Kevin Sumlin held his first press conference in a couple weeks as his team gets ready for the upcoming Pac-12 opener against UCLA this Saturday night. The Bruins were able to pull off an improbable (to say the least) win over Washington State Saturday night and it was a game the UA head coach had his eye on. Sumlin spoke with the media today to update everyone on some things as his team gets ready for its conference opener.
Here's a rundown of some of the most notable topics to come out of Monday's press conference.
- JJ Taylor's leg injury did not get any more clarity Monday as Sumlin didn't divulge much about his starting running back after the redshirt junior left the game against Texas Tech before returning for a bit and then leaving for good. Eventually, Gary Brightwell and Bam Smith carried the work load and helped the Wildcats secure a victory over the Red Raiders by running the ball well down the stretch.
"I'll just put it this way, we didn't take him out just because we wanted to take him out last week," Sumlin said when asked about Taylor Monday. "He got nicked up there early in the game. ... He didn't do a lot last week in practice, so like I said I'll have a better feeling for where we are this afternoon."
The Wildcats return to practice this evening, so it won't be something that is completely public until game time on Saturday. At this point it doesn't sound like it will be something incredibly serious, but the demeanor of Sumlin today wasn't exactly convincing that he will be out there this weekend.
- Sumlin did get a chance to see some of the game between the Bruins and Cougars since it came at the end of a night of recruiting out in Houston. He said he has since watched the entire game with the Wildcats hosting UCLA this weekend. However, he didn't watch the end of the game until Sunday when he returned from the road.
"What a game, huh?" he said. "You've got just a crazy, explosive type game. Looking at yesterday and today, I think I counted UCLA score 29 points off turnovers. Then they lead the country in punt returns and that was evident again. They had two big returns. So you get 14 points off the return game and then 29 points off of turnovers anything's possible. That was a crazy game."
What struck Sumlin was how different the Bruins looked from when he watched the team play early in the season.
"But, you know, it's going to be interesting because I did see their first game and they were a completely different team," he said. "We went back and watched tape of what they did the first two weeks and they're not doing that anymore. ... It was a completely different offensive game plan against Washington State Saturday and they were successful."
He noted that Arizona's last game was its best and UCLA's last game was its best so the two teams are "hitting their stride" right now coming into Saturday's game.
- There was a lot made about the helicopter Sumlin used to get around the Phoenix area Friday night as he made stops to see DE targets Jason Harris and Regen Terry. It was a return to something he did back at Texas A&M when his program was having a ton of success on the recruiting trail. Sumlin said the idea was not born out of being flashy but rather necessity since it is easier to get around town in a helicopter than it is a car, naturally.
"When you're trying to get around Phoenix and see a couple games at night, or Houston, it's basically impossible at six o'clock on a Friday afternoon, right?" Sumlin said Monday. "For us, it gave us the opportunity at the last place to practice on Thursday and be with our players at practice and still get to games in Houston or east Texas. And, the same thing last week.
"So, we had the opportunity to get there and I was able to see two different games and bounce across Phoenix, which is hard to do. ... It was a productive weekend."
For not being something flashy the program certainly hide how different it is with the team posting a video about the helicopter Friday night.
Sumlin said it was something that has been planned and it shows that his program is serious about recruiting within the state.
- The Wildcats played far fewer players in the win over Texas Tech than they did against Hawaii or Northern Arizona. The goal early was to get as many players some experience as possible, but with a more important game the coaching staff decided to stick with the players it trusts most a couple weekends ago. Sumlin acknowledged Monday that playing the players he did against the Red Raiders was a decision that was that came down to winning.
"We'd like to play more people, we really would, but we also wanna win the game," he said. "So, you gotta remember, it was not always 28-14 in that game. We were behind in the third quarter, so we had to get our best people out there to give us a chance to win the game. So, that's what the bye week was for. To catch your breath but also to keep getting these young guys better.
"The package that we used was working, so because of that with experienced players and all three linebackers playing out there at one time because Pandy is a really good pass rusher also. ... We'd like to get some of these younger guys going. Day Day Coleman needs to get some more. ... It was working, we had confidence in those guys out there, they were active but yeah we'd like to play more guys."
- As was seen with Houston quarterback D'Eriq King today the point in the season when players can still preserve a redshirt if they have played in the first four games is taking place right now. For players who have not used their redshirt season and have played in three games already this year for the Wildcats this weekend's game could be the last one of the year. For others it could be just a blip as they continue to move forward through the season. Sumlin was asked about it today and he said the conversations about which players will end up getting redshirt years started last week and will continue this week as the coaches make that final determination.
He said there will be conversations with the players expressing that they will not be playing anymore this season but also conversations on the other end that they will not be redshirting because they are needed.
"We've got a couple guys in that boat that are playing special teams on kickoff coverage and punt," Sumlin said. "They're getting 25, 30 snaps a game on special teams so that we can get Tony Fields and [Anthony] Pandy and some of these guys off the field. And, that's valuable experience. So, we'll make those decisions. You get the four, you get the four but we're having those conversations right now with players.
