Arizona was back at it today getting ready for UCLA on Saturday night here in Tucson. As you could expect a lot of the talk centered around quarterback Khalil Tate and his record-setting performance against Colorado. Tuesday brought a chance to talk to several different figures within UA's program and it gave a better glimpse into things and certainly gave some validity to what most of us have known about the situation.
Here are today's practice quick notes.
* We'll start with the man of the hour and it's actually been funny I've requested to interview him quite a bit but he has lifting right after Tuesday practices so I haven't been able to get him since I didn't want to change his schedule. However, now that Tate is the starter (albeit not officially named that yet) there will be special arrangements for him to speak tomorrow rather than Tuesday, which is the usual day for offensive players and coaches to talk with the media.
One thing I had on my mind is what Arizona's coaches think Tate's best quality is right now at this point in his development. His elusiveness stands out to me so I asked both Rich Rodriguez and quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Rod Smith that question and they each had different responses to my questions: Is Khalil's elusiveness his best quality right now?
Smith: "It's one of 'em. I think his best quality is the fact that he's not afraid of the big stage. He's always said I want to be in that spotlight. I think that's one of his big attributes because he don't fear the big stage."
Rodriguez:
* This is not trying to stir up any controversy or anything like that but to me it was clear speaking with Smith today and based on some of his tweets over the last couple days that he now has the guy on the field who he wants. Obviously he is going to have to defer to his boss on pretty much every decision like that but the he has declined to talk most of the season and today there were no qualms about speaking to us in the media.
Smith gave some good stuff today that I will have more on later this week, but it's pretty clear to me that he's happy with who the team has taking the snaps right now.
"It was good to see him finally break out and play up to what I think is his potential," Smith said. "I've said all along the kid has a boatload and a world of talent and it's good to see things start to click for him hopefully."
I've always sensed and kinda knew, really, Smith had his preference but it is starting to become more visible now and with Tate assuming the bigger role now he can be a bit more open about it.
Here is a tweet from Smith quoting a tweet mentioning Tate as the Rose Bowl Game's Player of the Week.
This was a reply from Smith to Khalil Tate's mom mentioning how happy she is her son chose Arizona
* The other element of this topic that we have all discussed here and I have mentioned I sensed before is that the team seems to be more energized with Tate out on the field for whatever reason. The players aren't going to say they prefer one guy over the other or why, but I spoke with tight end Bryce Wolma and offensive tackle Cody Creason today and they each speak about Tate differently than the other options.
The big difference between the two players, and it's something Jacob Alsadek mentioned earlier in the year, is that Tate will go off script more and improvise where Brandon Dawkins is more by the book. Some of the plays that Tate made Saturday night were against what he was supposed to do, but it worked. That is one reason Dawkins was always going to be the starter. In practice situations the things Tate does don't show up as much because, for one, the team isn't allowed to go full speed with the quarterbacks too often and plays are blown dead and he is technically doing things that are against what Rodriguez wants to see.
However, in games it is that element that seems to energize the players. Both guys I talked to like have that element of surprise within the offense. For Creason he said it makes him and the rest of the offensive line almost better at what they do because they know they have to keep blocking because they're unsure of what Tate will do next.
Wolma had a similar feeling knowing that the game becomes more fun when there is some unpredictability there. He recounted that talking about his favorite play from the game.
"He's just a playmaker," Wolma said. "A couple times during the game we were like 'ewww' and then all the sudden he scores. It's definitely fun to have that element in the game because you never know what's going to happen even with broken plays and stuff like that he has the ability to stretch them into big runs."
* DeAndre' Miller made his return to the field for Arizona last week and the staff is going to keep giving him more to do, but Rodriguez said he was pleased with the first performance of the year for his senior linebacker.
"I think it was good, it looked like it was his first game at times because it was his first game in a long time," Rodriguez said. "But he played hard and our expectation is that he'll keep getting better and better. Everybody tries to improve as the game goes along and he hasn't played in a long time and it was good to get him back in the mix."
* A couple odds and ends for you here to wrap things up. First with the uniforms this week it sounds like it could be a combination we haven't yet seen this season. We know it will be red helmets but based on hearing some things today it sounds like it will be a new combination that hasn't been used yet this year for Saturday's game with UCLA.
And Donovan Tate remains in a red jersey as he practices this week. One change that we'll have to see if it stays permanent is a number change. Tate was sporting No. 3 today, but I'll have to find out if that is a new number or if he is playing Josh Rosen this week for the scout team. Normally, Arizona doesn't have its scout team guys wear the red "no contact" jersey so it could very well be his new number with Cam Denson's retirement.
