Recruiting never stops and at the ends of seasons the movement within rosters doesn’t either. When it comes to Arizona basketball and football that is where things stand as recruiting season gets going in the next couple weeks. Here is the latest look at Arizona and all the notable topics this week in the War Room.
Football
Arizona is a little over a week removed from spring practice and now is making the transition to the rest of the offseason program. Coaches will focus on recruiting for the most part until the summer when they can work with players more albeit without a ball. Still, it is a transition phase for the team coming out of spring practice.
* This time of year is also the time for some logistical things to take place and Monday the latest future game was announced for the Wildcats with FCS team North Dakota State. The Wildcats will host the Bison on Sept. 17 in 2022. NDSU has wins over its last six FBS opponents going back to 2010. Oregon will get the Bison before Arizona as the Ducks will host NDSU in 2020 and Colorado will get them in 2024.
With the announcement Monday the Wildcats now have their 2022 nonconference schedule set with a trip to San Diego State to open the season followed by a home game on Sept. 10 against Mississippi State. As of now the only schedule not completed through 2022 is the 2021 season. In that season so far the Wildcats will play BYU in Las Vegas to open the season and then host San Diego State the next weekend. A third game has not been determined for that year.
In 2018 the Wildcats will open the season with a home game against BYU before traveling to Houston and then returning home to play Southern Utah. In 2019, UA will open the season on the road in Honolulu to take on Hawaii. Home games against NAU and Texas Tech will follow with a potential bye week in there as well. Because UA will travel to Hawaii it will have the option to add a 13th game that season or take the extra bye.
The 2020 season will have Hawaii back in Tucson to open the year followed by a home game against Portland State and then a trip to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech.
Overall, Arizona will play an FCS opponent in each of the next four seasons.
* Some more scheduling news for Arizona recently took place with the UTEP game later this year being moved up a day to Friday night on Sept. 15. The game will be televised by ESPN and is set for a 7:15 p.m. MST kickoff time. Moving the game up a day will give the Wildcats a chance to have a full week of practice before opening up Pac-12 play the following Friday night against Utah.
The rest of the kickoff times will be announced in the summer and if they are not they will be subject to the 12-day or six-day window during the season.
* Now that spring practice is over it is a good time to take a look back at each position group and examine where things stand coming out of spring ball. Although we’ve talked about this group quite a bit already we will start things off in this series with the quarterbacks. Much of how good Arizona can be each season will depend on the quarterback position and this season UA has some clear cut options that it will lean on. Because of the departure of Anu Solomon for his final year that he will play at Baylor, UA is left with two true options to earn the job as Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate will have the edge on any returners or newcomers.
It was an important spring for both players and Arizona needed both to make improvements coming off the first real action for Dawkins and Tate. Dawkins has more years in the program, but he never truly was able to get much experience on the field. That changed in 2016 as he was the starter for a good portion of the season. When he had to deal with a couple different injuries Tate stepped in as a true freshman, who was just 17 years old at the time, and did what he could considering the circumstances.
Now looking forward it will come down to a battle between those two for the starting job once things pick back up in August.
- What went well: We’ll start with Dawkins and what part of his game went to the next level in the spring. The now redshirt junior is making the next transition in his career. The 2016 season was a lot like a freshman season in a lot of ways for the California native. It was his first chance to play in multiple games and to start those games. All his previous experience came as a reserve. That meant a chance for him to game plan as a starter and practice during the week with the first unit. What this spring did was bring some cohesion to the first unit. Dawkins knew - for the most part - which receivers he would be working with and the receivers knew which quarterback they would be working with. It made for more trust and a better level of comfortability between Dawkins and his receivers. Because there was no live tackling of the quarterbacks in spring that forced the 15 practices to be more about his passing, which was a positive. It has become less about technique for Dawkins at this stage in his career and more about working with what he has to be more efficient. Timing was a big aspect of the spring and being able to throw to a spot rather than a player was much of what quarterbacks coach Rod Smith had Dawkins working on. The improvement was there and consistency started to come throughout spring ball. In addition to finding a nice rhythm and consistency his leadership went to a new level. It was clear he was more comfortable as a leader and was starting to bring the type of respect from the team that he has been working for.
