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FRESHMAN PASSING YARDS
NR — National rank. FR — Freshman rank
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FRESHMAN RUSHING YARDS
NR — National rank. FR — Freshman rank
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Anu Solomon is on pace to rewrite a few impressive records in Arizona’s record book
Lost in all of the hype over Arizona’s 31-24 upset win over No. 2 Oregon last Thursday was quarterback Anu Solomon breaking the passing yardage mark for Wildcat freshmen.
Solomon has 1,741 passing yards after amassing 287 against Oregon on 20 of 31 pass attempts. The yards top the previous freshman record of 1,660 held by Ortege Jenkins in 1997. Solomon also passed Kris Heavner’s total of 1,501 in 2003 in the Oregon game.
Nick Wilson, who rushed for 92 yards on 13 carries against Oregon, is not far from breaking the Arizona freshman rushing record of 704 yards by Nic Grigsby in 2007.
He has 574 yards rushing on 90 carries, an average of 6.4 yards per carry, which is by far the best among leading Arizona freshman running backs through the years. Vance Johnson averaged 5.3 yards a carry in 1981.
Arizona’s Nick Wilson is closing in on the school’s freshman rushing record
Solomon remains the nation’s leading freshman passer in terms of yardage, but Idaho’s Matt Linehan is closing the gap. Linehan is 97 yards shy of Solomon’s 1,741 yards passing although Linehan has attempted 30 more passes with 14 more completions than Solomon (who has completed 131 of 206 pass attempts).
Wilson is the nation’s No. 2 freshman running back, trailing Western Michigan’s Jarvion Franklin, who also has more attempts than Wilson with each having played five games. Franklin has 682 yards on 117 carries.
With Wilson splitting carries with senior Terris Jones-Grigsby it will be difficult for Wilson to overcome Franklin. Jones-Grigsby led Arizona with 115 yards on 27 carries against Oregon.
Combined, Wilson and Jones-Grigsby have gained 841 yards on 135 carries with nine touchdown runs. The nation’s leading rusher — Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah — has very similar numbers to Arizona’s duo. He 878 yards rushing on 138 carries and 10 touchdown runs.
Arizona’s veteran offensive line has much to do with the success of Solomon, Wilson and Jones-Grigsby.
“We have four veterans counting Cayman (Bundage), but we have three seniors and both tackles are seniors and they’ve seen just a little bit of everything,” Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said. “I’ve been really proud of our center, Steven Gurrola, too. He’s been playing really consistent for us and having played last year as a first year player and did a pretty good job.
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Note: Ronald Veal highlighted in red because he led Arizona in passing and rushing as a freshman in 1987.
MOST YARDS BY ARIZONA WILDCATS
FRESHMAN QB IN PAC-10/12 ERA
Compiled by AllSportsTucson.com
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TOP ARIZONA FRESHMAN RUSHERS
Compiled by AllSportsTucson.com
*Quarterbacks
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“They are really good about making adjustment. I think we have been pretty solid. We haven’t had our best game yet and for us to win Saturday night, particularly considering who we are playing against including a first-round draft pick (USC defensive end Leonard Williams), they will have to be at their best.”
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. FR — Freshman rank
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FRESHMAN PASSING TDs
NR — National rank. FR — Freshman rank
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FRESHMAN PASSING YARDS PER COMPLETION
NR — National rank. FR — Freshman 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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