Everyone is in a really good mood right now. I sensed it with Rich Rodriguez yesterday and talking with quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Rod Smith today I haven't seen him beaming like he is right now in a long time. We'll get right to it with today's quick notes from Tuesday's practice.
* We'll start with the Khalil Tate talk and the chat with Rod Smith. It is extremely clear who he has preferred at the position as I've said before and he was more than happy to chat with us today. Smith likes a lot about what Tate is doing right now and a lot of it has to do with his leadership and improving understanding about the offense. We mentioned both of those things in our conversation today.
I also asked Smith about Tate's practice habits and as I have mentioned before it is something the staff had to work through and part of the reason why he wasn't seeing the field earlier. Smith said there were some things the staff had to do and some maturing that he had to go through to get to this point.
"Oh yeah, absolutely, every day," Smith said about the staff having to get him going in practice. "Well, not every day. But every day we tried to motivate him and keep him on edge because I don't want to say he's bored but he just turned 19 yesterday. So he's still, I don't want to say an immature kid, but there's still some maturing that needs to happen in terms of attention to detail. Not just him, all of them.
"That's why we're constantly prodding those guys trying to keep them on edge and stay engaged the whole entire time."
* Something to keep an eye on with Tate will be his health this week and not from an injury standpoint but a true health standpoint. He has been sick this week and it even meant sending him home from a meeting yesterday. The Wildcats want him rested up so he spent his 19th birthday in bed.
"I talked to him several times and he came over and he looked like death warmed over, so I told him 'get outta here before you make everybody else sick," Smith said today. "I think he just kinda laid low yesterday."
* Arizona hasn't clocked Tate since he lost some of the weight he was carrying in the spring, but Smith said when they timed the 40-yard dash back in the spring the UA quarterback was coming in at 4.56 and he's sure it would be a smaller number if they tested him again right now.
"That was at 220 you know what I mean," Smith said. "He's lighter than that now. He's faster because I think he's in the best shape he's ever been in. It's game speed, man. He has a different gear in game I think. Some guys are just like that and I think he's one of those guys."
* I also talked to Shawn Poindexter today about his game against Cal and the progress with the offense. He said the interception late in regulation was a play he just mistimed. The fingertip catch he made he said was a perfect ball that he was able time correctly. Although the receivers aren't being targeted for a ton of passes right now Poindexter said he has been taking imploring the rest of the group to make the most of the chances they do get. He said there is a lot of pride when it comes to blocking and the team wants to win games and so for the receivers that means being strong at that skill.
* JJ Taylor spoke today and joked that he isn't even tall enough to reach a defensive player's head so he didn't think the call against him for targeting was the right one. The sense was that Taylor was set for a big game heading into the win, so there was certainly some disappointment there that he wasn't able to finish it out. Rodriguez said he sensed it was going to be a big day for the redshirt freshman running back even before the game began.
* We'll start with the Khalil Tate talk and the chat with Rod Smith. It is extremely clear who he has preferred at the position as I've said before and he was more than happy to chat with us today. Smith likes a lot about what Tate is doing right now and a lot of it has to do with his leadership and improving understanding about the offense. We mentioned both of those things in our conversation today.
I also asked Smith about Tate's practice habits and as I have mentioned before it is something the staff had to work through and part of the reason why he wasn't seeing the field earlier. Smith said there were some things the staff had to do and some maturing that he had to go through to get to this point.
"Oh yeah, absolutely, every day," Smith said about the staff having to get him going in practice. "Well, not every day. But every day we tried to motivate him and keep him on edge because I don't want to say he's bored but he just turned 19 yesterday. So he's still, I don't want to say an immature kid, but there's still some maturing that needs to happen in terms of attention to detail. Not just him, all of them.
"That's why we're constantly prodding those guys trying to keep them on edge and stay engaged the whole entire time."
* Something to keep an eye on with Tate will be his health this week and not from an injury standpoint but a true health standpoint. He has been sick this week and it even meant sending him home from a meeting yesterday. The Wildcats want him rested up so he spent his 19th birthday in bed.
"I talked to him several times and he came over and he looked like death warmed over, so I told him 'get outta here before you make everybody else sick," Smith said today. "I think he just kinda laid low yesterday."
* Arizona hasn't clocked Tate since he lost some of the weight he was carrying in the spring, but Smith said when they timed the 40-yard dash back in the spring the UA quarterback was coming in at 4.56 and he's sure it would be a smaller number if they tested him again right now.
"That was at 220 you know what I mean," Smith said. "He's lighter than that now. He's faster because I think he's in the best shape he's ever been in. It's game speed, man. He has a different gear in game I think. Some guys are just like that and I think he's one of those guys."
* I also talked to Shawn Poindexter today about his game against Cal and the progress with the offense. He said the interception late in regulation was a play he just mistimed. The fingertip catch he made he said was a perfect ball that he was able time correctly. Although the receivers aren't being targeted for a ton of passes right now Poindexter said he has been taking imploring the rest of the group to make the most of the chances they do get. He said there is a lot of pride when it comes to blocking and the team wants to win games and so for the receivers that means being strong at that skill.
* JJ Taylor spoke today and joked that he isn't even tall enough to reach a defensive player's head so he didn't think the call against him for targeting was the right one. The sense was that Taylor was set for a big game heading into the win, so there was certainly some disappointment there that he wasn't able to finish it out. Rodriguez said he sensed it was going to be a big day for the redshirt freshman running back even before the game began.