Here are today's practice quick notes.
* We'll start with the man of the hour and it's actually been funny I've requested to interview him quite a bit but he has lifting right after Tuesday practices so I haven't been able to get him since I didn't want to change his schedule. However, now that Tate is the starter (albeit not officially named that yet) there will be special arrangements for him to speak tomorrow rather than Tuesday, which is the usual day for offensive players and coaches to talk with the media.
One thing I had on my mind is what Arizona's coaches think Tate's best quality is right now at this point in his development. His elusiveness stands out to me so I asked both Rich Rodriguez and quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Rod Smith that question and they each had different responses to my questions: Is Khalil's elusiveness his best quality right now?
Smith: "It's one of 'em. I think his best quality is the fact that he's not afraid of the big stage. He's always said I want to be in that spotlight. I think that's one of his big attributes because he don't fear the big stage."
Rodriguez:
* This is not trying to stir up any controversy or anything like that but to me it was clear speaking with Smith today and based on some of his tweets over the last couple days that he now has the guy on the field who he wants. Obviously he is going to have to defer to his boss on pretty much every decision like that but the he has declined to talk most of the season and today there were no qualms about speaking to us in the media.
Smith gave some good stuff today that I will have more on later this week, but it's pretty clear to me that he's happy with who the team has taking the snaps right now.
"It was good to see him finally break out and play up to what I think is his potential," Smith said. "I've said all along the kid has a boatload and a world of talent and it's good to see things start to click for him hopefully."
I've always sensed and kinda knew, really, Smith had his preference but it is starting to become more visible now and with Tate assuming the bigger role now he can be a bit more open about it.
Here is a tweet from Smith quoting a tweet mentioning Tate as the Rose Bowl Game's Player of the Week.
This was a reply from Smith to Khalil Tate's mom mentioning how happy she is her son chose Arizona
* The other element of this topic that we have all discussed here and I have mentioned I sensed before is that the team seems to be more energized with Tate out on the field for whatever reason. The players aren't going to say they prefer one guy over the other or why, but I spoke with tight end Bryce Wolma and offensive tackle Cody Creason today and they each speak about Tate differently than the other options.
The big difference between the two players, and it's something Jacob Alsadek mentioned earlier in the year, is that Tate will go off script more and improvise where Brandon Dawkins is more by the book. Some of the plays that Tate made Saturday night were against what he was supposed to do, but it worked. That is one reason Dawkins was always going to be the starter. In practice situations the things Tate does don't show up as much because, for one, the team isn't allowed to go full speed with the quarterbacks too often and plays are blown dead and he is technically doing things that are against what Rodriguez wants to see.
However, in games it is that element that seems to energize the players. Both guys I talked to like have that element of surprise within the offense. For Creason he said it makes him and the rest of the offensive line almost better at what they do because they know they have to keep blocking because they're unsure of what Tate will do next.
Wolma had a similar feeling knowing that the game becomes more fun when there is some unpredictability there. He recounted that talking about his favorite play from the game.
"He's just a playmaker," Wolma said. "A couple times during the game we were like 'ewww' and then all the sudden he scores. It's definitely fun to have that element in the game because you never know what's going to happen even with broken plays and stuff like that he has the ability to stretch them into big runs."
* DeAndre' Miller made his return to the field for Arizona last week and the staff is going to keep giving him more to do, but Rodriguez said he was pleased with the first performance of the year for his senior linebacker.
"I think it was good, it looked like it was his first game at times because it was his first game in a long time," Rodriguez said. "But he played hard and our expectation is that he'll keep getting better and better. Everybody tries to improve as the game goes along and he hasn't played in a long time and it was good to get him back in the mix."
* A couple odds and ends for you here to wrap things up. First with the uniforms this week it sounds like it could be a combination we haven't yet seen this season. We know it will be red helmets but based on hearing some things today it sounds like it will be a new combination that hasn't been used yet this year for Saturday's game with UCLA.
And Donovan Tate remains in a red jersey as he practices this week. One change that we'll have to see if it stays permanent is a number change. Tate was sporting No. 3 today, but I'll have to find out if that is a new number or if he is playing Josh Rosen this week for the scout team. Normally, Arizona doesn't have its scout team guys wear the red "no contact" jersey so it could very well be his new number with Cam Denson's retirement.
