Arizona football countdown: 3 days, Cam Denson will still be a major contributor

Don't worry, Denson will still get major playing time

When the Arizona Wildcats released their depth chart for the season opener against the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners, the main thing everyone focused on was the fact that true freshman Sammy Morrison is listed as the starter at left corner over sophomore Cam Denson.

In that press conference, Rich Rodriguez said that the two probably should have been listed as co-starters, and that Denson will still get plenty of playing time.

Having depth at corner is going to be extremely important for Arizona this year, and every year moving forward, since the Pac-12 is loaded with pass-heavy, no-huddle offenses. And if what we found out from Underdog Dynasty is true, UTSA will be bringing that to the table this year as well.

"We're all kind of interchangeable," Morrison told me last week. "I'm learning a lot from them every single day, and there's not really that big of a difference."

The fact that Morrison was named a starter doesn't mean that Denson's going to be riding the bench. I would imagine that the two will get a similar number of snaps, especially early in the year, as Jeff Casteel will be looking to keep the defense as fresh as possible. And with actual depth at corner, unlike last year, there's no reason to not rotate those guys in and out on a regular basis.

Also, I don't know if this means anything, but after practice on Sunday, Denson was running routes and catching passes from the quarterbacks. Is there a possibility of seeing him line up in the slot, especially with Tyrell Johnson out and Shun Brown a little banged up?

We'll see, but the star athlete from Salpointe will still do plenty of contributing this year, starter or not.

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Arizona football roundtable: Talking roadrunners, Pac-12, Kirk Herbstreit, and new Wildcats

Are you ready for some football?

Our first game week roundtable is here, and it's about to get a little weird! Let's talk about who we're excited to see, other Pac-12 things, and deadly wild birds.

1. Who are you most curious to see in game action and why?

Gabe Encinas: I'm most curious to see Paul Magloire in the secondary. I've talked to him quite a bit recently and he says he's been learning different spots in the defense, ready to make a play whenever his number is called. I have pretty high hopes for him this season going into next, so hopefully he can get big time reps in week one to carry forward into the rest of the non-conference.

David Potts: I'm excited to see DaVonte' Neal and Sammy Morrison. Neal was playing wide receiver at this time last year while Morrison was still in high school, so I am very interested to see if their in-game performances back up their performances in practice.

Bryant Conger: Cornerback Sammy Morrison: Last year, the Arizona defense had a duck tape and chicken wire feel to it. A paltry pass rush permitted too many situations that saw our inexperienced cornerbacks attempt to hang with opposing wide receivers for long stretches of time.

Ryan Kelapire: Sammy Morrison. When the first two-deep depth chart of the season was announced, it was a little surprising to see that Morrison will be starting over Cam Denson at cornerback. While I've heard nothing but good things from coaches and teammates about Morrison, it's always a bit of a shock when a true freshman gets the starting nod at a position like cornerback, especially over a talented player like Denson

Jason Bartel: Same as everyone else. Morrison without a doubt.

2. What is your favorite thing about a roadrunner?

GE: Not gonna lie, roadrunners have some pretty sweet hair. The slicked back mohawk has some serious flow.

DP: Its ability to repeatedly humiliate Wile E. Coyote by merely saying "beep-beep and running very fast. Though really, Wile E. Coyote was only humiliating himself, and the roadrunner was just the vessel for that humiliation. What was the question again?

BC: Beep. Beep.

RK: After they catch their prey, they repeatedly fling it against the ground until it dies (don't ask me how I know this).

JB: Well Ryan stole mine. I only asked this question because I saw a real live one at Pima East last week. Playing UTSA was just a good excuse to use it.

3. How drunk was Herbstreit when he picked ASU to make the CFB Playoff?

GE: He's out there. Looking at the rest of his list, I'm concerned for his health. Having LSU and Oklahoma in there as well is something else.

DP: I don't think he was Sark After Dark-level drunk, but I think he made that prediction as he polished off a bottle of red wine. Arizona State will be good this year, but putting them in the playoff is pretty aggressive. He also picked Georgia Tech to win the ACC and Oklahoma to win the Big 12, so his picks seem purposely contrarian.

BC: It was surprising to see that Herbie wasn't the only one picking ASU for the college football playoff. ASU is a good team but is not elite enough to avoid two losses this year -- particularly playing in a loaded Pac-12 South and with a trip to the Lone Star State to play Texas A&M.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any Pac-12 team is going to escape the regular season with less than two losses. This will likely eliminate the conference from a playoff spot even though the Pac-12 South is likely the strongest division in the country.

RK: Even more drunk than Steve Sarkisian is at USC booster events.

JB: Look, there's no way that ASU goes through the year with less than two losses.

4. What other Pac-12 game intrigues you the most this weekend?

GE: Because it's week one, a lot of them draw my interest. Definitely Michigan at Utah. We'll see what Harbaugh can do and hopefully Utah can make the Pac-12 South look good. Virginia at UCLA, just to see how Josh Rosen performs in his first collegiate game, with three weeks to prepare for Arizona. And then I think the obvious choice is ASU vs. Texas A&M. It's kind of a win-win for a lot of people, depending on how you look at it. If ASU loses, ASU loses on the national stage. If ASU wins, they make the Pac-12 South look that much better over the SEC West. But of course, I'd love nothing more than an Arizona State loss just to keep them quiet. Also, Washington at Boise State is pretty intriguing on a Friday night.

DP: Eastern Washington against Oregon. It's not the best match-up — Arizona State and Texas A&M will be a better game — but I'm really interested to see Vernon Adams go against the team he just left. It'll also be the first opportunity to see someone other than Marcus Mariota take control of the Oregon offense, so we will see if Mark Helfrich can keep Oregon's string of success going post-Mariota.

BC: ASU vs. Texas A&M: This is the perfect game to show the rest of the country what the Pac-12 is about. Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin has received waves of good press down in College Station. The Aggies are stacked with 5 star talent, lots of hype, and a blue chip quarterback from Arizona who shunned both the Wildcats and Sun Devils to play in the SEC.

The Aggies face a fast and talented ASU team that has a chance to make a national statement. ASU should be able to keep up with the A&M offense put pressure on the new Aggie defensive guru John Chavis. The key to this game will be whether the Sun Devil defense can hold the line. An ASU win will boost the profile of the Pac-12. The conference will need all the help it can get to claim one of four playoff spots.

RK: There are so many to choose from that it's hard to pick one. You have Stanford at Northwestern, Washington at Boise State, UCLA at Virginia, Utah vs. Michigan, and of course, Arizona State vs. Texas A&M. Since I am forced to pick one, I'll say ASU-TAMU. I think ASU is ranked a little too high, and A&M should give them all they can handle, and hopefully even beat them. A UA win and an ASU loss would be an ideal way to start the season.

JB: It would be Utah-Michigan for me if it wasn't on Thursday, so I have to go with ASU/TAMU

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UTSA vs. Arizona: Talking with Underdog Dynasty's Jared Kalmus about the Roadrunners

Sonoran Hot Reads: The numbers behind Arizona's new Nike deal

Brand > money?

About two and a half weeks ago, the Arizona Wildcats and NIKE announced a new agreement that runs through the year 2025, but dollar figures weren't put out there. Well, Bruce Pascoe got some dollar numbers, and while the dollar amounts are much better than the previous deal, they're still not as big as ASU's new deal with Adidas, and nowhere near what UCLA's deal is with Adidas. It's also interesting to see the breakdown of what each head coach receives from Nike. RichRod and Sean Miller get the most obviously, and then at the bottom are the two tennis coaches, gymnastics, and sand volleyball. If you're into money, find all the figures in there.

Football

- A couple of Arizona commits did well in their first high school games of the year, including Devon Modster, who accounted for five TDs (3 rushing, 2 passing)

- People are mad that the Pac-12 scratched Arizona being on a college version of "Hard Knocks"

- We also finished up our position previews this weekend! Oh, and join our College Football Pick 'em group

- Block U gave us a good laugh this weekend when they wondered if Utah should be considered a threat to win the National Championship. Yep, that says national, not state

- House of Sparky put out their first Pac-12 Power Rankings, and hey, why do we have to scroll down so far to find Arizona?

