Arizona is close to finishing up its week before heading out to Salt Lake City on Friday. There will be one more practice tomorrow, but Wednesday's practice brought a much different mood.
* On Tuesday, Rich Rodriguez said he saw the most energy he had seen in six weeks during the first portion of the team's practice. He was in a good mood and happy to be practicing well again. Wednesday brought a different story. He was not happy and I heard it had to do a lot with injuries - as it usually does. Arizona is being tight-lipped about who is hurt and who isn't but from the sounds of it things are not getting better and could just be getting worse.
* As far as what we do know, right now I'd be on the surprised side if it's not Khalil Tate getting his first start Saturday. It just has that feel around it right now. That's how the team is preparing right now. Rodriguez said Tate will be given more of the offense to run this week and right now he is trying to balance not giving him too much but still having the offense be effective and not overly limited.
* Freshman Isaiah Hayes earned his first start Saturday against UCLA and if what the staff thinks of him is any indication you will see a lot more of him moving forward. Jahmile Addae called Hayes a "spark plug" and he likes what he brings to the table with his aggressiveness. There is still some learning going on and fine tuning of his technique but Addae said he can work with that but he can't teach the natural aggressiveness Hayes is bringing to the table right now.
* The frustrations are growing right now with the defensive staff about falling off at the ends of games. Things picked up on third down and getting off the field but Arizona's defense still had a drop off late, which is starting to become a theme. There is a feeling right now that the staff is getting a little more frustrated about trying to figure why and how to fix it right now just from speaking with them. The sense I got from talking with Addae is that mentally there are some things Arizona is trying to get all on the same page about from coaches down to the players on the defensive side.
* I spoke with STUD linebacker John Kenny and he said the adjustment to playing his new role has fit him better than he thought because the spot he is playing now is similar to what he did in high school back in Indiana. He said he was more of an outside linebacker who played on the line at times as a defensive end there, so the progression has been quicker and a little easier than he thought.
* On Tuesday, Rich Rodriguez said he saw the most energy he had seen in six weeks during the first portion of the team's practice. He was in a good mood and happy to be practicing well again. Wednesday brought a different story. He was not happy and I heard it had to do a lot with injuries - as it usually does. Arizona is being tight-lipped about who is hurt and who isn't but from the sounds of it things are not getting better and could just be getting worse.
* As far as what we do know, right now I'd be on the surprised side if it's not Khalil Tate getting his first start Saturday. It just has that feel around it right now. That's how the team is preparing right now. Rodriguez said Tate will be given more of the offense to run this week and right now he is trying to balance not giving him too much but still having the offense be effective and not overly limited.
* Freshman Isaiah Hayes earned his first start Saturday against UCLA and if what the staff thinks of him is any indication you will see a lot more of him moving forward. Jahmile Addae called Hayes a "spark plug" and he likes what he brings to the table with his aggressiveness. There is still some learning going on and fine tuning of his technique but Addae said he can work with that but he can't teach the natural aggressiveness Hayes is bringing to the table right now.
* The frustrations are growing right now with the defensive staff about falling off at the ends of games. Things picked up on third down and getting off the field but Arizona's defense still had a drop off late, which is starting to become a theme. There is a feeling right now that the staff is getting a little more frustrated about trying to figure why and how to fix it right now just from speaking with them. The sense I got from talking with Addae is that mentally there are some things Arizona is trying to get all on the same page about from coaches down to the players on the defensive side.
* I spoke with STUD linebacker John Kenny and he said the adjustment to playing his new role has fit him better than he thought because the spot he is playing now is similar to what he did in high school back in Indiana. He said he was more of an outside linebacker who played on the line at times as a defensive end there, so the progression has been quicker and a little easier than he thought.
