CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2014 Arizona

10–⁠4 (7–⁠2 Pac-12), coached by Rich Rodriguez, finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Arizona in 2014, game by game: won vs. UNLV 58–13; won at UTSA 26–23; won vs. Nevada 35–28; won vs. California 49–45; won at No. 2 Oregon 31–24; lost vs. USC 26–28; won at Washington State 59–37; lost at No. 25 UCLA 7–17; won vs. Colorado 38–20; won vs. Washington 27–26; won at No. 20 Utah 42–10; won vs. No. 13 Arizona State 42–35; lost vs. No. 3 Oregon 13–51; lost vs. No. 21 Boise State 30–38+45−38Won 58–13 vs. UNLV+45UNLVWon 26–23 at UTSA+3UTSAWon 35–28 vs. Nevada+7NevadaWon 49–45 vs. California+4CaliforniaWon 31–24 at No. 2 Oregon+7No. 2 OregonLost 26–28 vs. USC-2USCWon 59–37 at Washington State+22Washington StateLost 7–17 at No. 25 UCLA-10No. 25 UCLAWon 38–20 vs. Colorado+18ColoradoWon 27–26 vs. Washington+1WashingtonWon 42–10 at No. 20 Utah+32No. 20 UtahWon 42–35 vs. No. 13 Arizona State+7No. 13 Arizona StateLost 13–51 vs. No. 3 Oregon-38No. 3 OregonLost 30–38 vs. No. 21 Boise State-8No. 21 Boise State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 29vsUNLVW 58–⁠1372%
Sep 4atUTSAW 26–⁠2349%
Sep 13vsNevadaW 35–⁠2872%
Sep 20vsCaliforniaW 49–⁠4580%
Oct 2at2OregonW 31–⁠2428%
Oct 11vsUSCL 26–⁠2861%
Oct 25atWashington StateW 59–⁠3769%
Nov 1at25UCLAL 7–⁠1741%
Nov 8vsColoradoW 38–⁠2088%
Nov 15vsWashingtonW 27–⁠2666%
Nov 22at20UtahW 42–⁠1048%
Nov 28vs13Arizona StateW 42–⁠3557%
Dec 5vs3OregonPac-12 Championship GameL 13–⁠5135%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs21Boise StateFiesta BowlL 30–⁠3846%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Boise State 38–⁠30 in the Fiesta Bowl; No. 19 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Pac-12.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 10
  2. Wk 8: 16
  3. Wk 9: 15
  4. Wk 10: 14
  5. Wk 11: 21
  6. Wk 12: 17
  7. Wk 13: 15
  8. Wk 14: 12
  9. Wk 15: 8
  10. Wk 16: 12
  11. Final: 19

Pac-12 South champions7–⁠2 in the conference

Lombardi AwardScooby Wright, LB; also the Nagurski and Bednarik

Consensus All-AmericanScooby Wright III, LB

Record
10–⁠4
Conference
7–⁠2 2nd in Pac-12
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 8
Points
483–⁠395
Coach
Rich Rodriguez
Elo
1654 +89 this season
SP+ rating
7.6 No. 46 of 128; offense No. 39, defense No. 58, special teams No. 64
SRS
8.0 No. 34 of 128 in FBS
Returning
34% of last season’s EPA, No. 106 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 31
Offensive coordinators
Calvin Magee and Rod Smith
Defensive coordinator
Jeff Casteel
Captains
Dan Pettinato, Terris Jones-Grigsby, Hank Hobson, Fabbians Ebbele, Jonathan McKnight and Jared Tevis
Most valuable player
Scooby Wright III
Offense
Spread option
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense47th of 128
  • Defense70th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted50th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted48th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1742%1.3047th of 128
Defense0.1543%1.2170th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.18 off
0.13 def		42% off
41% def		—50th off
48th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.7own 302% allowed
Defense3.4own 271% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsAnu Solomon QB3,793 yds
Passing touchdownsAnu Solomon QB28 TD
Rushing yardsNick Wilson RB1,375 yds
Rushing touchdownsNick Wilson RB16 TD
Receiving yardsCayleb Jones WR1,019 yds
Receiving touchdownsCayleb Jones WR9 TD
InterceptionsJourdon Grandon 3 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Cam Denson CB★★★★No. 154
Marquis Ware OLB★★★★No. 192
Jamardre Cobb OLB★★★★No. 203
Nick Wilson RB★★★★No. 245
Jordan Poland OT★★★★No. 337

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks12.00.767
Running backs23.50.879
Receivers32.70.806
Offensive line43.00.836
Defensive line13.00.880
Linebackers33.30.848
Defensive backs33.30.855
Athletes and specialists13.00.805
Whole class183.10.838

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 121

The 2014 roster

121 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 29 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Pac-12

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Pac-12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon8–⁠113–⁠22
Arizona7–⁠210–⁠419
Arizona State6–⁠310–⁠312
UCLA6–⁠310–⁠310
USC6–⁠39–⁠420
Utah5–⁠49–⁠421
Stanford5–⁠48–⁠5
Washington4–⁠58–⁠6
California3–⁠65–⁠7
Oregon State2–⁠75–⁠7
Washington State2–⁠73–⁠9
Colorado0–⁠92–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.