Freshman receiver Austin Hill makes a catch over the coverage of freshman Jourdan Grandon/Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

The alarm clocks rang early.

“I try to wake up as late as I can, but I woke up at 4:45 to be on the bus at 5:30,” said Arizona senior defensive end Ricky Elmore. “You wake up and stumble into the locker room and try to get to the bus on time.”

The Arizona Wildcats began fall camp Thursday morning at 6:15 a.m., and other than a little to-be-expected rust, coach Mike Stoops liked what he saw physically.

“Overall, I’m pleased with what our guys look like,” Stoops said.

“Our young guys, watching them move around for the first day, there are going to be some guys who are going to help us from the recruiting class of a year ago. I can see that already.”

It was only the first day, so we’ll just have to wait a little bit on exactly who those guys are … but certainly freshman safety Marquis Flowers is one to watch (especially if the Wildcats seem intent on using a lot of nickel coverage).

And, as you can see from the photo snapped by Brad Allis of TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network partner WildcatSportsReport.com, freshman receiver Austin Hill made a couple of nice, difficult catches.

It says something about where Stoops has this program in his seventh season — can you believe that in the Pac-10 only Oregon State’s Mike Riley and Cal’s Jeff Tedford have been at their schools longer? — that there is a sense of stability, even on the first day.

Just jump right into it.

“That’s what we try to do every time — come out at full speed and try to get right into it,” Elmore said. “There is no such thing as rolling into things.”

This doesn’t figure to be a news-heavy camp … barring any major injury problems, of course. There are some position battles, but nothing so exciting or dire that it is going to change the season outlook. Arizona will be fine with either Vaughn Dotsy or Jovon Hayes at right guard. Same thing for Phillip Garcia and Jack Julsing at right tackle.

Priority No. 1 is to continue to develop a young, inexperienced linebacker corps.

A pair of junior college transfers — Derek Earls in the middle, and Paul Vassallo — worked with the first team Thursday, as they did in the spring. Both are 6-foot-3 and are now north of 240 pounds.

“I think our linebackers really increased their strength and size, and that was important for us to get bigger in the middle,” Stoops said.

“You look at Paul Vassallo and Derek Earls, those are two guys over 240 pounds. That gives us a little more size, some range, we haven’t had in there.”

Other first day notes:

• The white helmets from the Holiday Bowl are back. Kind of. These are better. Arizona has added a red stripe and a blue stripe down the middle, making them similar to the version worn through the 1990s and up to the beginning of the Stoops era in 2004.
• Stoops said senior Conan Amituanai, projected as a starting left guard, suffered an apparent knee sprain and could be out for a couple of weeks.
• Backup running back Greg Nwoko, who missed spring ball because of a shoulder injury, was back in action.
• Stoops said a handful of players were still working through eligibility/medical clearance. There was no word on the eligibility status of Dexter Ransom, a junior college receiver who is expected to compete for immediate playing time.

The second printing of the UA schedule poster won't include now-departed Delashaun Dean, No. 18 on the left.

In an interview this week with Fox 11′s Vinnie Vinzetta, Arizona football coach Mike Stoops said that “outside of Autzen Stadium, I think we have the best stadium in the Pac-10 when you look at the overall environment. Hopefully, that will improve and we can have the same environment that they do in Oregon.”

The Zona Zoo deserves a lot of credit for making Arizona Stadium a much crazier place that it used to be on game day, and, hopefully, the student section now has learned its lesson about prematurely rushing the field.

A full Stoops interview will appear on Fox 11′s Sports Force on Sunday night. …

Arizona quarterback Nick Foles was selected last week to the watch list for the Davey O’Brien quarterback award, which only seems right. There are 30 names on the list, and Foles is probably around 20 to 25 if you had to rank everyone in order.

Foles is not taking a second-semester summer class, but he did in the first session, when his routine also included about two hours in the weight room with strength coach Corey Edmond, followed by working on quarterback fundamentals for 15 to 30 minutes, and then some one-on-ones and seven-on-seven drills with his teammates in the late afternoon. …

Foles told us this week that in the wake of the transfer of senior receiver Delashaun Dean that inside receiver David Douglas is now working at the “Z” outside position in informal workouts. The pre-fall depth chart lists Travis Cobb (who made no impact in the passing game last season) and junior college transfer Dexter Ransom at “Z”.

NOTE: This story was part of the “Nothing but the Notes” package at our TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network partner, WildcatSportsReport.com. Follow the link for basketball recruiting news, including on Mesa guard Jahii Carson and more.

A few weeks ago, WildcatSportsReport.com reported that Ransom had successfully completed his coursework and was awaiting his paperwork to clear. That will now take longer. Ransom has had to re-submit some paperwork and is still waiting clearance. He is currently working out but is not able to attend summer school at Arizona.

Gino Crump, listed as a backup to Juron Criner at the other outside position, could also help fill Dean’s void. …

New Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne was in South Bend this weekend with former UA coach Dick Tomey as part of the UA contingent to help usher in Chuck Cecil to the College Football Hall of Fame. …

Quite naturally, given his status as a starter and would-be fifth-year senior, Dean was included in the first printing of Arizona’s football schedule poster, which features action cutouts of players on either side of senior center Colin Baxter, ready to snap the ball. That is also the picture on the schedule magnet.

Dean’s suspension and transfer came too late for Arizona officials to change the image on those products, but Dean will be scrubbed from future printings of the poster. Dean’s image had appeared between those of defensive end Brooks Reed and cornerback Trevin Wade on the left side of the poster. …

Jennie Finch takes a swing at the 2010 All-Star celebrity softball game at Angel Stadium/Photo by Kirby Lee, US Presswire

Not that it’s ever bad to be Jennie Finch, but the former UA All-American pitcher had an especially interesting A-list kind of week.

She started with an appearance in Monday’s celebrity softball game at the All-Star Game — she delivered a slow-pitch offering that Rickey Henderson took over the temporary fence for a home run, and he then strutted around the bases with a “flaps down” home run trot.

From there, Finch walked the red carpet at Wednesday’s ESPY Award ceremonies and then was back in uniform for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch league. In the celebrity softball game, Henderson seemed especially motivated after Finch got a first-pitch strike using one of her more traditional fastballs. …

Former Arizona first baseman C.J. Ziegler is playing for Traverse City (Mich.) in the independent Frontier League. Ziegler was the runner-up this week in the league’s Home Run Derby, and he went 2-for-3 at the All-Star Game for the East team.

It’s a long road to the majors from the independent leagues, but it does happen — as was the case this season for outfielder Daniel Nava, who was purchased a few years ago from the Chico Outlaws for $1 by the Red Sox.