Arizona hit the field inside Arizona Stadium Sunday night for the first true scrimmage of camp. The team has had live tackling periods in practice, but it has yet to have a full-scale scrimmage like it did Sunday. Jedd Fisch was able to get a good amount of people in the stands by promoting the event as he wanted to try and give the players as much of a game-like feeling as possible. Things are starting to ramp up for the Wildcats, which have the day off Monday, heading into the final week of training camp. The team will have three practices this week followed by a scrimmage Saturday before moving into the official preparations for the season opener against BYU.
Here's a rundown of what I observed Sunday night plus some notes after watching the team's latest practice.
Three observations
Two comments
Here's a rundown of what I observed Sunday night plus some notes after watching the team's latest practice.
Three observations
- The running back unit is as deep as Arizona has had
Arizona having a deep running back unit is nothing new. It has been the position with the most depth for quite some time. However, this year might top every other year over the last decade (my time covering the team) in terms of its depth. There are options throughout the room that could feasibly contribute this year. At this point freshman James Bohls is the only one who doesn't look quite ready enough to see the field this season, which is surprising since he is physically the best looking of the group. However, everyone else at the position could end up getting on the field in some capacity. Sunday night it was converted receiver and walk-on Jashon Butler who had the most productive showing. He had two of the most explosive plays including a rush that took him from one side of the field to the other with many forced missed tackles on the way to there. Jalen John and Bam Smith both had short rushing scores as well. It was a light night of work for the top three of the group as Michael Wiley, Drake Anderson and Stevie Rocker Jr. were only used sparingly. However, there wasn't a noticeable drop off in production. It's a great sign for the Wildcats who look to be ready to involve that position quite a bit to set up play action plays.
- Explosive plays are starting to become more frequent
Butler's big runs were only a couple of the highlight plays in the scrimmage on both sides of the ball. It didn't take long for the Wildcats to have a big hitter as quarterback Gunner Cruz hit Stanley Berryhill III on a crossing route that the UA receiver then took 62 yards for a touchdown up the sideline after beating nickel back Malik Hausman. Two running plays set up the play action call that worked perfectly. Freshman receiver Anthony Simpson showed his ability to adjust his body on a deep ball from quarterback Jordan McCloud in the corner of the end zone. Linebacker Issaiah Johnson came up with a nice pass breakup on a ball in the flat that went to tight end Zach Williams. Johnson put his helmet right on the ball to force an incompletion that could have very easily been called a fumble. Safety Gunner Maldonado had more of an opportunity to see the field Sunday night and he made a big hit on a receiver along the sideline. Overall, the Wildcats have not had a ton of explosive plays, especially offensively, but that started to take a turn Sunday night.
- Jalen Harris continues strong camp performance
If there is an MVP of training camp on the defensive side of the ball up to this point it is veteran defensive end Jalen Harris. The big pass rusher has finally settled into a role that will allow him to have success, and Sunday night he proved again that he is at a key point in his development. So much of Harris' career has been about building up his potential into something tangible that can show up on the field. He made strides last season as someone who had to play a variety of roles for the defense, but this year his job has been made simple. He simply has to get in the backfield and be disruptive at the line of scrimmage. His potential has started to be realized during training camp, and that continued Sunday as he was the top player for the defense on a night where many of his running mates were watching from the sidelines with injuries. He was in the backfield a couple times Sunday including picking up one sack. Harris could end up as the top player for the defense this season as it appears all the pieces of his game have finally lined up.
Two comments
- Injuries up front not concerning to Fisch
One reason Harris needed to stand out Sunday was because there were many players missing from the defensive line. Trevon Mason and Kyon Barrs are going to start yet they have not been healthy for a big portion of camp. JB Brown has been away for the birth of his child keeping him out of the loop for the last few days. Safety Jaxen Turner, another projected starter, was also out for Sunday's scrimmage and simply watched from the sidelines. Those are all key pieces of the defense making for an unsettled group up front. It's not just that group of starters, however. Defensive linemen Parish Shand, Dion Wilson Jr. and Eddie Siaumau-Sanitoa are all banged up right now as well. All three were on the rise and starting to have bigger roles when they went down. All three are likely to be the top backups at their respective positions this season. Throw into that linebacker Jabar Triplett still working his way back from offseason surgery and freshman DJ Fryar now banged up as well and you have a bit of a situation defensively. However, Fisch is not panicking about all the injuries. He said Sunday that the expectation is to have most of the injured starters back by the end of the week and he expects all of them to be in the clear by the start of the season. He didn't exactly sound 100% confident in that, but for now he is not expressing any concern over the wave of injuries up front.
- Arizona makes mid-camp additions
Even before the scrimmage began Sunday there was some news to break. Central Michigan defensive lineman Mo Diallo officially joined the roster after several months of being a bit in limbo. If you remember back in the spring defensive coordinator Don Brown mentioned a defensive lineman the Wildcats had in the works. Well, Diallo is that guy. The reason for the delay is that he had a family situation that required him to have a job over the summer to help support his family. There were also some things that had to be figured out with his transfer since he would be playing for another school after initially transferring to CMU from Texas A&M. Diallo, who is Canadian, played at Arizona Western in Yuma before committing to Oregon. He ultimately backed off that commitment and flipped to Texas A&M. After not seeing the field much with the Aggies he left to CMU in 2019. He was named an All-MAC selection last year after recording 19 tackles (9 solo) to go with three sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss. He's going to play this season as soon as he can catch up, but he will certainly add some depth up front with his size. He looks to be in really good shape and carry his weight well, so I don't imagine he will have too much of an issue getting in game shape.
Tight end Carson Cota committed to Arizona back in April as he picked the Wildcats over a preferred walk-on offer at his dad's alma mater, Oregon. His brother Chase is a former four-star recruit who is now a receiver at UCLA and having a strong career so far. Jimmie Dougherty coached Chase with the Bruins, so there is a connection to the family through that relationship. It helped UA ultimately land the big tight end who was also at practice Sunday night now that he is cleared. Cota is expected to be a blueshirt player for UA meaning his scholarship could not come earlier than right now otherwise he would count against the limit for 2021. Coming in late will give the Wildcats an opportunity to count him forward to the 2022 class despite playing this season. Assuming he can catch up at this point in camp he will have a chance to be part of the mix at tight end right away.
Ma'jon Wright is the third roster addition the staff made Sunday. The receiver from Florida had a standout season with the Wildcats in 2020 but ultimately decided to leave the program in the offseason. He ended up enrolling at and practicing with Middle Tennessee State for a bit before deciding he wanted to return to UA. By that time he had used his one-time transfer that would allow him to not have to sit out, so his process has now been reset. Because he left the program and started practicing at another school he will have to sit out games this season. Though he will not be available to play, Fisch says, Wright will begin practicing with the team soon while he takes a redshirt year in 2021.
