Arizona 44 Nevada 20

The Arizona Wildcats dominated the entire game and pulled out the victory to defeat the Nevada Wolf Pack. The MVP of the game was definitely Nick Wilson who rushed for for 194 yards with three touchdowns.

Anu Solomon also had a great game and had 264 yards passing and 2 touchdown passes.

The big downside of this game was definitely the defense. You can see where the skills Scooby Wright are sorely missed. In addition, a few more defensive linebackers got injured during the game so this getting to code red as far as depth goes at that position.

It looked like they switched from the 3-3-5 to a 4-3 defensive scheme. This occurred after a Nevada drive that plowed right through the defense at will.

When they switched to the 4-3 they had a lot more success at stopping the run. This may be a pivotal point going forward since we are so depleted at the linebacker position. The first conference game against UCLA will be the real test to see how this defense matches up with a strong offensive team – especially against a quarterback that has a great arm.

Overall, the Cats played well and a lot of players got some playing time. Backup QB Jerrard Randall had a great touchdown run. His speed is amazing and flew by every defender. I’m surprised he hasn’t seen more time at another position – his speed alone is a great asset.

Another great play was when backup RB Orlando Bradford had a great run and looked like a tank because nobody could stop him. I think he is going to be a big player in future and hopefully gets more playing time soon.

Up next is Northern Arizona. This will be another test and hopefully the defense can regroup and figure something out because after this game conference play starts and that is a completely different level of skill.