- AZ Central put together this nice, tidy package of the major points of Arizona football this year

- Our pal Shane Dale has three questions and a prediction for Arizona

Basketball

- Follow Stanley Johnson around for a day

Baseball

- Kevin Newman's West Virginia Power won the South Atlantic League North 2nd Half Championship on Sunday

- Newman is hitting .241 in his minor league career so far. Scott Kingery is hitting .251

Other sports

- Arizona is still undefeated in all sports this year as soccer and volleyball were perfect this weekend

Tucson news

- FedEx delivered an automatic rifle to the wrong address because Tucson

- Walking near Vine and Lester is always a bad idea

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Arizona football countdown: 4 days, it's David Richards' time to shine

Time for the fifth-year senior to put up some big numbers

When it comes to the Arizona Wildcats receivers, there's one name that rarely gets mentioned with the rest, and that name is David Richards.

Richards, who is now a fifth-year senior, often goes overlooked. He's never been the best big receiver (Austin Hill and now Cayleb Jones were that), and now Trey Griffey is challenging him as well.

But with Griffey out for at least the UTSA game, this could be Richards' time to shine.

Every team this year is going to try their hardest to put their best corner on Cayleb Jones. That's no secret. Jones is crazy athletic, and is even stronger this year, and has better fundamentals when it comes to route running and getting open.

This opens up the other side of the field a little bit, which is where Richards will find himself more often than not. So far in his three years, he has played in 35 games and started 13, but only has 67 catches, and his 298 yards his freshman year were the most he's had in a single season.

I think this year that changes. Richards has gotten much better, and with the benefit of more playing time, plus having huge threats all over the rest of the field (Samajie Grant and Nate Phillips taking up the slot), the senior should see the ball come his way a lot more than in the past.

Hopefully Richards gets sent off with some big numbers to thank him for his five years, and being one of the last Stoops guys on campus.

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Join the AZ Desert Swarm College Football Pick 'em group

Think you can pick games better than us?

College football is almost here, and you can compete against other Arizona Wildcats fans in our Yahoo Pick 'em group!

Here's the link to the group, or if that doesn't work, when joining a private group, our group ID# is 7763.

The password is: beardown

We'll be picking the Yahoo featured games, the AP Top 25, and the Pac-12 games each week! So come join us and see if you can pick the winners better than the rest of our Arizona community!

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Arizona football depth chart: Anu Solomon leads group of improved quarterbacks

Everyone's better!

If all goes as planned this season, there's only one quarterback that we'll really have to worry about this year, and that's Anu Solomon, who is the first returning starting quarterback of the Rich Rodriguez era at Arizona.

People may worry that there are only three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster this year, but from where they all were last year, they've all significantly improved.

Key losses: Jesse Scroggins

Key returners: Anu Solomon, Jerrard Randall, Brandon Dawkins, Zach Werlinger

Key newcomers: None

After dealing with an ankle injury over the course of the second half of 2014, Anu Solomon showed up to fall camp as a much stronger, more athletic quarterback, and that's paid off in a big way as far as his physical game is concerned.

But as Arizona Wildcats fans know, it's the mental side that Solomon had to get better at, and quarterbacks coach Rod Smith believes that he's done that.

"I think he needed to continue to grow within the offense, and to understand situational football," Smith told me about Arizona's starting quarterback. "I think he took time in the offseason to really study, and kind of watch. And we've worked certain things. We'll do drills in certain series, where we put them in situations of two minute drill, third down, down by two, all those types of things."

"I think the more he's done it, the better he's going to be. It's just like anything. The more you do it, the better you're going to be, and I think that's where he's going to be."

With the release of the official depth chart on Friday, it confirmed that the primary backup will be Jerrard Randall, and the third-string quarterback will be Brandon Dawkins.

Randall is a senior now, after appearing in five games last year after transferring from LSU and community college. He didn't complete any of his three pass attempts, but he seems to have reigned in his cannon for an arm this year.

"I think he's gotten better," Rod Smith said. "He's starting to understand more of what we're trying to do. He's worked on his throwing. He's got a laser for an arm. He throws the football as hard as anyone I've ever seen, and that's good and bad. He's gotta learn at when to take a little something off, and I think he's gotten better at that. He's shown some touch here in fall camp, and that's pretty impressive for us."

"I think he just gets so amped and juiced up that he gets ramped up and he's gotta learn to control his body motions a little bit and calm down."

A lot of focus in the spring was on redshirt freshman Brandon Dawkins, and whether or not he would vault himself up the depth chart and possibly challenge Solomon for that starting job. But that never panned out, and it got to the point where people were wondering if he was going to transfer, especially with the next two recruiting classes the Wildcats have lined up at the position.

But he's still in Tucson, and he seems to be a victim of bad timing more than anything.

"I like Brandon Dawkins, I think he's got a bright future ahead of him," Smith explained. "But he needs to get ready for this year, not the future, so we're pushing him. And I think he just needs to continue to get reps. He needs to learn where his eyes need to be, make sure he's reading coverage correctly. He's probably got the most work to do out of all of them, but at the same time, he's progressing."

"I think he is," Smith said when I asked if Dawkins is in a similar place to where Anu was at this point last year. "It's a constant, daily growth. There's always something that they can get better at. I tell them all the time that if we can be a little bit better than we were yesterday, we're making strides."

People may worry about what lies behind Anu Solomon, but as a group, these quarterbacks are more equipped to handle the potential of playing in a game than they were last year. Having three guys that all have at least a year of experience in the system is going to do nothing but help. And it doesn't hurt that only four guys are getting reps.

"I think we're further along from a mental standpoint," Smith continued. "I think the guys are stronger physically, but there's a mental part that goes along with that. It's easier to divvy up reps. You can spend a little more time specializing with certain guys because you don't have as many. You have a little more time to personalize your coaching for certain guys."

As a late twist here, both tight ends on the two-deep, Josh Kern and Matt Morin, were both quarterbacks just a few years ago as freshmen at Arizona and San Diego State respectively. But don't expect to see any trick plays as of yet.

"In pre-practice we just take some snaps at quarterback, but we haven't done anything in actual practice yet," Morin told me. "But with Coach Rod you never know what's up his sleeve."

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Pac-12 says no to potential Arizona WIldcats HBO Hard Knocks series

This could have been awesome

Even though Rich Rodriguez has said before that he would not be in favor of doing "The Drive", which is essentially the Pac-12 Networks version of HBO's "Hard Knocks", it seems that the Arizona Wildcats had everything lined up to be the college version of Hard Knocks on HBO before the Pac-12 stepped in, per Greg Hansen.

I think we all agree that taking part in this would have been great exposure for the program, and would allow fans, and more importantly recruits, an inside look at how Arizona functions on a day-to-day basis. But as Avi Kunnath at Pacific Takes points out, there are obvious reasons why the Pac-12 didn't let this happen.

The Pac-12 is built upon revenue sharing and equal exposure, and if Arizona had gone through with this, there's no doubt that every other school would have seen this as an unfair advantage. This isn't like Notre Dame, who has their own TV deal with NBC, and has a Hard Knocks-like show coming, because Notre Dame is independent, and doesn't have to share revenue or exposure with other conference members.

It's nice to sit here and think about the potential of an Arizona-based Hard Knocks, but in reality, there's no way this was going to happen unless every school in the conference was guaranteed exposure through the deal.

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Arizona football countdown: 5 days, the number of games Jerrard Randall played in 2014

Arizona's backup QB is more prepared this season

Jerrard Randall got his moment of glory at the end of the Pac-12 Championship Game, taking the ball 25 yards to the house for his first career touchdown.

Unfortunately, that just made the final score 51-13 instead of 51-7.

That was only one of five games that last year's third-string quarterback appeared in. He finished as the fourth-leading rusher on the team (104 yards), but failed to complete any of his three passes against the Ducks, which were his only pass attempts of the season.

Now entering the 2015 season as the backup, he's more prepared.

"It's my last year, and I'm trying to go at it like it's my last day every day," he told me at the beginning of fall camp. "I'm pretty locked in, pretty focused. I know all the plays, I know all my reads, and I know what I want to do with the ball in both presnap and postsnap."

