Stanford vs. Arizona final score: Five takeaways from the Wildcats’ 34-10 loss to the Cardinal

Still winless in conference play

The Arizona Wildcats are one of seven teams in Power Five conferences still winless in conference play (2-6, 0-5 Pac-12) after losing to the Stanford Cardinal on Homecoming weekend.

It was not an aesthetically pleasing game in anyway possible, and ended so late that East Coasters probably don’t even know the game happened.

So here are the five biggest takeaways from a long, lonely night in Tucson.

1. Anu Solomon may have been available, but was not ready

Brandon Dawkins got the start, but midway through the third quarter, with Arizona trailing 17-7, Rich Rodriguez swapped in Anu Solomon at quarterback.

It didn’t go well.

Anu Solomon’s first 5 plays: Incomplete, Incomplete, Sack, Incomplete, Fumble.

— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) October 30, 2016

Solomon was wearing a fairly substantial brace on his left knee, and rolled out right on three of these plays, overthrowing Cam Denson when the wide receiver was open on incompletion number three. Dawkins was promptly put back in the game after the mishandled handoff that led to a fumble.

2. No quarterback can succeed with this offensive line

The one consistent of Arizona’s season has been shoddy offensive line play, and this eighth game of the season was no exception. Christian Boettcher got the start at left guard over Freddie Tagaloa, and Boettcher was not ideal, letting his guys get into the backfield on a fairly regular basis.

If the offensive line this year was halfway decent, I think Dawkins, Solomon, and even Khalil Tate would be having success. But with the current situation, there’s no reason to believe Arizona will have decent numbers from its quarterbacks.

3. Michael Barton is a pretty important part of the defense

Early in the game, the Wildcats were actually getting to Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst often. They were also able to at least contain Christian McCaffrey, even when the Cardinal would have jumbo offensive line formations with seven or even eight guys up front.

Then the Michael Barton injury happened.

The fifth-year guy from Cal sustained what appears to be a knee injury. He did come back in for short time wearing a brace, but was seen in sweats on the sideline in the second half. After Barton was hurt, the defense was unable to stop McCaffrey, and Stanford was able to get big plays and put up more points than it had all year.

If Barton’s injury is somewhat long-term (only four weeks left in the season), that could be enormously detrimental to this defense moving forward.

4. Samajie Grant was actually alright at running back

Outside of one horrific run where Grant ran for a 24-yard loss, he wasn’t bad at running back, considering he’s a wide receiver. Yes, he left some yardage out there running east and west instead of north and south, but he was hitting holes when they were there, and making guys miss in the open field just like he does after catches.

It is concerning that Zach Green still hasn’t earned enough trust from the coaching staff after all these years that not one, but two wide receivers have jumped him on the depth chart.

5. Being honest, Abe Lincoln is the best Halloween costume

Congrats to the @ZonaZooOfficial costume contest winner! #BearDown http://pic.twitter.com/isuQHUanL5

— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) October 30, 2016

Also spotted: Hot dog, mustard bottle, sharks, Spongebob, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

from Arizona Desert Swarm - All Posts http://ift.tt/2e01TYp
via IFTTT