Offensive Review

by Blair Willis

Arizona entered preseason camp in August with one main question: who will be the starting quarterback.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez played coy and kept things quiet up until the week of the first game, but the answer became rather clear. Redshirt freshman Anu Solomon was ready to become to the school’s first-ever freshman to start a season opener.

Solomon debuted with a school freshman record of 425 passing yards and four touchdowns against UNLV, and the job was his the rest of the season. The product from Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas went on to throw for 3,458 yards on the year with 27 passing touchdowns and only seven interceptions. His poise and presence showed maturity beyond his years, especially considering some of the close calls and comeback finishes he and the Wildcats were part of this season.

Once the quarterback situation was solved, another big question still remained: who will replace two-time All-American running back Ka’Deem Carey?

Again, that question was answered in camp with strong efforts by fifth-year senior Terris Jones-Grigsby, who went on to gain 528 yards and three scores this season. But the surprise came in the season opener when true freshman Nick Wilson turned in the first of seven 100-yard rushing games on the season. The rookie, who battled injury in the middle of the year, emerged to gain 1,289 yards and score 15 rushing touchdowns as the featured back late in the season.

When Arizona’s offense was rolling, it was because it was running the ball well. A big part of that ground success was due to an experienced offensive line that returned four full-time starters from a season ago. Tackles Mickey Baucus and Fabbians Ebbele have been mainstays for four-straight seasons along the line, and guard Cayman Bundage and center Steven Gurrola were regulars at their respective spots in 2013, as well.  The two inexperienced contributors were guards Jacob Alsadek and Lene Maiava, but each was steady and gave the Wildcats 166 combined career starts on the offensive line by season’s end.

Another strong point of the offense coming into the season was a deep corps of receivers, which proved itself to be a strength throughout the year. Ten players caught a touchdown pass this season and seven hauled in 20 or more pass receptions.

The headliner of the group is Cayleb Jones, a transfer from Texas who led with 65 receptions for 902 yards and nine touchdowns. Austin Hill returned from last year’s ACL injury to catch 45 passes for 605 yards and four scores, while sophomore Samajie Grant had a super year with 41 grabs for 649 yards and five touchdowns of his own.

All together, the Wildcats averaged 34.8 points, 183.8 rushing yards, 277.7 passing yards and 461.5 yards of total offense per game.

The kicking game was rather strong with junior Casey Skowron handling the duties for place-kicking and kickoffs for the first time in his career. He connected cleanly on all 54 PAT tries, made 17 of 25 field goals, scored a touchdown of his own and tallied 111 total points to set a school single-season record for points by a kicker.

Junior Drew Riggleman handled the punting duties, earning second-team all-league honors in the process. He averaged 46.4 yards per punt and placed 20 of his 69 kicks inside the 20-yardline.

In the return game, DaVonte’ Neal emerged as the primary punt returner. The sophomore slot receiver averaged 11.9 yards on 11 returns, including an 81-yard touchdown at Washington State.  Freshman Tyrell Johnson showed speed and burst on kickoff returns, averaging 23.4 yards per pop on 25 total tries.