Arizona Football

Arizona Wildcats Football: Solomon establishing himself as best freshman QB in nation

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FRESHMAN PASSING YARDS
NR — National rank
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Anu Solomon

Anu Solomon

After the second week of the season, the only major statistical category that Anu Solomon does not lead among freshman quarterbacks in the nation is passing yards per completion.

Solomon, who connected on an 85-yard touchdown pass with Cayleb Jones on the first play from scrimmage at Texas-San Antonio last week, averages 15.6 yards per completion. Ohio State redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett is second in the nation with a 22.2 average. Solomon, also a redshirt freshman, ranks 10th nationally with his mark.

That is one of three major categories in which Solomon ranks in the top 20 nationally among all quarterbacks.

He is 12th nationally (and second in the Pac-12 behind Washington State’s Connor Halliday) with 656 yards passing. He is 15th nationally with five touchdown passes. Tulane redshirt freshman Tanner Lee also has five.

Solomon, who has completed 42 of 76 passes without an interception, ranks 36th nationally in pass efficiency with a 149.5 rating.

He was not at his best against Texas-San Antonio, electing to take a safety in one play rather than throwing the ball away, but Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez believes that Solomon is handling well the demands placed on him.

“He is a very conscientious guy,” Rodriguez said Monday during his weekly press conference. “It’s not just what he’s doing or what the particular play is, but the philosophy behind it. Anu is sharp, but a quarterback doesn’t get a break mentally.

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FRESHMAN PASSING TDs
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“In our offense, our quarterback has to think just about every snap. He doesn’t have to call the play, but he has to execute the play and has to think about what he is going to do with the ball. From that standpoint we put a lot of pressure on our quarterbacks during camp and games to always be sharp mentally. That’s a lot on them, but that’s what we do and he can handle that. I try to explain to him during a game that he always has to be sharp mentally because there are so many decisions he has to make in the course of the game.”

FRESHMAN PASSING YARDS PER COMPLETION
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FRESHMAN PASS EFFICIENCY
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.

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