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FRESHMAN PASSING YARDS
NR — National rank
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RUSHING YARDS
NR — National rank. FR — Freshman rank
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Former Arizona quarterback Ron Veal with his daughter Josie (Veal family photo)
Arizona Wildcats Anu Solomon and Nick Wilson lead the nation in passing and rushing yardage, respectively, among freshmen, which begs the question: Does a season exist in which freshmen have led the Wildcats in passing and rushing?
Well, not freshmen, but a freshman has in 1987 — Ronald Veal. He led the Wildcats with 1,239 passing yards and 566 rushing yards that season.
Veal engineered what was appropriately named the “Vealbone” in Dick Tomey’s first season at Arizona in 1987. Tomey used elements of the wishbone and run-and-shoot offense upon his arrival from Hawaii. Veal was a true freshman from Fernandina Beach, Fla., thrust into the starting role after SMU transfer Bobby Watters suffered a season-ending thumb injury three games into the season.
One year after B.J. Denker broke his season rushing record for Arizona quarterbacks, Veal is being chased by Solomon and Wilson as a freshman who topped the Wildcats in passing and rushing in a season. Veal’s 566 yards rushing in 1987 was the highest among Arizona quarterbacks in a season before Denker gained 949 yards on 181 carries last year as a senior.
Solomon and Wilson are in chase of other freshmen who have led the Wildcats in passing and rushing in a season.
Solomon is 726 yards shy of Ortege Jenkins’ total of 1,660 yards passing in 1997. Wilson is only 255 yards short of Nic Grigsby’s mark of 704 rushing yards in 2007.
At least nine games remain, perhaps 10 if Arizona receives a bowl bid. A lot can happen, especially at the running back position if senior Terris Jones-Grigsby (Nic Grigsby’s younger brother) regains his starting role when he returns from a foot injury. Jones-Grigsby, who rushed for 124 yards (averaging 9.54 yards a carry) in the season-opener against UNLV, is questionable for Saturday’s game against California.
For now, Solomon and Wilson are on pace to have historic freshman statistical seasons for Arizona one year after Denker’s record rushing performance and Ka’Deem Carey’s career marks in school history in rushing and rushing touchdowns (among other categories).
Some of that has to do with Rich Rodriguez’s potent quick-tempo, zone read, no-huddle offense, which is responsible for five of the top six total offense performances in school history despite this being only Rodriguez’s third year in Tucson.
But most of it has to do with the skills of Solomon and Wilson, who because of their inexperience, should only get better.
That gulp you heard was from defensive coordinators in the Pac-12.
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MOST YARDS BY ARIZONA WILDCATS FRESHMAN QB IN PAC-10/12 ERA
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TOP ARIZONA FRESHMAN RUSHERS
*Quarterbacks
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Arizona freshman running back Nick Wilson runs for a 28-yard touchdown in the second quarter (Pac-12 Networks video capture)
RUSHING YARDS PER CARRY
NR — National rank. FR — Freshman rank
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RUSHING YARDS PER GAME
NR — National rank. FR — Freshman rank
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RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS
NR — National rank. FR — Freshman rank
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FRESHMAN PASS EFFICIENCY
NR — National rank
[table “” not found /]
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FRESHMAN PASSING TDs
NR — National rank
[table “” not found /]
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FRESHMAN PASSING YARDS PER COMPLETION
NR — National rank
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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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