Sports • Tuesday, September 2, 2014
The Daily Wildcat • 9
There’s Anu sheriff in town BY Roberto Payne The Daily Wildcat
I
n his first game as an Arizona Wildcat, redshirt freshman quarterback Anu Solomon impressed his teammates, coaches, fans and even opposing supporters with his historic performance. Solomon exited the game midway through the fourth quarter with the following stat line: 25-44 passing attempts, 425 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, 50 rushing yards on eight carries and 50,103 jaws wide open. Not only did he set the freshman single-game passing yards record, he engineered the offense that obliterated the program’s single-game total offensive yards record that was set in 1969 against New Mexico. The previous record was 691 total offensive yards, and Solomon orchestrated the new record of 787 total offensive yards on Friday. Seemingly, one play led to another and that play led to a score. And it’s just the first game of the season. As the always-wise rapper Fabolous once said in his song “Diamonds,” “Now that’s what the fuck I call a chain reaction.” In this explosive situation, there’s little doubt that Fabolous’ lyrics can be a forewarning for what the Pac-12 is looking to go against this
tyler baker/The Daily Wildcat
Redshirt freshman quarterback Anu Solomn (12) throws a pass during Arizona’s season opening 58-13 victory against UNLV at Arizona Stadium on Friday. Solomon’s 425 passing yards broke the freshman single-game passing yards record.
season. Not only can the Wildcats run the ball, they can pass with the best in the nation. Four of Arizona’s seven touchdowns came on the heels of plays of at least 39 yards, with the longest coming on a 92-yard touchdown reception from redshirt senior wide receiver Austin Hill. For the rest of the season, even if Arizona is only half as prolific as it was against UNLV, it
Arizona volleyball sweeps tournament BY Evan rosenfeld
The Daily Wildcat
The 2014 Arizona volleyball season kicked off with a bang as the Wildcats overthrew South Dakota, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Kansas State to sweep the Green Bay Tournament and begin the year 3-0. Senior outside hitter Madi Kingdon was named the tournament MVP and Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after recording two 20-plus-kill matches, two double-doubles and 64 kills on 144 swings (.361 hitting percentage) over the weekend. Furthermore, Kingdon amassed 33 digs, eight blocks, four service aces and two assists. “I think we played extremely well,” Kingdon said. “Of course, there are always kinks to be worked out, but that being said, I think we showed a good fight.” Fellow teammates Ronni Lewis and Penina
would still average just under 400 total yards per game. The scariest part about that is an average of 400 yards of total offense per game would be incredibly low for a Rich Rodriguezcoached team. Last year’s team averaged just over 458 total yards of offense per game, and, apart from the departure of star running back Ka’Deem Carey, this offense is much more complete at the skill
positions. Leading the way amongst the offensive skill groups is a deep, varied group of receivers. Just against UNLV, 10 different players caught a pass. However, that’s not even the most telling sign that the offense will continue to be explosive. The play calling on Friday seemed eerily similar to something that would’ve been seen on last season’s run-heavy team, but generated significantly different results in the passing game. The majority of the credit for that positive change can be attributed to solid reads from Solomon in his first career start. Despite several overthrown deep balls early, he rebounded nicely from that point on and, specifically, in the third quarter. Solomon was 13-25 for 243 passing yards at the half and a tad bit inconsistent on some throws. However, he rebounded after the half and was 11-16 for 167 passing yards in the third quarter alone. He only had one passing touchdown in the third quarter but was responsible for leading Arizona on four scoring drives in the quarter. To make matters even better, he did this all without committing a turnover of any capacity. While it’s only the first game of the season, I can say with certainty that there’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is Anu.
— Follow Roberto Payne @HouseofPayne555
up being the deciding factor and led her team to tournament opener, winning the first, third and fourth sets 25-20, 25-20 and 25-19 respectively. victory with 23 kills, 15 digs and three blocks. The Wildcats fell to South Arizona held Kansas Dakota in the second set, State to a .147 hitting 20-25. The Coyotes were the percentage but ran into only team to take a set from some trouble in the the UA this weekend. third set. After leading Madi Kingdon While Arizona was poised for the majority of the and dominant in the first set, set, Arizona gave way to Year/ position the second set gave way to a 5-0 Kansas State run Sr. OH seven attack errors, which and was down 21-18. allowed South Dakota to However, Arizona went Major General capitalize on a 12-4 run and on a 5-3 run to tighten studies/Sports eventually take the set 25-20. the score at 24-23 before management Kingdon said that it was securing the final three hometown exciting to finally start playing points of the set. Phoenix live matches. The team had In Saturday’s game Height been in the gym practicing against host Green Bay, 6’ 1” and training since Aug. 9, and the Wildcats’ defense the players were ready to put held the Phoenix to 2014 stats their work to the test. a dismal .128 hitting 64 kills, 33 digs, 8 blocks, “This being our first percentage while the 4 service aces and 2 assists showing of the year, I am UA cruised to a 3-0 immensely proud of my (25-15, 25-12, 25-21) team and how we battled victory. Arizona hit a .298 percentage in the match and senior middle this weekend,” Kingdon said. “I can’t wait to see blocker Rachel Rhoades continued to produce what the rest of the season has in store for us.” for the Wildcats, compiling seven kills, a service ace, three digs and a block while hitting at a .545 clip. — Follow Evan Rosenfeld Arizona defeated South Dakota 3-1 in the @EvanRosenfeld17
Peak performer
Snuka also earned spots on the all-tournament team. Lewis, a senior libero, and Snuka, a sophomore setter, proved to be instrumental in Arizona’s victories against South Dakota and Green Bay. Snuka recorded three double-doubles in as many games after compiling 40 assists and a team-leading 18 digs against South Dakota, 36 assists and 13 digs against Green Bay and 40 assists and 14 digs in the final match against Kansas State. Over the course of the tournament, Lewis tallied 46 digs and 15 assists but really kicked it up a notch in Arizona’s showdown against Green Bay, leading the squad with 21 digs while dishing out five assists. Arizona dispatched Kansas State 3-0 (2521, 25-18, 26-24) in the de facto tournament championship. Both teams entered the game undefeated, but the UA made easy work of the Kansas State Wildcats. In the end, Kingdon ended
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