Arizona marked Marrow's return

Partially lost in the University of Toledo's 41-2 season-opening loss to Arizona at the Glass Bowl was the return of Desmond Marrow.

The senior cornerback led the Rockets with nine tackles, including a tackle for a loss, in his first game back after sitting out last season and part of the 2008 campaign with a torn ACL and meniscus in his left knee.

Marrow was considered the defense's MVP for most of preseason practices and showed it Friday night.

"It was a good experience, a good game just to get back out there back on my feet [and] be out there with my teammates," Marrow said. "I tried to do my best to help us win as a team, but unfortunately we came up short."

The Rockets' shortcomings, at least early on, were no fault of the defense.

After allowing Arizona to score on its opening possession, UT kept the Wildcats at bay until a pair of touchdowns late in the second quarter put the game out of reach at halftime.

The Rockets' defense even registered two points with 9:19 left in the second quarter when Arizona was called for holding in the end zone, resulting in a safety.

Meanwhile, UT never got going offensively and the defense eventually succumbed to Arizona's relentless passing attack.

"I thought our offense would have put up points, but things happen," Marrow said. "It's not an offense or defense thing at all. Everybody did something wrong in the game, and we'll see it on the film."

ARIZONA JUGGERNAUT: Arizona junior quarterback Nick Foles completed 32 of 37 passes for 360 yards and an 86.5 completion percentage, the highest ever by a Rocket opponent. The previous best effort was 83.3 percent by Western Michigan's Jay McDonagh on Sept. 14, 1995.

Juron Criner proved to be Foles' favorite target, with the junior receiver registering 11 catches for 187 yards - four more yards than the entire UT offense gained.

"Juron is a guy that commands a lot of coverage, and we have to use that to our benefit," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "He is a spectacular player."

UT coach Tim Beckman said after the game that junior punter Bill Claus has lost his starting job to redshirt freshman walk-on Vince Penza.

Penza entered in relief of Claus after the Perrysburg product's first three punts averaged just 35.7 yards and were not kicked in the direction Beckman wanted them.

Penza boomed a 55-yarder on his first career punt in the second quarter that pinned Arizona on its own 4-yard line and stayed in for the duration of the contest. He averaged 48.4 yards on five punts, with a long of 58 yards, and had three of them downed inside the 20.

"They were neck and neck [in preseason practices], and Bill got the nod to be the starter," Beckman said. "His first two punts weren't exactly where we wanted them, so we put Vince in and I'm proud of the way he [performed]. They'll compete next week, but right now Vince Penza is our starting punter."

With the loss to Arizona, UT has dropped five straight season-openers. The Rockets are also 0-5 all-time against Pac-10 institutions. … The official attendance at the Glass Bowl was 25,907 - the Rockets' largest home crowd since 26,100 fans watched UT lose 52-24 to Purdue on Sept. 1, 2007. … UT junior strong safety Diauntae Morrow, a transfer from Iowa, grabbed his first career interception in the third quarter.

Contact Zach Silka at:

zsilka@theblade.com

or 419-724-6084.