All season long, Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez had expressed dissatisfaction with the Wildcats’ special teams. The units hadn’t played poorly, but they hadn’t performed as well as Rodriguez thought they could.
Against UCLA on Saturday night, UA's special teams took a significant and costly step backward. The kickoff and punting units struggled on a night when Arizona needed them to be great.
The Wildcats allowed three returns of 33 or more yards in their 45-24 loss to the Bruins at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Arizona had a 12-yard deficit in average starting field position. The Wildcats might have been able to overcome that disadvantage with a healthy Brandon Dawkins and Nick Wilson.