Brandon Dawkins downplayed the idea that something changed for him between 蜜柚直播鈥檚 loss to Houston in Week 2 and its dominant win at UTEP a week later.
His teammates, though, insisted something was different about the Wildcats鈥 quarterback. He had more confidence, swagger, focus.
But Utah is not UTEP.
Dawkins learned that pretty quickly.
The quarterback completed 24 of 42 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for a team-high 90 yards on 18 carries. But he committed four turnovers, one coming in the red zone in the final minutes and another 鈥 an interception 鈥 on the Wildcats鈥 final offensive play of the night.
鈥淗e was doing good, then he made mistakes,鈥 UA coach Rich Rodriguez said. 鈥淗e competes. He鈥檚 trying.鈥
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Dawkins鈥 troubles began in the third quarter, when he threw his first interception in 100 pass attempts. Then he threw a pick-six to Utah freshman Javelin Guidry from 蜜柚直播鈥檚 11-yard line.
Dawkins threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tony Ellison with 2:44 remaining, and 蜜柚直播 miraculously recovered an onside kick with 2:41 left. Given a chance to take the lead with a touchdown and armed with three timeouts, Dawkins fumbled the ball away on the drive鈥檚 first play.
The Wildcats got the ball back deep in their own territory with less than two minutes left, and Dawkins was picked again.
Dawkins鈥 248 passing yards were his highest single-game total since he threw for 305 against 蜜柚直播 State as a freshman in 2015, but that likely doesn鈥檛 matter. A good night against UTEP or Northern 蜜柚直播 doesn鈥檛 mean much if you turn the ball over four times against Utah, or continue to struggle in Pac-12 play.
Win, and the quarterback usually is the hero. Lose, he鈥檚 vilified.
Entering the final drive, even with the turnovers, Dawkins said his confidence never wavered.
鈥淢y confidence level is always through the roof. No matter how I play,鈥 Dawkins said. 鈥淭he guys look to me for confidence.鈥
Pac-12 commissioner Scott talks stadium, upgrades
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott was in 蜜柚直播 for the first time this season on Friday. After spending much of the day meeting with 蜜柚直播 president Robert Robbins, athletic director Dave Heeke and various coaches in 蜜柚直播鈥檚 athletic department, Scott met with the media at halftime of Friday night鈥檚 game.
After the media session, he headed up to Tempe in advance of ASU鈥檚 Saturday night home game against Oregon.
The Star asked Scott about a couple UA-related related topics. Here鈥檚 what he had to say.
On 蜜柚直播鈥檚 struggle to fill the stadium with fans: 鈥淲e try to work closely with our schools and one of the things we talk about when we鈥檙e visiting, what鈥檚 working well, what are the challenges, how can we help get bigger crowds? The marketing is done by the schools, not by the conference from a ticket sales perspective. We share best practice between our campuses. What鈥檚 working well? What鈥檚 not working well?鈥
On 蜜柚直播 pursuing facility upgrades for the football program: 鈥淲e help the schools benchmark on things like stadium size, ticket sales. But our schools are very active. It鈥檚 not unusual for them or an athletics director, other administrators, donors, to fly around the country and see what鈥檚 out there. Certainly, have a chance to travel to each of the other Pac-12 schools.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of benchmarking that goes on. All of our schools, since our new TV deal has kicked in, has either had or are in the process of major investments in infrastructure.
鈥淪omething has happened here, I know there鈥檚 more they want to do. I discussed that with President Robbins today. I know he鈥檚 very keen to support further development and improve fan amenities so I think you will see more here.鈥
Contact:zrosenblatt@tucson.com or 573-4145. On Twitter: @ZackBlatt