Randall didn't look particularly great going up against the first team defense in the scrimmage that closed out fall camp, but I think part of that had to do with playing with the second string offensive line going up against Arizona's starting defensive line.

With a receiving group that is largely made up of returners, there's more of a bond with the quarterbacks and the receivers.

"Last year, I was tensed up and sort of scared to get in," Randall explained. "I didn't want Coach Rod to yell at me, but I kind of got used to it. Me and Anu (Solomon) did a lot of summer throwing to get the guys ready....and it's more of a bond. Me and Anu are pretty close, and we always get those guys together and get 'em out there."

That bond will be important for Randall to continue to develop, and if he does need to get in the game, you know that Anu and the receivers will have his back.

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4-star defensive end commit Josh Allen will join Arizona in the spring

Some more positive news for the 2016 recruiting class

Via his private Instagram account, Arizona defensive end commit, Josh JJ Allen, announced that he will not be playing for Long Beach City College this season. Because of this, he will now have three years of eligibility upon his arrival at Arizona.

He will join Arizona in the spring, giving him an advantage to learn the playbook, keep up with the conditioning, and understand Rich Rodriguez' system.

After his announcement, I was able to speak with him. He said that he had talked to Coach Rodriguez about the idea, but it was all up to his coaches at Long Beach City College to allow him to sit out this season. He will practice with the team, but he will not compete in games.

Having Allen here for three years, coming in early in the spring, will presumably allow him to take over Reggie Gilbert's spot. At 6-5 260lb, the No. 2 ranked junior college defensive end will have an immediate impact for Jeff Casteel's defense.

Arizona has a lot of youth on the defensive line that will bring much needed size. Breaking it down by class, Luca Bruno, Calvin Allen and Parker Zellers are all currently redshirt sophomores. Marcus Griffin is a redshirt freshman, and Sharif Williams and Finton Connolly are true freshmen.

That doesn't include the monster recruiting class of 2016, which holds five defensive linemen (3 defensive tackles, 2 defensive ends), including Josh Allen.

The defensive line might have had some concerns the past few years, and maybe some doubts this year. But going forward, the defensive line could be one of Arizona's strongest assets.

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Arizona football: The impact of Trevor Wood's injury in 2015

With Trevor Wood out for the season, the tight end development might hit a small bump in the road.

Trevor Wood had been held out of camp for the majority of the fall, raising some concerns about his health. It wasn't clear as to how much time he would be out for, but it seemed as if he was going to miss an extended period of time. On Thursday, he announced he underwent surgery and will miss the 2015 season. Rich Rodriguez confirmed that on Friday.

Wood was definitely Arizona's most polished tight end in the system. At least in the scrimmage, tight ends were used sparingly, despite a good amount of looks in the spring game. With almost an entire offseason down, the tight end utilization doesn't seem to be where most would expect or like it to be.

With some offensive line shake up, Anu Solomon could have used some extra blocking, which is where Wood could have excelled as a tight end. He also has the potential to be a great pass catcher and bigger target for Solomon, at 6-5 251lbs.

Josh Kern has been the top tight end on the depth chart throughout camp, and he seems to be more of a vertical threat than Wood. He's still 6-5 229lbs, and also played quarterback in his high school days. But after Kern, it seems like there's a bit of a drop off in tight end talent, which is understandable considering the fact that Matt Morin and Darrell Cloy Jr. just joined this past spring.

The development of the tight end would have been nice to see this season, only broadening the possibilities on offense for Anu Solomon. The way tight ends were being used before, and with the injury of Trevor Wood, it seems like the tight end will still be a work in progress.

The progress could speed up depending on how healthy the receiving corps is. Tyrell Johnson has been held out for almost all of fall camp, and Trey Griffey has also been nursing some sort of injury while wearing a walking boot. Both of them will miss the UTSA game. But the development of Shun Brown, and the switch back to receiver for Johnny Jackson seem to be going very well for both, widening the depth at receiver.

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Sonoran Hot Reads: Is this the Golden Age of Arizona college football?

Yeah, it probably is

Considering that the Arizona Wildcats have not had many ten-win seasons in their history (three), it's fair to wonder if this is the Golden Age of college football in the state of Arizona. Grantland makes that argument, as it looks like both Arizona and Arizona State are poised to have long-lasting success under current head coaches Todd Graham and Rich Rodriguez. I think we should all consider ourselves lucky that we have lived to see this day arrive, and that the competition in the state of Arizona is the best it's possibly ever been.

- Speaking of the Golden Age of football at Arizona, ESPN has three Wildcats on its list of potential Pac-12 Heisman candidates. Did you think you'd ever read that sentence?

- And on the subject of Pac-12 previews, Sports Quotient offers up this look back at last year and preview of this year. And the guys at the Solid Verbal podcast previewed Arizona, but weren't particularly high on Anu Solomon and company.

- In recruiting news, four-star cornerback Craig Watts will officially visit Arizona on October 23rd for the Washington State game.

- Anthony Gimino takes an in-depth look at what keeps Scooby Wright III motivated heading into the season

- There was a lot of injury and depth chart news to come out of the first Rich Rodriguez press conference of the season. It was odd for him to talk about injuries...maybe it has something to do with what happened at Illinois. You can find more quotes from the press conference here

- One surprise name on the depth chart was Carter Hehr, who was recently awarded a scholarship

- It's kind of expensive to go to an Arizona game, but it's better than a lot of places

Basketball

- Matt Korcheck actually signed a two-year deal to play Aussie Rules Football. This is so great

Other sports

- Volleyball opened its season with a four-set victory over SMU. Soccer also remained undefeated with a 4-0 win at NAU

- Here's Mike Candrea talking about how young athletes and their parents should deal with failure

Tucson news

- A Tucson native came in third place in the Mongol Derby, which is the most grueling horse race in the world

- Somehow, Longhorn Steakhouse is bringing 100 jobs to Tucson

- A boy got bit by a rattlesnake in Marana on Friday

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Arizona football: Trey Griffey is out for "a couple weeks" with a sprained foot

An injury will force Trey Griffey to miss the start of the season. Expect David Richards to start in his place.

The injuries have already started for the Arizona Wildcats. Linebacker Cody Ippolito tore his ACL and will miss the entire season, and Trey Griffey has a foot sprain that will keep him out for "a couple weeks," Rich Rodriguez announced at a press conference on Friday afternoon.

Thankfully, the Wildcats have more than enough options to replace Griffey for the time being.

The two-deep depth chart was published, and if that's truly how the depth chart currently looks, then you can expect redshirt senior David Richards to take Griffey's spot in the starting lineup. Redshirt freshman Tony Ellison is listed as the fourth outside receiver (behind Cayleb Jones, Griffey, and Richards), and so he'll presumably be the backup for both Richards and Jones.

Since the Wildcats do not have a bye week this year, I would assume that Griffey will not be rushed back for any of the first three games. Arizona doesn't need him to win those games, and resting his foot would be the better option, in my opinion. Plus, it'll give some of the younger receivers a chance to play -- like true freshman Shun Brown, perhaps.

That being said, hopefully Griffey has a complete and speedy recovery and is good to go when the schedule starts getting tough.

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Arizona football: Jared Baker prepares for a bigger work load

Baker's time has finally come. A moment he's been waiting four years for.

Jared Baker is just one the few Mike Stoops recruits left on Arizona's roster. As a 5th year senior, he's seen limited carries throughout his career, but is now poised to assume a bigger role and backup one of the nation's leading rushers in Nick Wilson.

"This year seems special and it's definitely been a long time to this point," Baker said about his new role. "It's crazy because it's the reverse when I got here, it was a bunch of older guys. These guys pick it up pretty quick so it's been easy and I haven't had to say much, they get it and I'm excited for it. I really haven't had too much playing time in the past but now I'm excited for this season."

There's been some shake up on the offensive line this offseason, but that doesn't seem to phase Baker.

"I felt comfortable running behind that offensive line and they made it easy for me. You can notice the chemistry a little, but they feel like a cohesive unit with Lene (Maiava) and Freddie (Tagaloa) on both sides," he said when asked about the offensive line.

