Highest Graded Arizona Wildcats Players From Close Loss to Texas Tech
The Arizona Wildcats fought back in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday night, but it was not enough to secure the victory.
Pro Football Focus released their weekly grades for the Big 12 matchup and a couple of new faces popped up at the top for the Wildcats.
Coming in with the highest grade of the day, just barely, was left guard Wendell Moe with a 81.1 grade.
It was a much-needed day for Moe who had seemingly been benched after struggling in the first four games of the year.
Once he entered the game, the redshirt sophomore was shut down. In 28 pass block snaps on the day, he allowed no pressures or hits on the quarterback.
Pass blocking has consistently been his biggest strength, but he also had a nice day in the run game. He's struggled with holding calls this season as a run blocker but was clean in this one.
With an 81.0 grade, just behind Moe, was safety Dalton Johnson. He also had his best game of the season, looking solid in pretty much every aspect.
Johnson had eight tackles on the day, but his biggest play was easily a forced fumble that completely shifted momentum in the second half.
The redshirt junior has been a versatile defender for the past two seasons. He's gotten snaps coming off the edge, traditional linebacker, deep safety, slot corner, and even boundary corner.
That kind of chess piece can be invaluable and he's put up a solid season so far while doing it. The most he's allowed in coverage for a single game this season has been 15 yards.
Heading back to the offensive side of the ball, the third-highest grade also went to a lineman. Starting right guard Alex Doost received a solid 76.6 grade.
Doost, like Moe, got his high grade by being a great pass blocker while also looking solid in the run game.
In 57 pass blocking snaps, he did not allow a single pressure or hit on Noah Fifita. It was a needed bounce-back game for him after he allowed two pressures in the last game.
The 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman, a transfer from Northwestern where he saw no game action, has been a revelation to start his career in Arizona.
Ideally, the Wildcats would have been able to get a little bit more going on offense given such a good performance from the interior of their offensive line.