For Tate the spring was largely about one word - patience. After being thrown into the fire right away as a freshman the spring was a chance for the now sophomore to take a step back and catch his breath from what was a bit of a whirlwind season. Arizona had to catch Tate up in a hurry in 2016 and that meant not being able to work as much of the playbook as it wanted. Still, his natural abilities to keep plays alive and turn broken plays into gains with his feet was special. The spring meant honing some of the other parts of his skill set and a lot of it was what was going on upstairs. Reading defenses better and understanding the offensive concepts were just as important as continuing to tighten up his technique. Tate improved in all those areas and where he looked most evolved was with his composure in the pocket. There wasn’t as much of a quick decision to run as there was during the season and it allowed him to go through his progressions more and work for the best play. Like Dawkins, his leadership also took a big jump and from players to coaches it was clear he had improved in that area and has become more confident in that role.
- What needs work: It’s clear what needs work from both quarterbacks as the passing game for Arizona last season was not what it had been in previous years. Yes, Rodriguez’s system is predicated quite a bit on the run, but there were games where the Wildcats had to go completely away from passing the ball because of the Dawkins’ and Tate’s running abilities being so much more effective. Getting back to passing the ball with more regularity is the goal and that was a big part of what spring ball was about.
Neither player is perfect and making all the throws consistently enough yet, but there is still a summer and August camp to go. For Tate is simply about understanding the concepts and reading the defenses quicker and better. He has the arm strength to make all the throws as he continues to work on being more accurate. For Dawkins, his throwing motion is what it is so it will be about continuing to work on the timing aspects that the staff focused on with him. He is still going to make some errant passes, but if he can up the efficiency and bump up his completion percentage he provides the knowledge of the playbook Arizona’s staff is looking for.
- More competition?: As of this point it is hard to imagine any of the other quarterbacks coming in taking either of the current scholarship quarterbacks’ jobs. Rhett Rodriguez will undoubtedly have the best grasp of the playbook, but his skill set is not where the others are at this stage. K’Hari Lane is going to have to get in better shape before he can truly start to make his move and it will be difficult to surpass either Tate or Dawkins right away. Stranger things have happened, but for now it will either be Dawkins or Tate making the starts this season.
- Final word: The jump in progress is not what most fans would have liked, but it was visible when we were able to watch practice. Dawkins was most consistent and that is important to the coaches, but Tate clearly has the bigger upside if he can get everything honed in. The final practice through things for a loop just a bit, but if you take that as anomaly of spring ball Dawkins is the projected starter even though he didn’t have as good of a day as Tate. The sophomore is going to make it a competition all the way up until the season and if he can go through all of August camp like he did two Fridays ago he could have his best shot to be the permanent starter.
Football
Arizona is a little over a week removed from spring practice and now is making the transition to the rest of the offseason program. Coaches will focus on recruiting for the most part until the summer when they can work with players more albeit without a ball. Still, it is a transition phase for the team coming out of spring practice.
* This time of year is also the time for some logistical things to take place and Monday the latest future game was announced for the Wildcats with FCS team North Dakota State. The Wildcats will host the Bison on Sept. 17 in 2022. NDSU has wins over its last six FBS opponents going back to 2010. Oregon will get the Bison before Arizona as the Ducks will host NDSU in 2020 and Colorado will get them in 2024.
With the announcement Monday the Wildcats now have their 2022 nonconference schedule set with a trip to San Diego State to open the season followed by a home game on Sept. 10 against Mississippi State. As of now the only schedule not completed through 2022 is the 2021 season. In that season so far the Wildcats will play BYU in Las Vegas to open the season and then host San Diego State the next weekend. A third game has not been determined for that year.
In 2018 the Wildcats will open the season with a home game against BYU before traveling to Houston and then returning home to play Southern Utah. In 2019, UA will open the season on the road in Honolulu to take on Hawaii. Home games against NAU and Texas Tech will follow with a potential bye week in there as well. Because UA will travel to Hawaii it will have the option to add a 13th game that season or take the extra bye.
The 2020 season will have Hawaii back in Tucson to open the year followed by a home game against Portland State and then a trip to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech.
Overall, Arizona will play an FCS opponent in each of the next four seasons.
* Some more scheduling news for Arizona recently took place with the UTEP game later this year being moved up a day to Friday night on Sept. 15. The game will be televised by ESPN and is set for a 7:15 p.m. MST kickoff time. Moving the game up a day will give the Wildcats a chance to have a full week of practice before opening up Pac-12 play the following Friday night against Utah.
The rest of the kickoff times will be announced in the summer and if they are not they will be subject to the 12-day or six-day window during the season.