Coming out of high school, Baker had a quite a few offers from across the country, but chose to stay relatively close to his home in Los Angeles.

"I came here and I just really liked it. It's not too far from home compared to other schools. I liked the school and I liked the atmosphere here."

Growing up in Los Angeles, he watched a lot of USC and UCLA, as Loyola High School is just two miles away from the Coliseum and just over 10 miles from the Rose Bowl.

"Definitely huge because I used to watch a lot of games there [USC], when I was younger, but more so UCLA. It's special there because it's iconic, it's the Coliseum," he said when asked about going back to LA for the USC game.

That got us on the topic of other Pac-12 venues, with Washington being Baker's favorite venue to travel to. He cited the atmosphere, noise level, and fan base as his reasons why.

Baker has been named All Pac-12 Academic many times throughout his past four years at Arizona, finding a nice balance between his school work and football. He is majoring in sustainable built environments.

"Try to get whatever I can done before competition so that I'm not stressing about it on the weekend. Try to study before so that you can just focus on the game," when asked about his schedule balance.

Lindy's on 4th is the spot for Jared Baker when he's hungry -- usually going with a double Shroomin' Cow or the Diablo Burger. Baker might be an unknown team jokester, because his favorite emoji is the smiley face with the laughing tears coming out of the sides.

With Nick Wilson looking to carry a bulk of the workload, while playing 12 straight weeks, look for Jared Baker to step up. He'll help take some meaningful carries throughout the season, hopefully coming up clutch a few times like he did in 2014 vs. USC.

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Arizona football countdown: 6 days, will Nate Phillips bounce back from an injury-plagued sophomore season?

The junior missed five games last season with a foot injury and wasn't able to build on his strong freshman campaign. Will this year be different?

It's no secret that the wide receiver position is one of the Arizona Wildcats' strongest groups. Cayleb Jones and Samajie Grant are the stars of the group, but I think there's one guy that has been overlooked this offseason: Nate Phillips.

Phillips had an outstanding freshman season in 2013. He led the Wildcats in receiving with 696 yards and seven touchdowns. He ended the season with a bang too, as he had nine catches for 193 yards in Arizona's 42-19 win over Boston College in the AdvoCare V100 Bowl. He was B.J. Denker's number one target, and an instant impact player. For a true freshman, Phillips' appeared to be a mainstay for years to come in the Arizona offense.

The 2014 season rolled around and Phillips did not enjoy the same success he did as a freshman. He finished the year with just 272 receiving yards and two touchdowns in nine games. He was forced to miss the last five games to injury after having in-season foot surgery, and then had to get shoulder surgery at the end of the season.

The injuries obviously made it difficult for him to repeat or build on his freshman season, but even when he was on the field, his production didn't match that of his freshman year. Though the additions of Cayleb Jones and DaVonte' Neal and the return of Austin Hill naturally made it tougher for him to get the same opportunities he had as a freshman.

With all the injuries and time away from the game, it was important for Nate Phillips to have a strong offseason, and by all indications, he has done so.

"Nate has been consistent all camp. He is a veteran guy who knows what we are doing," Rich Rodriguez said.

For Nate, however, simply getting back on the field was a great feeling.

"It feels good to be back out on the field," he said. "The coaches have worked with me on some of my individual stuff. Going live after last year feels good. It has been good getting connected with the offense again. We have a lot of chemistry this year."

Part of the reason their chemistry has been so good is because he and Anu would work together during the summer to get a better feel for each other. Something they did without instruction.

"That’s the biggest thing this summer because the coaches can’t be out there, so it’s all on us to get that chemistry coming into camp," Phillips said.

In Saturday's scrimmage, their work in the summer was evident as Nate had two touchdowns and seemed to have more targets than any other receiver. The slot receiver looked quick and his routes were sharp. Because of his experience in the system, he was able to work on becoming a better player rather than having to get adjusted to the offense.

"It's a grind, but I've been refining my skills more instead of learning the offense and find[ing] a place," he said.

I think the most important thing to take away is that he's healthy. Phillips mentioned that he has not been restricted at all during fall camp. His health, improving skills, experience in the system, and chemistry with Anu Solomon give him a good shot of returning to the type of player he was a freshman.

As if opposing defenses didn't have enough receivers to worry about on this Arizona team already.

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UTSA vs. Arizona: Time, TV, previews, depth charts and game information

The final meeting of a three-year series is finally here

The last of the three games series, the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners will head to Tucson, Arizona to kick off the 2015 season on Thursday, September 3rd at 7 PM on Pac-12 Networks.

We saw a lot of fight out of UTSA last year at the Alamodome, a team returning 19 starters for their senior year.

That UTSA game was our first look into the future of Nick Wilson, who rushed the ball 30 times for 174 yards and a touchdown. Casey Skowron carried Arizona all game long. After a Cayleb Jones stiff-arm on his 85 yard touchdown catch, it was Casey Skowron who scored 14 of Arizona's 26 points in a three point win.

Despite the scare at the Alamodome last year, Arizona shouldn't be too concerned in 2015, as UTSA will be without 36 seniors on their roster.

They will be returning one of their starting quarterbacks, Austin Robinson, and also a few other options as well. The QB competition at UTSA in August should definitely be an interesting one.

They also lose their leading rusher in David Glasco II, who rushed the ball 150 times for 570 yards and five touchdowns. Jarveon Williams is likely to take over the role as the top running option.

UTSA lost a lot of depth at the receiver position as well, losing three of their top five targets. They return 6-4 David Morgan, who hauled in 20 receptions for 255 yards, as well as Aaron Grubb, who added 23 catches for 203 yards.

The Roadrunners' defense also takes a big step back, losing six of their top eight tacklers in 2014.

Arizona will be returning many impact players and will also be trying out some new pieces, particularly on defense. It'll be interesting to see how the game flows to allow for different packages and give some younger guys more reps, especially considering the 12 straight games the Wildcats face.

UTSA's over/under win total is 2.5, so there's not a whole lot of faith being put in their season. For comparison, their over/under win total last year was at 6.5.

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Arizona football depth chart: Wildcats release two-deep for UTSA game

Arizona Wildcats injury report: Cody Ippolito out for season, wide receivers dealing with foot injuries

A blow to Arizona's linebacker depth

At his first weekly press conference of the year, Rich Rodriguez did something a little out of the ordinary and gave an injury report.

The big news to come out of it was that linebacker Cody Ippolito will miss the season due to a torn ACL.

"Cody was having a really good camp and he's a tough, hard-nosed football player," Rodriguez said of Ippolito's work so far this year. "He loves to compete and loves to practice, so I was really disappointed for him. He'll rehab like crazy after surgery, and hopefully we'll get him back for another year or two playing at a high level."

Ippolito was a big part of Arizona's success last year, making 52 tackles (6.5 for loss) and a sack as a redshirt sophomore.

"It gives the opportunity for other guys to go play," Rodriguez explained. "And we have quite a few young guys, freshmen that'll probably be playing sooner than we or they anticipated."

Some guys that appear on the depth chart at linebacker now include: RJ Morgan, Haden Gregory, and Sir Thomas Jackson.

The other players that will not play in the opener against UTSA are Trey Griffey and Tyrell Johnson, who are both dealing with foot sprains. Coach said that they will likely miss a couple of weeks. He did not know what a projected return date would be for those two. And we already knew about Trevor Wood, who will miss the season after undergoing shoulder surgery.

There will be more players on Tuesday's official injury report, such as Jarvis McCall, who is expected to return to practice this week for the first time since the first practice of fall camp. I would also expect to see Anthony Lopez on there as well with a couple of other guys.

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Arizona football depth chart: Linebackers will give Scooby Wright a strong supporting cast

Scooby Wright is getting all the linebacker attention for Arizona from across the nation, as he should. All the attention will be on him, offensive coordinators will game plan around him and make sure their quarterback knows where he is at all times. Because of this, his supporting cast will be forced to make bigger plays. And this year, all of Scooby's supporting cast returns, ready to reap the benefits of his presence. Arizona might not have the depth ready to go week one, but the guys who are there will be a great supporting cast for Scooby Wright in the middle of the defense.

