Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon threw for 276 yards against Oregon State on Saturday in his first game back after a concussion. (Getty)
Things were looking a little bleak for the Arizona Wildcats a week ago. The team that won the Pac-12 South last year had been blown out in its first two conference games.
They were feeling a lot better about themselves after a 44-7 victory Saturday over Oregon State on a 90-degree day in Tucson that may have made the visitors from the Pacific Northwest wilt.
“Our guys came out, scored quickly, and our defense got a couple huge stops early,” said Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez. “So we went tempo, and made it uncomfortable early. I don’t think we executed great all the time, but we executed well and really played hard. It was a really good win over a pretty good football team.”
Well, maybe not. The Beavers lost to Stanford the week before, 42-24, and were 2-7 in the Pac-12 last year. Still, Arizona figures to come into Folsom Field Saturday night with some confidence. In their conference games prior to Saturday’s win, the Wildcats lost to UCLA, 56-30, and Stanford, 55-17.
“They played good against us,” said Oregon State coach Gary Andersen. “Whatever they did against the other teams, and we all know what the scores were and what have you, that was a good defense that we played against today. They were much better than we were on offense. We threw the ball unbelievably poor and had very poor decision making processes at times. It was ineffective. The offense was basically ineffective.”
