OFFENSE
In announcing he would tighten up the running back rotation, does that imply Jim Mora and the coaches are happy with the offensive line’s performance? Given your perspective from watching practices and games, what do you think is the primary reason for the running game struggling as much as it has?
Mora and the coaches didn’t just imply that they’re happy with the offensive line’s performance, but Kennedy Polamalu said specifically that he was happy with it. He was asked specifically if the offensive line had to shoulder any of the blame after Stanford and Polamalu said no. Mora said Monday that everything was blocked the way they wanted it to be blocked. Polamalu said it’s up to him to teach the running backs better to see the holes and break through arm tackles. Mora said when he watched the film, he thought the team left 100 yards out on the field. When watching the game again Sunday night, I thought the offensive line actually did pretty well and I did notice a lot of the holes Mora would reference the next day. Solomon Thomas was a beast for Stanford and definitely got the better of Kolton Miller and Najee Toran, but I thought the offensive line had an overall decent day against a very good defensive line. I haven’t watched practice in more than a month since they closed everything after the first 20 minutes to the media, so I can’t speak to what’s going on at practice, but I think it falls on the running backs. Like the coaches said, there were holes to run through and tackles to be broken against Stanford. Continue reading “Weekly Q&A – Arizona answers” »