Key Returners: Scooby Wright III, Derrick Turituri, Cody Ippolito, Jake Matthews, DeAndre' Miller

Key Departures: None

Key Newcomers: Kendal Franklin, Matthew Stagg

We all know what Scooby Wright can do, and although he had stupid high numbers in 2014, it'll be hard to imagine that even he can top them, and that's okay. He's one of those guys who will have an effect on every single play regardless of where the ball is.

Derrick Turituri is a big dude, 6-1 265lbs. I expect him to step up in his junior year, probably second in sacks to Scooby, and somewhere close to 60-70 tackles on the season, up from his 44 last season. He's going to be the ultimate run stopper for Arizona and one of the leaders in the front six. This will be a big year for Turituri in his progression as Arizona's next featured linebacker once Scooby leaves.

Jake Matthews also put on some good weight this offseason, now at 6-3 221lbs, after performing surprisingly well as a walk-on last season. Now on scholarship, he should be one of the first rotational linebackers if he's not already starting. He's a guy who I feel like is truly underappreciated, or often overlooked because of Scooby Wright, both locally and nationally. I think that Matthews cracks the top 8 in tackles for Arizona this year, after finishing 13th last year with 29 tackles.

DeAndre' Miller was plagued with a shoulder injury all of last season, but Rich Rodriguez and the staff seem to have high hopes for him, once ranked as a top 40 linebacker in the country in 2013. If Miller can stay on the field, he'll be a great rotational player for Arizona this year, similar to that of Jake Matthews last year, and then some. Hopefully he can stay healthy and breakout. The scary thing is the depth after Miller.

I would really like to know what the coaching staff thinks about Sir Thomas Jackson. He recorded just one tackle in all of 2014, eight in 2013 and 58 during his redshirt freshman campaign back in 2012. Arizona has a great supporting cast, but lacks some depth, so it would be nice to see Sir Thomas back on the field from time to time, contingent on his conditioning, discipline and awareness.

Antonio Smothers Jr. is someone who I had high expectations for coming out of Scottsdale CC. He was ranked No. 2 among all JUCO linebackers. Now it seems as if he just has his role on special teams, but again, due to the depth, it would be nice to see him out there from time to time.

Jamardre Cobb and Marquis Ware are the big question marks everyone has been dying to see on the field. If they are healthy and in-shape, we might just see them step up and add some much needed depth. That's a big if. Marquis Ware is the more likely of the two to see the field, but it's hard to imagine seeing them on the field early this season. These are two guys that will have to continue to learn the defense and their roles within it to perform later in the season.

Kendal Franklin is one of my surprise picks for this year. I talked a bit about him as a breakout freshman, with him being one of the seven or eight true freshman to see the field this season. As long as he is in shape, can learn the defensive responsibilities and adjust to the speed of college, I expect him to take on a larger role for a true freshman linebacker.

Matt Stagg is the newest linebacker on the team, a former walk-on at Georgia and member of the scout team. Coaches will likely have a short leash on him considering his past, as he was charged with a DUI when he was 18 years old. He'll have to work his way up the depth chart here, so we'll see how his scout team experience over in the ever so powerful SEC translates to the Pac-12.

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Arizona football: Paul Magloire has used versatility, instincts to help adjust to Pac-12 speed

Paul Magloire is a newcomer who could be Arizona's big time playmaker on defense this season

Paul Magloire came into Arizona with an OKG mindset. Entering this past spring, he adjusted to the Pac-12 game and learned his new responsibilities for him to contribute immediately on defense.

This summer, he's been hitting the weight room and it's paying dividends, breaking the defense back bench press record, then breaking his own record days later.

"Just working out pretty hard and getting bigger a little bit faster, a little bit stronger and it's been pretty good," he said about his summer.

"Not even close," Magloire said when asked about his strength now as compared to the spring. "You talk about a big time program with big time facilities and strength coaches. You getting pushed and you're going to learn. Definitely feel a lot stronger. I feel a lot faster to the ball, a lot stronger getting off the blocks. Everything in there translates to the field."

Going from junior college to Pac-12 definitely has a learning curve, but it's not just the speed of the Pac-12, but Rich Rod's tempo as well.

"I noticed that the speed of the game is definitely faster," he explained. "The coaches want a lot more out of us now than they did back in junior college. Being here they want us to run to the ball. Everyone has to get to the ball even if the ball is on the opposite side of the field and getting tackled, you need to run to the ball because you never know what's going to happen."

"It's fast and you're talking about getting winded. As soon as that ball gets spotted you're running a new play just like that and it's tough but it's good to play that type of offense because come season time we're not going to be playing teams that really run that fast. So it gets you conditioned and mentally ready."

With a 6-2, 210lb frame, he's built like a linebacker, but has the versatility of a defensive back. Since he's arrived, he's been playing at a few different spots.

"Right now I'm pretty comfortable. I was playing bandit in the spring and I started playing bandit at the beginning of the fall and starting to get it down pat. Then I switched to spur and I knew both and now I can change between either," when asked about his role. "I just have to be ready to get put in wherever they need to contribute."

Magloire is an all-around safety, but when he watches the film, he excels in quite a few areas, while still trying to improve some areas.

"One thing that's good for me is that I run to the football and I'm a good tackler. If the ball is around me I'm going to make sure that I make that tackle. There's always those spots you can improve. Even if I think I'm a great tackler, I can get better. If I think I'm good in coverage then I become great," he added.

Paul has come a long way to get to Arizona, going from Milford Prep, Appalachian State, and Arizona Western College before heading to Tucson.

"It's definitely good, even better knowing I chose the right school and didn't mess up at all. I knew coming in that this was the school for me. Just friendly people, college town and a respected football program," when asked about how it felt to finally call Arizona his home.

Throughout his different schools, Magloire has played different positions as well. First a quarterback, then running back, and then over to safety.

"I always played safety, it wasn't like it was my first time. But football is football, especially like pop warner. You always just play all over, when you're not on offense you're on defense and the other way around. It's not like I was full-time quarterback. Football has always been around my life, but playing it at a collegiate level, it's a lot more demanding."

It wasn't until Arizona Western when he finally turned into a full-time safety. Once he made the switch, his name started buzzing across the country, gaining attention from power five conferences and picking up offers.

"My coach [at Arizona Western], Coach Minnick said 'I think you would make a really good safety,' and he was like 'I think you'd be a better safety than an offensive player.' So I gave it a try and school started and everyone was calling me up asking about my size and everything like that and it all went from there, now I'm at Arizona," he said about his position change.

Rich Rod hit the whip and nae nae this summer with the gymnastics team, but no one seemed to be talking about the two players included in the video, one of which being Paul.

"It was actually just him asking a whole bunch of people," he said when asked how he got chosen for the video. "All of a sudden me and Demetrius (Flannigan-Fowles) were like why not? We were just in the locker room and I was like alright I'll do it. Next thing you know we're out there and a few hours later ESPN is blowing up and we're like oh dang."

Paul was also a pretty big fan of the yoga session.

"It's good, definitely something we should keep doing and I think we are going to be doing. I felt the difference and you're able to reflect on everything and it's pretty cool, I like that," he said.

"Yeah I did actually," he said when asked if he felt it help on the field. "You might feel a little sore but it's a good sore. Those small little muscles you didn't know was there but it's a good sore."

Paul enjoys outings to Frog and Firkin, as well as Flemming's, where he went on his official visit, and takes many recruits when hosting. His emoji game is pretty strong, and his favorite emoji is the monkey that covers his mouth. "Like you can use it and be playful with it and it's a funny emoji to use so that one right there," he explained.

With Paul's size, instinct and versatility, Magloire has the ability to be one of the most dependable playmakers on the defense this season.

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Arizona football countdown: 7 days, Jamar Allah poised for big season with Wildcats

Don't let the new number fool you

Even though Jamar Allah is a senior, he's still sort of inexperienced, starting just two games in 2014 at bandit safety in place of Jared Tevis, who happened to start at a linebacker spot in those two games (Washington State and UCLA).

But now with a new number and some serious turnover in the secondary, Allah is poised to be the starter at free safety, and make a big impact on the Arizona Wildcats defense.

