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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