"I always have conversations usually with parents, too, and players so that everybody is on the same page."
Here's a rundown of some of the most notable topics to come out of Monday's press conference.
- JJ Taylor's leg injury did not get any more clarity Monday as Sumlin didn't divulge much about his starting running back after the redshirt junior left the game against Texas Tech before returning for a bit and then leaving for good. Eventually, Gary Brightwell and Bam Smith carried the work load and helped the Wildcats secure a victory over the Red Raiders by running the ball well down the stretch.
"I'll just put it this way, we didn't take him out just because we wanted to take him out last week," Sumlin said when asked about Taylor Monday. "He got nicked up there early in the game. ... He didn't do a lot last week in practice, so like I said I'll have a better feeling for where we are this afternoon."
The Wildcats return to practice this evening, so it won't be something that is completely public until game time on Saturday. At this point it doesn't sound like it will be something incredibly serious, but the demeanor of Sumlin today wasn't exactly convincing that he will be out there this weekend.
- Sumlin did get a chance to see some of the game between the Bruins and Cougars since it came at the end of a night of recruiting out in Houston. He said he has since watched the entire game with the Wildcats hosting UCLA this weekend. However, he didn't watch the end of the game until Sunday when he returned from the road.
"What a game, huh?" he said. "You've got just a crazy, explosive type game. Looking at yesterday and today, I think I counted UCLA score 29 points off turnovers. Then they lead the country in punt returns and that was evident again. They had two big returns. So you get 14 points off the return game and then 29 points off of turnovers anything's possible. That was a crazy game."
What struck Sumlin was how different the Bruins looked from when he watched the team play early in the season.
"But, you know, it's going to be interesting because I did see their first game and they were a completely different team," he said. "We went back and watched tape of what they did the first two weeks and they're not doing that anymore. ... It was a completely different offensive game plan against Washington State Saturday and they were successful."
He noted that Arizona's last game was its best and UCLA's last game was its best so the two teams are "hitting their stride" right now coming into Saturday's game.
- There was a lot made about the helicopter Sumlin used to get around the Phoenix area Friday night as he made stops to see DE targets Jason Harris and Regen Terry. It was a return to something he did back at Texas A&M when his program was having a ton of success on the recruiting trail. Sumlin said the idea was not born out of being flashy but rather necessity since it is easier to get around town in a helicopter than it is a car, naturally.
"When you're trying to get around Phoenix and see a couple games at night, or Houston, it's basically impossible at six o'clock on a Friday afternoon, right?" Sumlin said Monday. "For us, it gave us the opportunity at the last place to practice on Thursday and be with our players at practice and still get to games in Houston or east Texas. And, the same thing last week.
"So, we had the opportunity to get there and I was able to see two different games and bounce across Phoenix, which is hard to do. ... It was a productive weekend."
For not being something flashy the program certainly hide how different it is with the team posting a video about the helicopter Friday night.
Sumlin said it was something that has been planned and it shows that his program is serious about recruiting within the state.
- The Wildcats played far fewer players in the win over Texas Tech than they did against Hawaii or Northern Arizona. The goal early was to get as many players some experience as possible, but with a more important game the coaching staff decided to stick with the players it trusts most a couple weekends ago. Sumlin acknowledged Monday that playing the players he did against the Red Raiders was a decision that was that came down to winning.
"We'd like to play more people, we really would, but we also wanna win the game," he said. "So, you gotta remember, it was not always 28-14 in that game. We were behind in the third quarter, so we had to get our best people out there to give us a chance to win the game. So, that's what the bye week was for. To catch your breath but also to keep getting these young guys better.
"The package that we used was working, so because of that with experienced players and all three linebackers playing out there at one time because Pandy is a really good pass rusher also. ... We'd like to get some of these younger guys going. Day Day Coleman needs to get some more. ... It was working, we had confidence in those guys out there, they were active but yeah we'd like to play more guys."
- As was seen with Houston quarterback D'Eriq King today the point in the season when players can still preserve a redshirt if they have played in the first four games is taking place right now. For players who have not used their redshirt season and have played in three games already this year for the Wildcats this weekend's game could be the last one of the year. For others it could be just a blip as they continue to move forward through the season. Sumlin was asked about it today and he said the conversations about which players will end up getting redshirt years started last week and will continue this week as the coaches make that final determination.
He said there will be conversations with the players expressing that they will not be playing anymore this season but also conversations on the other end that they will not be redshirting because they are needed.
"We've got a couple guys in that boat that are playing special teams on kickoff coverage and punt," Sumlin said. "They're getting 25, 30 snaps a game on special teams so that we can get Tony Fields and [Anthony] Pandy and some of these guys off the field. And, that's valuable experience. So, we'll make those decisions. You get the four, you get the four but we're having those conversations right now with players.
"I always have conversations usually with parents, too, and players so that everybody is on the same page."