Ever since the start of spring, when Allah made the switch from No. 27 to No. 7, he has been getting the praise of Rich Rodriguez, as well as the various defensive coaches.

Allah is just one piece of a secondary that has impressed in fall camp, which he attributes to improved communication.

"We just trust each other, and that's led to us being progressively better," Allah told me last week.

Jamar only has 37 total tackles in his career (29 last year), but the increased playing time last season should pay off in a big way this year.

"We got to learn from our mistakes most definitely," Allah said of that game time he and Tellas Jones got last year. "We got some game run too, so I think we're pretty seasoned."

With Allah changing to No. 7, it also opened up No. 27 for Sammy Morrison, whose dad Darryl wore that number at Arizona in 1991 and 1992.

"(Jamar) was wearing 27 before me, and this season he switched to seven so it opened up and it worked out perfectly," Sammy said.

A lot of guys have also said that Allah has taken them under their wings, especially Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, who seems penciled in as the backup free safety behind Allah. Shun Brown is another guy Allah has been high on as well.

Whether it's his actual impact in the game this year, or his leadership pointing the young guys in the right direction for the next few years, Allah is sure to have a huge impact on this program moving forward.

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Arizona football: Shun Brown will be a backup slot receiver for Wildcats

A true freshman that will get some run at receiver this year

As fall camp wound down and school got started this week, the true freshmen that will play for the Arizona Wildcats this year started to clear up a little bit.

One of those guys is likely Shun Brown, who can fill in at a slot position when Samajie Grant and Nate Phillips need a break.

"He's going to play," wide receivers coach Tony Dews said of the freshman. "He's earned the right to play. He's busted his butt through camp and since we've ended camp, so he's earned the right to play. Now, how much? That's still to be determined, but he's done enough to prove to us that he can help us."

"Right now he's on the travel squad," Rich Rodriguez added. "He's in the backup role, and he's still learning but it doesn't look like he'll be redshirting."

So what is it exactly that he's done over the past few weeks to prove to the coaches that they can trust him in a game?

"Understanding the game of football," Dews continued. "Obviously he's been coached very well through high school, and really his whole life because his dad's a coach. So he understands the game of football and he's been able to pick things up quickly. He hasn't had a lotta busts assignment-wise. And he's a good athlete, so he's been able to catch on fast."

"Well, he's an athletic kid and he's picked up our schemes pretty well," added coach Rod. "He's done a good job assignment-wise, and I think (his dad coaching) has helped."

Learning these schemes, Brown goes up against one guy in practice on a regular basis, and that's fellow freshman Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles.

"It's been a great little competition," Brown said through a smile. "I know when I get up for one-on-ones, he always want to go against me, and I'm like 'come on man, let someone else go against me', and he's like 'no, I want to go against you'."

"It's one of those things that's a friendly rivalry, and I tell him all the time, but once we step on the practice field, we're not friends anymore, so we keep a little tally of how many times I caught a ball on him and things like that."

"We go at it," added Flannigan-Fowles. "We always go at it. Me and Shun go at it. We keep each other right, because we know we can be key contributors and that we're both pretty good at our positions, so we always go against each other head to head."

"It's helped me out a lot, because Shun is good," Demetrius continued. "That boy is good, so it's good being able to go against him and compete and seeing how much my coverage has improved."

"He's shifty," Flannigan-Fowles said about Shun's greatest strength. "If you guess one way, he's going to be the other way and you're gonna be like 'Oh my goodness'. That man is good. That man is shifty."

Another close friend of Shun Brown is former high school teammate Orlando Bradford, who's also in the mix to be a true freshman that contributes, whether it be at running back or on special teams.

"It's more of a family atmosphere," Brown said about having Bradford around. "It was a family atmosphere when I came here, and being with Orlando here is just a bonus. We're roommates, and we're just boys, best friends."

"It helped me a lot," Bradford said of having Brown in Tucson with him. "Me and Shun do everything together, so I really needed to get him out here. I mess with him every day, and we keep each other going so we don't miss home and all the good things about home, so we keep each other motivated."

There was a moment in the final week of camp where senior safety Jamar Allah was right up in Shun's ear for a good long walk. Not screaming or yelling or anything, just a nice long talk that was very one-sided.

"It's one of those things where the older guys like to test the young guys out and see what they're going to do," Brown said of that moment. "So it's one of those things when they talk to you, you just show respect and say 'I got you' and things like that."

"I knew it's deep in camp, and guys are starting to hurt, but you gotta embrace the grind," Allah explained. "And I'm just making sure he's getting better every single day, and not feeling sorry for yourself. But for sure he can contribute right away. Since the summer, he's just been going up and snagging balls, even balls that you wouldn't think somebody would catch, he just goes up and gets it. He's not scared of the ball."

"I really wasn't feeling down on myself, but it's hard being a freshman," Brown added. "I know this camp RichRod said it was easy, but for some of the freshmen, it was hard at first, but once we got used to it it was like 'Okay, wow, I'm getting used to this.' But when you make a mistake, you can't keep on thinking about it. You've gotta go on to the next play."

There's no reason for any of us to be down on him either heading into the season. With the injury to Tyrell Johnson, expect Brown and Johnny Jackson to be taking over in the slot whenever Samajie or Nate get winded. And it's really exciting for the future of this program to see all these potential freshmen playmakers in the mix for some serious run.

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Arizona football: Sharif Williams is focusing on conditioning to prepare for his responsibilites

Getting to know one of Arizona's biggest linemen at Media Day

Sharif Williams brings the much-needed size to the defensive line, and could be a big time contributor once he is able to get his body 100% prepared for action on the field.

It's been a rocky road for Williams to get to Arizona, but he's finally here and ready to make some moves. Coming out of Central High School (Fresno, CA), he was joined by his two teammates Devon Brewer and Nick Wilson. "That had a big influence having two friends come with me. What made me so comfortable was Coach Rod. Talking to him face to face, that was a big step and a lot different than I thought. I really like him a lot and he's a good coach," he added.

But a catastrophic knee injury kept him off the field his senior year, with doctors saying that he might never be able to play football again. Rich Rodriguez honored his scholarship, while Sharif grey shirted to bounce back from his injury. "The knee is 100% healthy. Made it through camp, no problem, no hiccups. Conditioning, I'm not saying I'm all the way there but I'm getting better."

He went through a strenuous rehab process to be able to get back on the field. "I was doing a lot of pool workouts, and ladders. A lot of rehab. not a lot of pressure stuff, but a lot of reps. A lot of reps with a little weight."

He was able to enroll in the spring and join the team early, giving him more time to learn the playbook and condition. "I was really thrown into the fire, you fly or you die," he added about the spring. "But it was really good to come in right away. They eased us into it a little bit but it helps a lot. It was good learning the playbook. Conditioning helped a lot because I couldn't do a lot [while hurt], so the extra spring helped me catch up and get back in shape."

Coming in as a 300lb nose tackle, Sharif embraces his role in a 3-3-5 defense. "I like the responsibility. You have two gaps that you have to control. I like being physical, you have double teams that you'll be taking on. The only thing I don't like is that you can't get the push rush you want, it's really hard, so you have to get really good technique in," he said about the defensive scheme.

He's seen a lot of improvement since he arrived on campus, and has been able to watch some film to critique his performance. "I like the fact that it looked like I was really pushing the pocket down, closing it down and I like the way my technique looked firing out. Things I didn't like was my conditioning, I was getting a little tired out there so I have to get that up," when asked about the film room.

As a true freshman, Williams was helped by some of the upperclassmen on the defensive line. "My man Sani (Fuimaono), Reggie Gilbert and Parker Zellers. They really taught me a lot, took me under their wing and showing me the ropes. Reggie is kind of the big brother of the whole defensive line and Sani and Parker play my position, so they really gave me some pointers and tips."

Williams noted that the brotherhood of Arizona is unparalleled, and something way better than he imagined coming into college. "Even though it's a competition for a spot, we're still brothers. I thought college was more earning your position. But here at Arizona we're all brothers and it's really natural for us to just bond and play the same position."

Sharif also has some hidden talents off the field. "I really like to grill and prepare Southern food. I want to be a chef after football so I dabble with a lot of things. I really cook a lot at my house, so I don't go out to eat a whole lot. But I'd say Bianchi's, that's a good little Italian spot," when asked about his favorite restaurant.

