Denker settling into rhythm

TUCSON — In Rich Rodriguez’s glossary of coachspeak, there’s one term that gets used more than the rest.

“He needs to be good enough to win with,” Rodriguez will often say when asked about a certain player or position.

Saturday against Utah, quarterback B.J. Denker was good enough to win with.

The senior completed 18 of 30 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown and added 51 yards and two scores on the ground in Arizona’s 35-24 win.

It was just three weeks ago, in a 31-13 loss to Washington, when Denker wasn’t good enough to help his team get a victory. His confidence rattled by the Huskies defense and nasty weather, the Torrance, Calif., native was 14 for 35 for 119 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

But his demeanor — and production — have both improved the last two weeks, especially the past six quarters. His uptick started in the second half of Arizona’s 38-31 loss to USC on Oct. 10. Consider these numbers: In his first 18 quarters, Denker went 61 for 111 for 654 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, which equates to a quarterback rating of 109.7.

Over the last six, Denker is 30 for 53 for 322 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions — a rating of 132.5. The switch has been flipped. “In the second half of the USC game, I saw his confidence grow,” Rodriguez said. “I saw it all week (leading up to Utah), probably for the first time to the level we expected it from our starting quarterback. He’s telling us what to see, he’s telling wide receivers their adjustments, he’s got confidence.

“B.J. is a sharp guy. You can’t forget this is just his seventh game that he’s played in.”

Denker’s statistics aren’t the only benefiting from his increased confidence. Rodriguez said the senior is making good run-pass decisions. He’s being smart about when to hand off the ball to running back Ka’Deem Carey, when to take it himself and when to air it out.

After Saturday’s game, Rodriguez said Denker’s lone bad read came in the first half on a fourth-and-2 from the 2-yard line when the quarterback kept it himself and was sacked, rather than hand it off to Carey, who had a lane.

“I thought B.J. did a nice job with his reads,” Rodriguez said. “That gives us a little bit of balance. Sometimes you’re like ‘what is he doing?’ He’s running around there like Fran Tarkenton. But at least he competes, and I think he’ll get better every week.”

Added Carey of Denker’s performance against the Utes: “I feel like the offense has a great rhythm right now. B.J. had a great game spreading it out, throwing it deep and getting them out of the box a little bit.”

Extra points

Levi Walton, a two-star offensive tackle from Cape Coral, Fla., pledged to UA at breakfast Sunday morning on his official visit.

Walton is listed at 6 feet 6 inches and 275 pounds by the Scout.com recruiting service. He also had offers from Indiana, Ball State, Florida International and others.

He’s the first offensive tackle to commit for the 2014 class.

“I felt at home here,” Walton said Sunday morning before flying back to Florida. “I liked the city and how they backed up their program. All the players took me in and it just felt like a great place.”

» Following his 236 yards on 40 carries against Utah, Carey now leads the nation in rushing yards per game at 161. The next closest is Antonio Andrews from Western Kentucky at 148.

“I felt all 40 carries,” Carey said after the game. “That was fun. The blockers were out there giving me holes and I just took it.