Arizona is continuing to put in some work this week as it kicks its preparation for Colorado into overdrive coming off the bye week. There is a little more pep in the team's step this week from the looks of it as the bye week proved to be more time for reflection.
Here are today's quick notes after Tuesday's practice.
* For the uniform enthusiasts out there, Arizona went with the matte blue helmets today so I would expect those to be the ones that get used on Saturday. Colorado has already announced it plans on using a white-black-white combination for the home game up in Boulder.
* Arizona is rolling with more quarterback in the red "no-contact" jerseys now. I didn't catch a glimpse of Rhett Rodriguez but Donovan Tate was in a red jersey this week. Previously it had mainly been just the top two players wearing red. Khalil Tate was in an upbeat mood after practice today and while he didn't speak with the media he physically had a little more bounce in him than I had seen in previous weeks. He looks more healthy right now based on body language.
* I asked Rich Rodriguez if the open date gave the team a chance to add some new things into the game plan and he said it did but he didn't want to go overboard with it and overload his team going into the rest of the season. There will be some different looks out there Saturday and even Shun Brown hinted that on offense there are some new things in the works for the game.
"Yeah it does, on both sides," Rodriguez said about the bye week giving the staff an opportunity to add some new elements into the game plan. "You gotta be careful not to add too much with a lot of young guys playing, and as coaches sometimes we have too much time to add too much stuff. So, We'll probably dial back a little bit the next couple days."
* Now that he has the path cleared for his indoor facility that will be coming next year I asked Rodriguez what is next on his list in terms of facilities or improvements. He didn't go into it too much, but he has often said he has a long list of items. What he did give up is that he has some plans for Bear Down Field, which right now is used as a multipurpose field and sits behind the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility. During practice hours Arizona's specialists will use it to kick and punt on but outside of that Rodriguez feels his program could use it for more than what it does now. He didn't go into more detail than that, but judging by how things are going it will likely be something that has a more recruiting focus to it. I know there is a more outside-the-box idea for inside the stadium that would likely go over well but that is still just a thought at this stage, but I have not heard much on his this specific plan as of now.
"I have a big list, it actually could take up three pages," he said. "The indoor is at the top of it, but I have eyes on a really nice patch of green turf right next to us that doesn't really get used a whole lot. I have a whole lot of ideas for that thing. As a lot of you guys know, the guys who are here all the time, there's not a lot of activity on there. I can ensure that there would be."
* Along the offensive line Arizona's group wasn't fantastic and starting left guard Christian Boettcher said the team knew it was going to be a bit difficult to watch the film at times. He said the team watched just the first half as a group and the big takeaway was pass protection. It is something the Wildcats expect they will have to do a lot more of moving forward and that is where a lot of the work has been over the last several days after the loss to Utah.
"We were kind of getting away from ourselves," he said. "We were getting a little sloppy on the offensive line. As you could see during the Utah game we did have some problems in pass protection. We really came back to working that and we worked that today. It's been a lot more working the fundamentals in pass pro and making sure we get the right fits in the run game."
Boettcher said rather than taking it easy during the bye week the team did the opposite and turned up the intensity since it didn't have a game to prepare for. He also added that Jim Michalczik has been stressing footwork going into Saturday's game.
Here are today's quick notes after Tuesday's practice.
* For the uniform enthusiasts out there, Arizona went with the matte blue helmets today so I would expect those to be the ones that get used on Saturday. Colorado has already announced it plans on using a white-black-white combination for the home game up in Boulder.
* Arizona is rolling with more quarterback in the red "no-contact" jerseys now. I didn't catch a glimpse of Rhett Rodriguez but Donovan Tate was in a red jersey this week. Previously it had mainly been just the top two players wearing red. Khalil Tate was in an upbeat mood after practice today and while he didn't speak with the media he physically had a little more bounce in him than I had seen in previous weeks. He looks more healthy right now based on body language.
* I asked Rich Rodriguez if the open date gave the team a chance to add some new things into the game plan and he said it did but he didn't want to go overboard with it and overload his team going into the rest of the season. There will be some different looks out there Saturday and even Shun Brown hinted that on offense there are some new things in the works for the game.
"Yeah it does, on both sides," Rodriguez said about the bye week giving the staff an opportunity to add some new elements into the game plan. "You gotta be careful not to add too much with a lot of young guys playing, and as coaches sometimes we have too much time to add too much stuff. So, We'll probably dial back a little bit the next couple days."
* Now that he has the path cleared for his indoor facility that will be coming next year I asked Rodriguez what is next on his list in terms of facilities or improvements. He didn't go into it too much, but he has often said he has a long list of items. What he did give up is that he has some plans for Bear Down Field, which right now is used as a multipurpose field and sits behind the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility. During practice hours Arizona's specialists will use it to kick and punt on but outside of that Rodriguez feels his program could use it for more than what it does now. He didn't go into more detail than that, but judging by how things are going it will likely be something that has a more recruiting focus to it. I know there is a more outside-the-box idea for inside the stadium that would likely go over well but that is still just a thought at this stage, but I have not heard much on his this specific plan as of now.
"I have a big list, it actually could take up three pages," he said. "The indoor is at the top of it, but I have eyes on a really nice patch of green turf right next to us that doesn't really get used a whole lot. I have a whole lot of ideas for that thing. As a lot of you guys know, the guys who are here all the time, there's not a lot of activity on there. I can ensure that there would be."
* Along the offensive line Arizona's group wasn't fantastic and starting left guard Christian Boettcher said the team knew it was going to be a bit difficult to watch the film at times. He said the team watched just the first half as a group and the big takeaway was pass protection. It is something the Wildcats expect they will have to do a lot more of moving forward and that is where a lot of the work has been over the last several days after the loss to Utah.
"We were kind of getting away from ourselves," he said. "We were getting a little sloppy on the offensive line. As you could see during the Utah game we did have some problems in pass protection. We really came back to working that and we worked that today. It's been a lot more working the fundamentals in pass pro and making sure we get the right fits in the run game."
Boettcher said rather than taking it easy during the bye week the team did the opposite and turned up the intensity since it didn't have a game to prepare for. He also added that Jim Michalczik has been stressing footwork going into Saturday's game.
