Pac-12 Championship 2014: Game Grades, Analysis for Oregon and Arizona

In most impressive fashion, the University of Oregon Ducks won the Pac-12 Championship Game over the University of Arizona Wildcats by a resounding score of 51-13. 

Signal-caller Marcus Mariota was yet again sensational. The Honolulu native accrued five touchdowns and nearly 350 yards of total offense in three quarters of play. 

The Wildcats had a nightmarish effort on the night. Anu Solomon was pulled at halftime due to his lackluster play. The Wildcats also utilized quarterbacks Jerrard Randall and Jesse Scroggins in the losing effort. Arizona had only 25 yards of total offense in the first half. 

A full box score of the game can be found here, courtesy of NCAA.com. Analysis for both the Wildcats and Ducks can be found below, in addition to game grades for both the first half and the game in its entirety. 

Position Unit	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	B-	A
Pass Defense	A	A-
Run Offense	A	A
Rush Defense	A+	B+
Special Teams	B	B+
Coaching	A	A

Oregon Ducks Game Analysis

Passing Offense

Mariota got off to a slow start early in the contest. His accuracy was not where it usually is. He finished with about a 50-percent completion mark after the first half. However, he found his stride—and a connection with Darren Carrington. 

The wide receiver out of San Diego had a career-high seven catches for 126 yards and a touchdown. Mariota was also helped by freshman Charles Nelson. The speedster out of Florida had a huge 73-yard catch in the first half. Mariota began to get into a rhythm and ended up with two touchdown throws and 313 yards passing in three quarters of play. 

Pass Defense

The secondary did a terrific job of blanketing perhaps the deepest and most talented group of receivers in the entire conference. On the night, the three Arizona quarterbacks were held to 9-of-26 for 113 yards and a touchdown. Sixty-nine of the 113 yards came on one play. 

Erick Dargan was his usual opportunistic self, as he read the play well and intercepted reserve quarterback Scroggins. Outside of the busted coverage on the 69-yard touchdown throw to Cayleb Jones, the unit played exceptionally well. 

Rushing Offense

True freshman Royce Freeman operated like a grown man Friday night. He led the Ducks with 114 yards on 21 carries. Much of his yardage came after contact. And, at times, he downright ran over Arizona defenders. 

As a team, Oregon rushed for 301 yards and four touchdowns on 54 carries. Mariota ran for three touchdowns on the ground, and the Ducks got good production from both Nelson and Byron Marshall. As the game progressed, it became readily apparent that Arizona's front seven was wearing out. Credit Oregon's offensive line for winning the battle at the line of scrimmage. 

Run Defense

For most of the night, the Oregon defensive front seven took it to Arizona. The Ducks were getting off blocks extremely well—making countless plays in the backfield. The unit did a terrific job of bottling up Nick Wilson and held him to only 26 yards on 13 carries. 

Much of Arizona's success on the ground came when the game was completely out of hand. Rich Rodriguez inserted Randall late in the game. The athletic quarterback picked up 81 yards on 10 carries. These numbers were deceiving, as they came against Oregon's reserves. 

On the night, Oregon held Arizona to only 111 yards on 35 carries. 

Special Teams

It was a mixed bag of sorts for the special teams unit. As Oregon's season progresses, it will have to clean up issues in this area. 

The Ducks were penalized multiple times on special teams. Kicker Aidan Schneider also missed a very makable field-goal attempt. However, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu did force a fumble on a kickoff in the first quarter, which was converted into three points. Johnathan Loyd again looked dangerous on punt returns. 

Coaching

The play-calling in the first half wasn't great, especially as the Ducks got into the red zone. However, Oregon became less tentative and more aggressive as the game went on. 

Defensively, it was by far the most dominant effort of the year. Oregon completely shut down an offense averaging 34.8 points a game. Arizona got nothing on the ground and wasn't able to get into any semblance of a rhythm—in large part to the overall relentlessness of the Oregon defense. 

Also credit the staff for getting the team ready to play—considering Oregon had one fewer day to prepare when compared to Arizona. It was a dominating performance and one which propels the Ducks forward with a viable shot at winning a national championship. 

Position Units	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	D	D
Pass Defense	B	C
Rushing Offense	F	D
Run Defense	C-	D
Special Teams	D	C
Coaching	D	D

Arizona Wildcats Game Analysis 

Passing Offense

It was a nightmare game for the passing attack. Solomon seemingly never could get his footing while throwing the football. He averaged fewer than six yards per completion before getting pulled at halftime. 

Scroggins did find Jones on the long touchdown throw, but that was the only bright spot throwing the football on the evening for Arizona. It seemingly couldn't get its playmakers any space. Samajie Grant and DaVonte' Neal combined for two catches for only seven yards. 

The three quarterbacks threw for only 113 yards on nine completions. Sixty-nine of the 113 yards came on a busted coverage in the Oregon secondary. 

Pass Defense

The unit truthfully didn't play poorly. Especially in the first half, it covered Oregon receivers quite well. The biggest issue was not making plays on the ball. There were multiple times in which Arizona defensive backs were draped all over Oregon receivers—and the receiver was the one making the play. 

Two blown assignments enabled big gains to Carrington (46 yards) and Nelson (73 yards). Although the secondary relinquished 326 passing yards, it played better than the numbers indicated. 

Rushing Offense

Here's a startling stat: Arizona had -9 rushing yards at halftime. On the season, the Wildcats average about 190 yards a game on the ground. Simply put, the offensive line wasn't able to get any sort of push up front. Oregon's long and active defensive ends crashed down and clogged lanes effectively. 

Wilson finished with only 26 yards on 13 carries. He seemingly never got into any rhythm while toting the rock. Arizona's best answer on the ground came in the form of Randall. The athletic signal-caller led the team with 81 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. Almost all of the yardage came on quarterback-designed runs. 

Run Defense

The defensive line couldn't get much pressure on the star Oregon signal-caller. Defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel tried to get creative with some blitzes, but nothing seemed to work.

Oregon gashed the smallish defensive front for 301 yards on 54 carries. Tackling was also an issue, as Freeman broke multiple attempts en route to a 114-yard performance. The unit did a satisfactory job on Mariota, holding him to 33 yards on 10 carries. 

Special Teams

A first-quarter fumble on a kickoff by Tyrell Johnson not only gifted Oregon a field goal, but it also became an ominous sign of things to come in Friday night's game. 

Drew Riggleman unleashed nine punts in the contest. His 45.3 yard average is very good. Despite his solid numbers, Arizona, in a perfect world, would likely not want him punting that frequently. Kicker Casey Skowron had a quiet night, converting on one extra-point attempt. 

Coaching

Things snowballed out of control early for Rodriguez and his staff. Offensively, the group was completely inept. After Arizona's opening drive, the Wildcats went three-and-out on six straight possessions. On those six drives, Arizona accrued -2 yards. 

After the first half, Oregon had 382 yards of total offense. Arizona had only 25. This truly tells the story about how the game went. 

Using three quarterbacks in one game isn't ideal by any stretch. Unsurprisingly, none of the signal-callers were able to get comfortable. The most effective bit of offense came from Randall's quarterback draws and sprints. 

Defensively, the front seven got minimal pressure on Mariota. He was afforded the time to sit in the pocket and make plays down the field. 

To make matters worse, Arizona also had an extra day to prepare for the Ducks. It didn't appear as if the extra time did it any good.