Anu Solomon, Arizona Wildcats Fly Past UNLV Rebels

Anu Solomon threw for nearly 3,000 yards his senior year at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. It appears the redshirt freshman at Arizona has picked up right where he left off two seasons ago.

After a non-descript start to his first ever college football action, Solomon caught his stride late in the first quarter and never looked back, as his Wildcats used quick-strike passing plays to help rout the UNLV Rebels 58-13 on Friday night in Tucson. Solomon finished the night with 425 yards through the air and 4 scoring strikes. He also added another 50 yards on the ground.

Solomon completed passes to ten different receivers, including scoring throws to Nate Phillips (39 yards), Samajie Grant (63 yards), DaVonte' Neal (13 yards), and Austin Hill (a 92 yard strike to open the second half).

Terris Jones-Grigsby shouldered the Wildcats’ rushing load against the Rebels with 13 carries for 124 yards and 1 score. Freshman Nick Wilson added 104 yards of his own, most of them on an 85-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

UNLV looked outmatched from the very beginning of the game, after entering the contest with its desert-dwelling foes with high expectations. The Rebels qualified for a bowl game last season for the first time in 14 years. However, under junior college transfer quarterback Blake Decker, a former BYU recruit, the Rebels’ offense sputtered for most of the first half, and Arizona’s offensive production put unneeded pressure on a largely one dimensional UNLV attack.

For the game, Arizona compiled nearly 800 total yards. The final offensive tally is even more impressive when Solomon’s passing inaccuracy is taken into account. Despite his gaudy yardage total, he completed a modest 57% of his passes, often missing wide open receivers in the process.

Such a result is expected from the young signal caller, but Solomon’s moxey and presence in the backfield have Arizona fans buzzing after game one of the 2014 campaign.

Arizona will travel to Texas next Thursday to take on UT-San Antonio, while UNLV will play host to Northern Colorado on September 6 in Las Vegas.