Jarrell Bennett has been friends with Cortez Johnson since they were little kids. Then they were rivals on different high school teams in New Orleans. Soon, they will be football teammates at the University of Arizona.

Bennett, a speedy 5-foot-10, 155-pound receiver/returner from Edna Karr High School in New Orleans, committed Friday to the Wildcats. He was recruited by running backs coach Garret Chachere, who has long ties to Louisiana.

Johnson, a true freshman, is one of two Louisiana players on the Arizona roster, the other being cornerback Jonathan McKnight. The Cats also have a commitment from defensive lineman Gerron Borne from East St. John High in Reserve, La.

“I talked to Cortez about Arizona and he said everything was good,” Bennett said. “He said it was a good atmosphere. And he said about the academics that they really take time to help, to make sure you’re a student first.”

With or without Johnson, Bennett said he sensed he had a football home in Arizona when he looked at its offense. He said Karr High, which is ranked preseason No. 1 among large schools in the New Orleans’ metro area, runs a five-wide spread offense.

“When I did my research in all the schools, I just liked the style of offense and I think I would fit,” he said of Arizona’s spread attack.

“What I do best is the thing I do after the catch,” he added. “I make the plays after the catch.”

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Adam Hall could be back in action in several weeks. Photo by Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats starting safety Adam Hall and starting linebacker Jake Fischer could be back by the beginning of October as they push ahead in their ACL rehabs, coach Mike Stoops said after Thursday’s practice.

“I would say that would be the best-case scenario,” Stoops said of the early October return. “After the break, the last six games, would be the worst-case scenario.”

Arizona has an open date after an Oct. 8 game at Oregon State. So, in Stoops’ worst-case scenario, Hall and Fischer would be ready for a Thursday night home game against UCLA on Oct. 20.

“We’ll know more as the next couple of weeks progress,” Stoops said.

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Arizona's Jonathan McKnight tackles Washington's Jesse Callier last season. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops walked up to a waiting group of reporters after Thursday’s practice and opened with this: “More bad news,” he said.

It sure was.

Sophomore Jonathan McKnight, a starting cornerback and projected to be the team’s primary punt returner, suffered a torn ACL in Wednesday’s practice and is out for the season.

“It’s disappointing for Jonathan,” Stoops said.

“He’s a terrific player and he had a great camp. It is just one of those things. We feel very disappointed and sad for him and our team. He’s a great leader for us and an outstanding football player.”

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Mike Stoops in one of his better moments -- after beating ASU in 2009. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas, US Presswire

Thomas Neumann of ESPN.com’s Page 2 has posted an interesting Q&A with Arizona coach Mike Stoops, who reveals some personal touches and reflects on his biggest coaching mistakes.

Regarding those strategy decisions, the one that often pops in my mind is one he didn’t mention: The 2005 season-opener at Utah.

Arizona had rallied from a 27-10 deficit to trail 27-24 late in the game. Facing fourth-and-5 from the Utah 42 with a little more than three minutes left, Arizona punted.

I remember thinking it would have been a perfect time, at the beginning of his second year against a team that was coming off a 12-0 season, for Stoops to establish an aggressive, won’t-back-down play-calling mentality.

As it turned out, the punt went into the end zone, the Wildcats had to use their final timeout … and they ended up getting the ball back at their 9 with 28 seconds left. Game over.

Anyway, back to the Q&A, I see Stoops has good taste in restaurants and cheerleaders … and I have to agree with him on the whole grocery shopping thing.

(Great quote from USC coach Lane Kiffin, who picked Stoops when answering the “best dressed coach in the league” question: “He’s totally changed. He drinks fancy wine now. He reads the same magazines as my wife. He’s got designer clothes on all the time.”)

Check out the full Stoops’ Q&A at ESPN.com.

Jaime Salazar made 14 of 15 field goal attempts in junior college last season.

Jaime Salazar is clutch. Just ask him.

And if there is one thing the Arizona Wildcats need from their place-kicker these days, it’s confidence and “clutchiness” as Alex Zendejas tries to clear his head from those two blocked extra points against Arizona State.