* Now that spring practice is over it is a good time to take a look back at each position group and examine where things stand coming out of spring ball. Although we’ve talked about this group quite a bit already we will start things off in this series with the quarterbacks. Much of how good Arizona can be each season will depend on the quarterback position and this season UA has some clear cut options that it will lean on. Because of the departure of Anu Solomon for his final year that he will play at Baylor, UA is left with two true options to earn the job as Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate will have the edge on any returners or newcomers.
It was an important spring for both players and Arizona needed both to make improvements coming off the first real action for Dawkins and Tate. Dawkins has more years in the program, but he never truly was able to get much experience on the field. That changed in 2016 as he was the starter for a good portion of the season. When he had to deal with a couple different injuries Tate stepped in as a true freshman, who was just 17 years old at the time, and did what he could considering the circumstances.
Now looking forward it will come down to a battle between those two for the starting job once things pick back up in August.
- What went well: We’ll start with Dawkins and what part of his game went to the next level in the spring. The now redshirt junior is making the next transition in his career. The 2016 season was a lot like a freshman season in a lot of ways for the California native. It was his first chance to play in multiple games and to start those games. All his previous experience came as a reserve. That meant a chance for him to game plan as a starter and practice during the week with the first unit. What this spring did was bring some cohesion to the first unit. Dawkins knew - for the most part - which receivers he would be working with and the receivers knew which quarterback they would be working with. It made for more trust and a better level of comfortability between Dawkins and his receivers. Because there was no live tackling of the quarterbacks in spring that forced the 15 practices to be more about his passing, which was a positive. It has become less about technique for Dawkins at this stage in his career and more about working with what he has to be more efficient. Timing was a big aspect of the spring and being able to throw to a spot rather than a player was much of what quarterbacks coach Rod Smith had Dawkins working on. The improvement was there and consistency started to come throughout spring ball. In addition to finding a nice rhythm and consistency his leadership went to a new level. It was clear he was more comfortable as a leader and was starting to bring the type of respect from the team that he has been working for.
For Tate the spring was largely about one word - patience. After being thrown into the fire right away as a freshman the spring was a chance for the now sophomore to take a step back and catch his breath from what was a bit of a whirlwind season. Arizona had to catch Tate up in a hurry in 2016 and that meant not being able to work as much of the playbook as it wanted. Still, his natural abilities to keep plays alive and turn broken plays into gains with his feet was special. The spring meant honing some of the other parts of his skill set and a lot of it was what was going on upstairs. Reading defenses better and understanding the offensive concepts were just as important as continuing to tighten up his technique. Tate improved in all those areas and where he looked most evolved was with his composure in the pocket. There wasn’t as much of a quick decision to run as there was during the season and it allowed him to go through his progressions more and work for the best play. Like Dawkins, his leadership also took a big jump and from players to coaches it was clear he had improved in that area and has become more confident in that role.
- What needs work: It’s clear what needs work from both quarterbacks as the passing game for Arizona last season was not what it had been in previous years. Yes, Rodriguez’s system is predicated quite a bit on the run, but there were games where the Wildcats had to go completely away from passing the ball because of the Dawkins’ and Tate’s running abilities being so much more effective. Getting back to passing the ball with more regularity is the goal and that was a big part of what spring ball was about.
Neither player is perfect and making all the throws consistently enough yet, but there is still a summer and August camp to go. For Tate is simply about understanding the concepts and reading the defenses quicker and better. He has the arm strength to make all the throws as he continues to work on being more accurate. For Dawkins, his throwing motion is what it is so it will be about continuing to work on the timing aspects that the staff focused on with him. He is still going to make some errant passes, but if he can up the efficiency and bump up his completion percentage he provides the knowledge of the playbook Arizona’s staff is looking for.
- More competition?: As of this point it is hard to imagine any of the other quarterbacks coming in taking either of the current scholarship quarterbacks’ jobs. Rhett Rodriguez will undoubtedly have the best grasp of the playbook, but his skill set is not where the others are at this stage. K’Hari Lane is going to have to get in better shape before he can truly start to make his move and it will be difficult to surpass either Tate or Dawkins right away. Stranger things have happened, but for now it will either be Dawkins or Tate making the starts this season.
- Final word: The jump in progress is not what most fans would have liked, but it was visible when we were able to watch practice. Dawkins was most consistent and that is important to the coaches, but Tate clearly has the bigger upside if he can get everything honed in. The final practice through things for a loop just a bit, but if you take that as anomaly of spring ball Dawkins is the projected starter even though he didn’t have as good of a day as Tate. The sophomore is going to make it a competition all the way up until the season and if he can go through all of August camp like he did two Fridays ago he could have his best shot to be the permanent starter.
