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 The 20th-ranked Wildcats set school marks for points, total offense
and rushing yards after they scored the final 63 points in a 77-13
victory over Northern Arizona on Saturday night.
"It will be nice to talk about for a day," said Arizona coach Rich
Rodriguez, whose team plays host to the 10th-ranked Bruins on
Saturday night. "After tomorrow's film, other than corrections,
we'll be moving on for sure."
Quarterback Anu Solomon completed 25 of 35 passes for 285 yards and
four touchdowns, leaving after Arizona's second series of the second
half. His backup, Jarrard Randall, piled on with a 72-yard run on
his first snap and then a 73-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
"They were more talented and they had a lot of depth in many areas,"
Northern Arizona coach Jerome Souers said. "And that showed in the
second half when we started to wear out."
Arizona (3-0) broke three school records on the same play with 5:45
left in the game -- an 11-yard touchdown run by fourth-string
quarterback Zach Werlinger. That set the school record for points
(77), total yards (792) and rushing yards (499). Those would be UA's
final totals for the night.
The school scoring record had stood since a 1921 game when Arizona
scored 74 against the school now known as UTEP. The previous mark
for yardage was 787 (UNLV, 2014) and the former rushing record was
492, established in 1988 against Eastern Michigan.
"I wasn't really happy with our focus at the beginning of the game,"
Rodriguez said. "Our execution wasn't there, but our guys corrected
some things and played pretty well the last three quarters."
Northern Arizona (2-1) entered the game ranked 24th in the FCS
coaches' poll.
"It's one game out of the season in our nonconference schedule, so
we have to keep that in mind," Souers said. "We have to focus
ourselves again."
Four Arizona quarterbacks combined to rush for 267 yards and five
touchdowns on just 11 carries. Third-stringer Brandon Dawkins had a
43-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
"It's a whole different level of game now since it's the Pac-12
now," said Arizona safety Brandon Lopez, looking toward next week's
game. "Going against such a big team, it's going to be a big
challenge."
Arizona hasn't played a Power 5 conference team, beating Texas-San
Antonio, Nevada and NAU.
"Over the last three weeks, particularly offensively," Rodriguez
said, "we've been able to find some things that fit in our offense
that we can execute well and carry into the conference games."
Three of Solomon's touchdown passes came in the big second quarter.
Running back Nick Wilson, who finished with 143 yards on 19 carries,
scored the other two on short runs.
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The Arizona defense picked off three passes, two coming against
backup quarterback Kyren Poe, who played the second half after Case
Cookus went 8 of 13 for 190 yards in the first half. Wide receiver
Emmanui Butler had five receptions for 119 yards.
Northern Arizona kicked a 39-yard field goal by Ryan Hawkins on the
opening drive of the game, but the Wildcats quickly grabbed the lead
with a six-play, 51-yard drive, capped by a 1-yard run by Solomon.
The Lumberjacks had 161 yards in the opening quarter but had to
settle for a second field goal -- from 21 yards -- after a 69-yard
catch-and-run from Dejzon Walker set up the Lumberjacks in the red
zone.
Arizona led 7-6 after one quarter -- and then the Wildcats got hot.
Arizona scored touchdowns on all five drives in the second quarter
to take a 42-13 lead at halftime.
The Wildcats repeatedly exploited mismatches in the passing game as
Solomon connected for three touchdowns in the quarter -- 8 yards to
Samajie Grant, 27 yards to David Richards and 14 yards to Richards.
Arizona mixed in two short touchdown runs by Wilson, who rushed 17
times for 139 yards in the half.
The Wildcats' 35 points in a quarter were one short of the school
record, set last year when the Wildcats scored 36 in the fourth
quarter against Cal.
NOTES: Northern Arizona redshirt freshman LB Jake Casteel, who
played in a reserve role, was on the opposite sideline from his
father, Jeff Casteel, Arizona's defensive coordinator. ... There has
been no official announcement about the return of Arizona
All-American LB Scooby Wright, who has missed two games after
undergoing surgery to clean up meniscus. The optimistic end of the
original timetable pegged a potential return against UCLA on
Saturday. ... Arizona WRs Trey Griffey and Tyrell Johnson have not
played this season because of foot injuries. ... Scouts from the New
York Giants and Atlanta Falcons were in attendance, as was one from
the Canadian Football League's BC Lions.
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