkunnath) October 10, 2015

Offensive line: A

One sack given up, and 368 rushing yards signals to me that the job was done up front. There was some shuffling, with Freddie Tagaloa playing guard, and Layth Friekh playing tackle, and it seems to have worked, so I would imagine that's what it'll be moving forward.

Defensive line: B+

It's always tough for me to judge the defensive line's effectiveness, because when they are most effective, linebackers and safeties get the actual stats that reflect that. The only sack came from Jake Matthews, but the only interception came from the line when Anthony Fotu got the tip and almost-touchdown.

It is very surprising to not even see Reggie Gilbert on the statsheet, and only three linemen with tackles (Calvin Allen, Luca Bruno and Parker Zellers). I mean, Shun Brown had two tackles on special teams on Saturday, which was just as many as any lineman had. I don't know what to make of it, but whatever they did must have worked, because Oregon State only scored seven points.

Linebackers: A

With all that said, the linebackers dominated. I'm a huge fan of the Triple M crew that Jeff Casteel ran out there to start the game with Jake Matthews, DeAndre' Miller and Paul Magloire. Magloire instantly made an impact, racking up nine tackles, two of them for loss. No one else on the team had more than five tackles. Maybe that's what this team has been missing. A guy who can rove like Magloire and get across the field quickly. It was almost like a reincarnation of Tra'Mayne Bondurant's role last year. Hope we see more of it.

A guy who goes over looked is DeAndre' MIller. He essentially missed all of last year with a shoulder injury, and has missed time this year with a wrist/hand issue. He needs to be out there as many snaps as possible. Same with Jake Matthews. We can't have them rotating back and forth anymore. Get them out there at the same time, especially with Derrick Turituri out, and of course, Scooby Wright III out as well.

Secondary: A

Oregon State quarterbacks were 12-35 for 98 yards. Enough said.

But let's say more. William Parks lit the fire under everyone with this enormous hit on Jordan Villamin. Jarvis McCall played well. Tellas Jones played well. Even Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles was making an impact over the top.

And they shut down this Oregon State team without Jamar Allah and DaVonte' Neal in the rotation. Really impressive.

Special teams: A

Casey Skowron made a tackle, ripped the ball out, and recovered it. That'll do. Even if it didn't count.

But on the real, Oregon State had an obvious gameplan to attack the kick return coverage, taking each of the first four kicks in the endzone out. And Arizona responded in a big way, forcing the Beavers to start inside their own 25 on seven different occasions.

Drew Riggleman had three punts for 161 yards, plus Skowron was 3-3 on FGs and 5-5 on PATs. The only thing missing from Arizona's special teams right now is a threatening return game. Nate Phillips is not that guy on punts, and Tyrell Johnson was playing his first game of the season alongside Jared Baker on kicks. Maybe it'll come, but at least the coverage teams are good now.

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