Stanley Berryhill says Arizona Wildcats are using criticism as fuel for Pac-12 game

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It was another big night for wide receiver Stanley Berryhill III last Saturday, catching 11 passes for 94 yards. It was the second time this season he’s had 10 or more receptions, the first Arizona player to do so since Austin Hill in 2012.

But like his 12 catch, 102 yard performance in Game 1 of the season against BYU, it ended in a loss, effectively making it meaningless in his mind.

I don’t really think about individual stats or goals, Berryhill said on Tuesday. If I don’t win a game, I’m just trying to focus on what more I can do to help our team improve, whether that’s knowing the game calls for better, knowing what everyone else is doing. must do in case someone else needs help on the pitch or just meeting coaches and the like. I don’t try to focus too much on the individual goals and the accolades that I have achieved so far this season. I’m just trying to focus on the best I can do to help someone.

The Arizonas’ 0-3 start and a 15-game aggregate losing streak overshadowed a formidable start to 2021 for Berryhill, who was also the primary UA receiver in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. He has 28 receptions, the fourth biggest in FBS, and is set to break the school’s 93 in one-season mark set by Bobby Wade in 2002.

Like everyone else connected to the UA program, Berryhill was quite disheartened following the 21-19 home loss to NAU. Later that evening, after leaving the football stadium, the fifth-year junior took to Twitter to share his state of mind. His post, Just keep your head down and go whenever you have the chance, everything will be fine, had received over 300 likes on Tuesday afternoon.

He also received a fair number of responses, almost all of them positive. The same can’t be said of fan tweets and reviews about the state of the program after losing to an FCS school.

They say never read the comments section, but Berryhill thinks otherwise.

I read what everyone has to say about us and our coaches and stuff, he said. I just use it to feed us. Some people might not be able to take it. I know the people who tweet these things or talk bad about us, they’re not here with us so they don’t know what’s going on. They haven’t come every day since January to try to change a program. I read it, just to see what people have to say, but it doesn’t really affect me because they don’t know. They don’t know what they’re talking about most of the time, and they couldn’t survive a day working and doing what we have to do. I have confidence in my team and my coaches and I know that no matter what people say it was going to stay strong and keep pushing.

Berryhill said he understands the frustration of the fans, no one wants to lose three games in a row, no one wants to lose at all, but he doesn’t consider this season to be lost, not with the start of the Pac-12 game.

Now we were playing for something bigger, he said. If we could win these games, we could change the season.

If Berryhill continues to post numbers like he has, it could not only translate into wins for Arizona, but also a chance at a national award for him. The Bulsworth Trophy is awarded annually to the best FBS player who started his career as a walk-on, which Berryhill did before receiving a scholarship in 2018.

Three receivers have won the award since its inception in 2010, most recently Clemsons Hunter Renfrow in 2018.

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