Arizona fell to Iowa this past week in un-dramatic fashion falling 27-17 in Iowa City. The Cats defense kept them in this game for as long as they could but the offensive output was too weak to give them a chance. Let's dive into the grades.
Quarterbacks: Matt Scott looked lost. Period. Scott finished 4-14 for 50 yards and an INT. He was ineffective to say the least. Scott had 47 yards on the day on 7 carries; however, 27 of those yards came on his first attempt. He was stopped cold the rest of the game. Scott's inability to move the offense has cost him the starting job this week at Oregon State. He was unable to find the open man, held on to the ball too long, and looked terrible trying to throw on the run. His goal line passes were atrocious. Nick Foles couldn't muster much offense either throwing 6-11 for 55 yards and a TD. His opportunities were limited by the time it got to him. There was no chance for rushing anymore and he still managed to get a score. Foles TD throw to Criner was PERFECT. Can't wait until next week. Grade: F
Running Backs: Did y'all see Grigsby's run in the 2nd quarter? Great speed, lateral movement and cuts to the outside. Keoli also put in a nice run in the fourth quarter that led to our offensive touchdown. The RB's didn't have many holes to fit through the entire game and still churned out a respectable amount of yards. Grigsby seems to do everything right from catching the ball out of the backfield to picking up blitzers. Grade: B
Wide Receivers: Great job blocking guys. Criner's grab on the TD was impressive and hopefully we will throw it to the big fella more. Everyone else did great on their routes and blocking, the passes just weren't there. What else is there to say? We only completed 10 passes. Grade: B
Offensive Line: As much as I loved watching Adam Grant play against CMU, he had such a terrible game against Iowa it makes me sick. He single handedly let Grigsby get blown up on the first play from scrimmage on the 2 in the second quarter. The pass protection was decent, Scott just couldn't make good choices. The run blocking across the board was sub-par. Grigsby was running for his life for most of the game when heading outside and hitting nothing but big bodies on the inside. The only reason Grigsby got any yards all night was because of his athletic ability (sans the long run in the first.) Grade: C+
Defensive Ends: I usually grade the Cats as a Defensive line unit, but there was nothing about the ends and the interior linemen that looked the same on Saturday. Ricky Elmore and Brooks Reed provided pressure all day against Iowa's QB, Ricky Stanzi. Elmore's speed and agility are nightmares for offensive tackles. He caused an intentional grounding in the first half. These guys have played incredible all year and are the reason that Arizona will be in more games than not. Grade: A-
(Our defensive tackles had a sub par game on Saturday)
Defensive Tackles: Welcome to the real schools that actually have offensive linemen. Earl Mitchell had an average game. He had two and a half tackles for loss and a half of a sack. He looked pretty quick off the ball as well Donald Horton, not so much. He was continually beat down throughout the entire game. No wonder they ran for 133. It felt like more. Maybe it's time to bring in Jonathan Hollins or some other guys to see if we can't get some push. Grade: C
Defensive Backs: Trevin Wade is the man. He got his third interception on the year and took it back for a score in the first quarter. The rest of the secondary looked pretty good to me. Cam Nelson had a good game and was flagged for a pass interference call that was pretty weak. Devin Ross and Robert Golden put in solid games as well. Grade: B+
Special Teams: Gotta love the fake field goal. Who is the guy who couldn't get two yards through that hole? Keenyn Crier. Are you kidding me? RUN THE BALL WHERE THE HOLE IS. That should have been 4 yards no problem. Oh well. On to the real special teams. Kickoffs were decent. Field goals 1-1. Punt average: 38.2, not great, but not bad. Overall, I'll take it. The kicking game wasn't as much of a factor as I thought it was going to be. David Douglas didn't have too many chances to return many balls but when he did, he ran right into black and yellow jerseys. Wow. Grade: B