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Sonoran Hot Reads: Scooby Wright isn't quite perfect

Even Scooby messes up sometimes

Sports Illustrated ranked the Arizona Wildcats 15th in the preseason poll, and their feature was on none other than Scooby Wright III, and what makes him tick after an incredible 2014 campaign. But the story at the beginning is amazing:

There is also the matter of the large cut across his nose. This one is about a week old. Wright had moved into a new apartment and put a key in the door to open it. It was not the correct key. But he was reasonably sure it was, and that the door was being stubborn. So a 246-pound man who recorded 163 tackles last fall set to work, crouching down and putting some torque into getting this portal to oblige—"I wasn't going full King Kong on it," he notes—when, basically, he ripped the door off and it hit him in the face.

You see that everyone, even Scooby isn't perfect!

- Heatwaved has Arizona fourth in its Pac-12 South Power Rankings

- 247Sports predicts how the three non-conference games will go

- I did a preview for Bruins Nation over the summer, and unfortunately they published it on Wednesday, and my Tyrell Johnson pick doesn't look so hot right now after he missed all of camp with a foot injury

- Here's some info on UTSA's QB situation, with Austin Robinson, who played eight games at QB last year, will now be a safety. Also, be sure to follow Jared Kalmus on Twitter, especially for Roadrunners week

Basketball

- Dick Vitale (!) writes (?) how he thinks that Arizona and Sean Miller will be just fine this year, even after losing a bunch of important pieces

- Here's a look at how Lorenzo Romar keeps bringing big talent to Washington

- Kyle Fogg will be playing professionally in Spain next year

Other sports

- Sand volleyball brought in a grad transfer from Pacific

- Indoor volleyball is off to SMU to open their 2015 season with a preseason invitational

- The women's tennis fall schedule is out

- Niya Butts added Alli Gloyd to the women's basketball staff as an assistant coordinator of basketball operations

- Women's soccer will play NAU in Flagstaff on Friday

Tucson news

- With the day the rest of the country had, it's nice to know that Tucson had this good story of someone donating their bike to a person that has been affected by the Sun Tran Strike

??Weird leakage coming from Walmart on kolb and speedway @whatsuptucson http://pic.twitter.com/bDHX9XWEfm

— andrea мonazzaмι (@candiiiluver) August 27, 2015

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Holly & Justin’s Engagement Session

Love these two and cannot wait for their wedding this fall! They are just so, SO cool. Wait until you see their wedding…

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Hattrup Family

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Arizona football countdown: 8 days, the same number of field goals Casey Skowron missed last year

He may have missed eight field goals, but it was still a successful year for the Arizona kicker

Like all college kickers, Casey Skowron had his share of ups and downs last season.

He missed three field goals in the two-point loss to USC, including a 36-yarder that would've have won the Arizona Wildcats the game.

A few weeks later though, he made up for it when he made a 47-yarder in the final seconds of the game to beat Washington. He scored a rushing touchdown on a fake field goal in that game too.

He received death threats after one instance, and was carried off the field by his teammates as the hero in the other. That's life for a college kicker.

Nonetheless, Skowron had a solid overall season. He finished the season making 20 of his 28 field goal attempts, which gave him a FG% of 71.4%. That mark is the best by an Arizona kicker since -- gasp! -- Alex Zendejas in 2010. As we unfortunately know, Zendejas had his infamous share of missed extra points, a department that Skowron went a perfect 57 of out 57 in.

Skowron also went 4-5 in kicks that were 40+ yards, including a career-best 49 yarder in the opening game against UNLV. He is a master at onside kicks as well. There would have been no "Hill Mary" without his ability to get the right bounce, and it also took an onside kick recovery for Arizona to even have a chance to beat USC.

Of course, on the flip side, he went just 9-14 on kicks from 30-39 yards out and missed two field goals from closer than 29 yards out.

The moral of the story is that college kickers are inconsistent and can be unbelievably frustrating, but Skowron shouldn't be taken for granted. He's not the greatest of kickers, but Arizona could have it a whole lot worse -- like, perhaps a kicker that misses two costly extra points against an arch-rival.

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Arizona football: Marcus Griffin has made the most of his reps to become more comfortable

For redshirt freshman Marcus Griffin, he's taking advantage of his reps

After redshirting his freshman year, Marcus Griffin is much more comfortable on the defensive line. With a full year under his belt, he's feeling much more confident.

After enduring two fall camps and spring, Griffin has been able to notice a difference in his game. "I think it's a lot different. I got a full year to learn the defense and get comfortable with the position. I came in, kind of got thrown into the water, didn't know exactly what position. I had to learn two different positions and get my feet wet but now it's better," he said about his freshman year.

"I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready mentally or physically. I was pretty strong and athletic but it's a different ball game from high school. I'm going up against grown men, I'm not going up against high school kids. It was just kind of like taking last year to get bigger, get stronger and get faster to be comfortable with the defense so when they call my number I'm ready and we can win."

There's just one key for him in his progression as a defensive lineman. "It's all about getting comfortable, getting reps. That's how you get more comfortable," he said. "My decision making. I'm not hesitant in my decisions anymore. I'm going through, I know what to do now. Now it's more about reacting."

As a defensive lineman, analyzing the formation of the offense is critical to reading the play. "You have to pay attention to where the back is set, if it's off to the left or right. Then you have to look at the split of the linemen and it will tell you. Usually if the back is on your side of the tackle then you have to block them, kind of depends on the split of the team and what they run, and where the receivers are set."

Last week, Coach Rodriguez decided to dabble in yoga, and the players seemed to love it. "Yoga was different. It was something I wanted to try and it was a cool idea that was brought up by Coach Rod. It was fun, it was a little hard. I was a little sore, I can't lie. But we had a good instructor and she made it a little easier on us and just learning. I felt the difference in practice the next day for sure. I got home I was a little sore, in the hamstrings, but it was good."

Last Thursday was the first fall practice I was able to attend, but it just so happened to be cancelled after warm ups. It was quite the scene to see all of the guys book it to the locker room. "I was so excited. I was like Coach Rod for president, he's the greatest man I know. It was a great experience for us to go home and be able to relax for a day. The situation we're in is kind of tough because we're in 12 straight games so it was a good thing for us," Griffin explained.

A celebration ensued after the guys found out that coaches cancelled practice, but dancing in the locker room is pretty common for the team. "After a good practice happens we usually celebrate with a little dancing and a little music. But that day everyone was dancing and everyone had a good time."

The conversation led into Rich Rod's dance moves, which have been owning the internet. "Ahhhh Rich Rod, he's a good dancer. He has some go-to moves, he breaks it down in front of us and y'all don't get to see it but you saw in the video, him and Miss Rita. My man was doing the waltz and you don't see that everyday from your coach."

But when I asked Marcus to critique his whip and nae nae..? "Yeah, he needs to work on that," he joked.

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Sonoran Hot Reads: Arizona linebacker Jamardre Cobb moves to running back

Another player switching positions

Ever since they set foot on campus last year, people have wondered when the four-star linebacker combo of Jamardre Cobb and Marquis Ware would start contributing to the team. Well, Cobb might, but not at linebacker. At 2:20 of this video, Rich Rodriguez announced that they have moved the highly-touted linebacker to running back/fullback.

- ESPN ranked the top ten Pac-12 games of the year. UA/ASU is 3rd, and ten, they have every game that Utah plays. Ok ESPN.

- 247Sports has Arizona sitting at 26 in the overall recruiting rankings after the commitment of Bryson Cain. The Wildcats are right behind....Oregon

- Timmy Hamilton, who lasted an entire two days in camp, is transferring to Kansas

- Rich Rodriguez explained how his offensive mindset developed, and what a typical game week is like at Arizona

- I'm probably slightly biased, but this is the best college football preview you will find anywhere

- We have a lot more Arizona football content for you than any other site. On Tuesday alone, we previewed the running backs, told you why Anu Solomon will be better this year, answered your Twitter questions, wondered if Cayleb Jones will have 10+ TDs this year, and caught up with freshman linebacker Kendal Franklin

Basketball

- Stanley Johnson was in town and helping out at practice on Tuesday

- SI ranked the top ten potential impact freshmen, and Allonzo Trier is ninth

Other sports

- Soccer's Gabi Stoian was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week

Tucson news

- Six cars were trapped by a downed power line on Twin Peaks, but everyone's ok

- The monsoon also did some damage on the southeast side

- U of A and Uber have partnered for a research project on mapping cars

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Arizona football: Kendal Franklin adjusting to college life and picking up on the playbook

Get to know more about Kendal Franklin as he begins his journey at Arizona.