“Z started the season very well but he missed them in the clutch game,” said Salazar, a junior college transfer who won the starting place-kicking job in camp.

“Coach said I have the clutch game and I have been proving that I do. So, we’ll see there.”

Salazar cited a couple of clutch examples from his days at Trinity Valley Community College in Texas and Garland (Texas) High School. As for what he will do in front of 50,000-plus at Arizona Stadium and in other pressure-cookers around the Pac-12 … well, like he said, we’ll see.

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Arizona's new long-snapper Josh Elias, in a recruiting video you can find on his website.

Josh Elias wasn’t with the Arizona Wildcats when they opened camp earlier this month.

Now, he’s the starting long-snapper for punts.

Arizona looked around after last season’s starting snapper, scholarship sophomore Chase Gorham, left the team for personal reasons at the start of camp (although he has a redshirt season available and could return at some point).

The Wildcats were prepared to plug in junior offensive lineman Brian Chacon for the “short” snaps — field goals and extra points — but wanted to create competition for punt snaps.

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This 45-yarder aganist Oregon State last season is one of Juron Criner's 21 career TD receptions. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Arizona Wildcats coach Mike Stoops said after the team’s second fall scrimmage that “If we have to throw it 60 times, then we’ll throw it 60 times.”

He said after the team’s third and final scrimmage on Saturday, “if we have to throw it 50 times …”

Hey, where’s the consistency?

In any case, we get the point. The Wildcats are going to throw. Short, deep, swing, middle, flat, sideline. They are going to throw. A lot.

With that in mind, let’s visit some of the Arizona’s season and career records, all centered around the passing game, that are in danger of being rewritten.

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Carrying the ball is the easy part for Ka'Deem Carey. Photo by WildcatSportsReport.com

Arizona football newcomers had been off limits to the media until Tuesday. Those were coach Mike Stoops’ orders, his way of tamping down unrealistic expectations. No player’s ego should inflate before his production does.

With the restriction lifted, the local media closed in on the local kid after Tuesday’s practice. Freshman running back Ka’Deem Carey, from Canyon del Oro High School and the top-rated recruit in Arizona’s 2011 class, faced the video cameras, the notebooks, the audio recorders.

Carey, known in high school to have a confidence level that might have bordered on something else, didn’t make any bold predictions — “I’m just here playing football like any other person,” he said.

He acknowledged he is learning the same lesson as every other true freshman: The speed of the game moves way faster now.

“Playing at this level is different,” he said.

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Jaime Salazar made 14 of 15 field goal attempts in junior college last season.

The battle at place-kicker has probably been Arizona’s most compelling competition of fall camp, and its most democratic.

Chart every kick … see who wins.

For now, as the coaches digest all the evidence, there appears to change coming, with junior college transfer Jaime Salazar edging ahead of two-year starter Alex Zendejas.

“We’re still competing, but Jaime moved kind of ahead of Alex right now,” coach Mike Stoops said after Tuesday’s practice. “We’ll continue to compete as we go through.”

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Kyle Quinn will the offensive line leader in 2011. Photo by WildcatSportsReport.com

School has started. The Arizona Wildcats football team is in regular-season mode, practicing on campus in the late afternoon. The season-opener against NAU looms on Sept. 3.

The Cats got through the “camp” portion of fall in pretty good shape. Backup quarterback Bryson Beirne might miss a couple of games because of a knee sprain; Jourdon Grandon, a redshirt freshman who was competing for the starting nickel back spot, might not be ready for the season because of a knee injury.

The team’s two public scrimmages were — as things often are at this time of the year — uneven and largely uninspiring. It could be an entirely different story when real football begins.

The schedule itself is one of Arizona’s great concerns, with the Wildcats playing top 10 teams Oklahoma State, Stanford and Oregon in September. Then Arizona has road games vs. USC and Oregon State.

But the Cats can’t do anything about the schedule. Here are three lingering concerns that they can do something about:

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