Kendal Franklin came into the 2015 recruiting class as the lone linebacker, checking in at 6-1 228lbs. We caught up with him at Media Day.

Coming all the way from Louisiana, he's been enjoying his first few weeks on campus.

"It's amazing. It's been fun. Camp has been pushing us a lot, everyone working to try and get better," Franklin said. "I haven't been on campus all that much, just because we're in camp all day, but from the bit of campus I've been on, it's been cool."

Of course, there's a transition period for freshmen, and there's that moment when you realize you're no longer in high school. For Franklin, it was the conditioning.

"Being in Pac-12 we run and run and run. So just coming in shape and putting in the work and keeping up with the guys, that's just the biggest part," he said.

Out of Warren Easton (New Orleans, LA), Franklin went up against some tough competition, yet still led the state in sacks his junior and senior year. But now, Rich Rod's patented offense is on another level when it comes to speed.

"In my high school we went up against a lot of spread offense, but not at this speed," he said. "Coach Rich Rod wants to do everything fast and a quick pace, and it's just not like in high school. It's a different level, speed is everything here."

At Warren Easton, they ran a 4-3 defense, with Franklin lined up at end to rush the pass, while dropping back into coverage every once in a while. Now, he says that he's focusing on strictly being a linebacker, reading the under keys, getting off blocks and not just thinking like a defensive end.

Despite mainly playing in a defensive end role, in a 4-3 defense, Franklin says his biggest strength right now is his knowledge of Arizona's 3-3-5 playbook.

"I got most of the plays down, I feel confident about what I'm doing on the field. But now it's just getting out there and actually doing it. The playbook came much easier," he said.

Learning a bit about Kendal's recruitment process, he says that Scooby Wright III played a big part.

"He was one of the reasons I committed here," Franklin explained of their relationship. "Talking to this guy a lot, becoming close with him. When we do individual drills I get with him and we do pass rush drills and everything. We're working on attacking right now. I talked to Scooby a lot about it and worked with him on it. That's just all that we do."

Aside from Scooby, there were quite a few things that pushed Arizona to the top for Franklin.

"The fan atmosphere. The ZonaZoo was ranked No. 1 last year. Coach Magee is from Louisiana. But every once in a while Scooby would text me or talk to me on Twitter and be like 'hey, keep working, can't wait until you are here,' so it just felt like family. I wanted to get out of the south too," he added.

Coming in as a freshman, Franklin has one thing on his mind.

"It's just about winning. Everyone likes to talk about individual goals but everybody here just wants a ring. We want to get to the Rose Bowl, trying to win the Pac-12 and compete. And Coach Rich Rod is pushing us everyday."

With the first week of school just starting up, Franklin will be pursuing a degree in journalism.

"I'm trying to get into the interview process like this, and the writing too. Just getting behind the scenes and keeping around sports. I'm a big fan of stats and all sports. I was coming in as a communication major, but talking to my advisor, they were saying it's more of a help with journalism to be in sports."

Although he just got to campus a few weeks ago, Franklin has been to a lot of places to eat. But his favorite? "

"I'm about to say Empire Pizza, downtown. Maybe like three slices of pepperoni, a drink, and a lot of ranch."

Naturally, I had to ask about his favorite emoji as well.

"The purple, evil devil. It's not the mad devil, but the slightly grinning one. It's like, you don't know what's on his mind, but he's got a plan up in there," he explained.

Kendal Franklin could be in a pretty good situation right now with the way the linebacker depth is panning out. His knowledge of the playbook will take him a long way, which could make him one of the seven or eight true freshmen Rich Rod plans on playing this season.

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Arizona football countdown: 9 days, the number of receiving TDs for Cayleb Jones in 2014

Should we expect double digits this year?

We have reached single digits in our countdown to Arizona Wildcats football!

Last season, Texas transfer Cayleb Jones made a huge splash at receiver, catching nine TDs in his first full season of action in college as a redshirt sophomore.

"I was very fresh out there and I didn't know what to expect," Jones said of his first season.

But is it fair to wonder if there could have been more?

Jones was dealing with a broken hand towards the end of the season, which hurt his production, along with Anu Solomon's ankle injury.

"People didn't know, but it doesn't matter," the receiver explained about his injury. "Football comes with injuries, and I struggled a little bit with it, but I'm good now."

Even with that, his nine touchdowns were just two shy of the school's single season record of 11, which was done twice by Juron Criner, as well as Austin Hill, Mike Thomas, and Theopolis Bell.

Jones is much bigger and stronger this season, and has shown his improved physicality several times throughout camp, coming up with amazing catches over corners and getting big plays down the sidelines.

"I played at 208 last year and I'm 220 right now," Jones said before camp started. "Last year I was still dealing with my hand and stuff, so I didn't really get to lift throughout the summer. So really just tried to trim down and bulk up in a good way."

What seems even more amazing about his nine touchdowns is that he's just two shy of cracking the top 13 in career TD receptions at Arizona. If he puts up another nine this year, he jumps up to seventh by himself on the list, with the potential of another year in 2016.

With so many receivers, it seems kind of crazy to predict a guy will finish with double digit scores, but if there's someone who can do that this year at Arizona, it's Cayleb Jones. And he could vault himself into the conversation as one of the best receivers this school has ever seen.

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AZDS Tuesday Twitterbag: Predicting the 2015 Arizona football season

Let's look into the crystal ball

Now that we are almost a week away from the start of Arizona Wildcats football, it seems that you guys are very concerned with what things will look like at the end of the season.

Remember to tweet us your questions, or feel free to drop them in the comments for next week's Twitterbag, which will be just TWO DAYS before football!

@azdesertswarm where do you realistically expect UofA to be at the end of the season?

— Kyle Goose (@GooseThe_Moose) August 25, 2015

I realistically expect them to be playing a football game in Tempe at the end of the season. But I think this question wants number of wins? I think this team goes 9-3 in the regular season, and finishes second or third in the Pac-12 South. Which leads to the next question...

@azdesertswarm Where will I be traveling for Arizona's bowl game this year?

— Michael Coronado (@Mike18Coronado) August 25, 2015

First off, I remember the days of "Will Arizona be bowl eligible?", and the way this question is phrased is a nice change of pace. I believe that it will either be San Diego for the Holiday Bowl or Santa Clara for the Foster Farms Bowl. I still think 2016 is the year that we'll be talking Rose Bowl for the first time ever. My favorite thing (outside of a New Years' Six Bowl obviously) would be the Alamo Bowl, mostly because it's January 2nd, and I am so down to spend New Year's Eve in San Antonio.

@azdesertswarm any freshman who you think will make an immediate impact for RR this year?

— Stuart Kratz (@StuartKratz) August 25, 2015

@azdesertswarm what true or RS freshmen stood out?

— z (@Writingez99) August 22, 2015

Don't be surprised if Sammy Morrison is a starting corner next Thursday. This kid is real, and he has been running with the "ones" a lot the past week and a half. The three other names to keep an eye on in my opinion are Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Shun Brown, and Orlando Bradford. They seem like the group of four that has the most realistic chance of getting serious playing time.

@azdesertswarm Cobb or Ware show any signs that they'll contribute this season?

— z (@Writingez99) August 22, 2015

I get that four-star recruits get more attention than most, but these guys have so much talent standing between them and the playing field at linebacker. They were essentially running third team during Saturday's scrimmage along with the infamous Sir Thomas Jackson. Eventually Cobb and Ware will contribute. Can't imagine that it's this season, unless it's on special teams.

Thanks for the questions everyone! I think we're all ready to get this thing rolling!

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