Juron Criner was the only all-conference player for Arizona from its 2008 recruiting class. Photo by Chris Morrison-USA Today Sports

The Arizona Wildcats football recruiting class of 2008 is in the books.

Arizona was coming off a 5-7 season in coach Mike Stoops fourth season and hadn’t had a winning record in nine seasons.

The Cats weren’t operating from a position of strength and finished 39th nationally in the recruiting rankings of Rivals.com and Scout.com, which put Arizona slightly below average among BCS conference teams.

So, how did Arizona do with its 2008 recruiting class?

Somewhere around average sounds about right.

The Cats hit on about half of the class, with “hit” defined as a starting player, but there wasn’t a lot of star power and not nearly enough defense.

Let’s take a look …

Good: You wouldn’t have known it at the time, but the eventual headliner of the 23-player class was three-star receiver Juron Criner (who was rated as only as two-star recruit by Scout.com). Criner was the only first-team All-Pac-10/12 player in this class, becoming one of the most prolific receivers in school history.

“We knew in high school he was pretty special,” Stoops said in 2010.

“He was a big, strong, physical guy. Played basketball. Could jump. I don’t know … we didn’t see anything that showed us he wasn’t going to be a very talented player.”

Good: The class was heavy on offensive linemen; seven signed with the Cats and six proved to be starters, including a pair who helped lead the 2012 line as fifth-year seniors — center Kyle Quinn and guard Trace Biskin.

Bad: Three of the offensive linemen were junior college transfers, so Arizona filled a need but didn’t get much lasting benefit. And the career of promising guard Vaughn Dotsy was cut short because of injury.

Bad: The best offensive lineman of the group — junior college transfer J’Marcus Webb — never made it to Arizona but has gone on to be a three-year starter for the Chicago Bears.

Good: Defensive back Robert Golden was one of the top-rated players in Arizona’s class and became a three-year starter and a NFL player last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Criner, Golden and wide receiver David Douglas (who appeared in one game with Tampa Bay late in the season) all made the NFL from this class.

Good: Not included here is a player Arizona landed in the spring of 2008 — Michigan State transfer quarterback Nick Foles.

Good: Quarterback Matt Scott, able to redshirt in 2011 behind Foles, was a fifth-year senior last season. He earned second-team All-Pac-12 team and was the foremost reason why the Cats posted a surprising 8-5 mark in coach Rich Rodriguez’s first season.

Bad: With a class that featured six junior college transfers, five players who never played a down for the Cats, injuries, and guys who simply weren’t good enough, Arizona got useful play from only three fifth-year seniors: Scott, Quinn and Biskin. Lack of depth from the upperclassmen was a huge hurdle for Rodriguez in 2012.

Bad: Arizona went 0 for 5 in defensive linemen in this class, a huge reason why the Cats failed to have a suitable pass rush in 2011 and 2012. UA also went 0 for 2 on high school linebackers. The alarming lack of enduring defensive talent in this class helps explain Arizona’s woeful stats in the past two seasons.

Here is a player-by-player look at the 2008 class, with ratings by Rivals.com:

Keola Antolin, RB, Las Vegas, Bishop Gorman HS (3 stars)
He gave Arizona steady production for four seasons, finishing with 2,398 rushing yards, 508 receiving yards and 26 total touchdowns.

Dominique Austin, DE, La Puente, Calif., Bishop Amat HS (3 stars)
He was little-used before this year. He started the first five games before being sidelined with an injury, able to return briefly in the New Mexico Bowl.

Kenny Barnes, DE, Glendale, Raymond S Kellis HS (2 stars)
Never played. Quit the team in the summer of 2009 after redshirting.

Trace Biskin, OL, Westlake Village, Calif. Oaks Christian HS (3 stars)
Started 17 games over the past two seasons, including seven in 2012, when he battled a toe injury.

Juron Criner, WR, North Las Vegas, Canyon Springs HS (3 stars)
With excellent body control and leaping ability, Criner excelled at catching the deep pass from Nick Foles. He finished with 209 catches for 2,859 yards and a school-record 32 touchdown receptions, going on to play for the Oakland Raiders as a rookie.

Mike Diaz, OL, Cerritos, Calif., Cerritos CC (3 stars)
He started 20 games in two years, including 11 at left tackle in 2009.

Vaughn Dotsy, OL, Ventura, Calif., St. Bonaventure HS (3 stars)
He started two games as a junior early in the 2010 season before being sidelined by a back injury that forced him to give up football after the year.

David Douglas, WR, McKinney, Texas, McKinney North HS (2 stars)
Douglas caught 151 passes for 1,542 yards and 11 touchdowns at Arizona. He was on the New York Giants practice squad for most of last season before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked him up late in the season.

Zander Fabbri, LB, Bakersfield, Calif., Centennial HS (3 stars)
He suffered a concussion in 2008 fall camp and eventually had to give up football.

Phillip Garcia, OL, Cerritos, Calif., Cerritos CC (3 stars)
Redshirted in 2008 because of a knee injury, made a couple of spot starts in 2009 and then started every game in 2010 at right tackle.

Robert Golden, DB, Fresno, Calif., Edison HS (4 stars)
He started two seasons at safety and one at cornerback for the Cats before sticking with the Pittsburgh Steelers last season as an undrafted free agent.

Herman Hall, OL, Brenham, Texas, Blinn CC (2 stars)
He started 11 games as a senior in 2009, playing both guard spots.

Solomon Koehler, DT, Kaneohe, Hawaii, Castle HS (4 stars)
Plenty of recruiting hype but didn’t have the quickness needed at defensive tackle and was moved to the offensive line late in his redshirt freshman season. He was gone a year later.

Sterling Lewis, LB, Brenham, Texas, Blinn CC (3 stars)
Was a solid player, starting 15 games in two seasons and making 97 tackles.

Chris Merrill, DT, Scottsdale, Saguaro HS (3 stars)
He merely saw spot duty through his career, coming up with 15 tackles, including five in 2012.

Greg Nwoko, RB, Pflugerville, Texas, Pflugerville HS (2 stars)
Had a role in 2009 and 2010 as a bigger running back, but he lost 2011 to a knee injury and 2012 to a hip injury after moving to linebacker in fall camp.

Kyle Quinn, OL, Brentwood, Calif., Liberty Union HS (3 stars)
Quinn was a two-year starter at center, extending the program’s stability at the position after taking over for Colin Baxter. Worked out for scouts at the Casino Del Sol College All-Star Game and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Matt Scott, QB, Corona, Calif., Centennial HS (4 stars)
Got his chance to be the full-time starter as a senior, completing 301 of 499 passes for 3,620 yards, with 27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Scott has the potential to be a mid-round NFL draft pick in April.

Vuna Tuihalamaka, LB, Torrance, Calif., El Camino CC (4 stars)
He was productive as an every-game starter in 2009, with 72 tackles, including 5.5 for loss.

Jowyn Ward, DT, Katy, Texas, Mayde Creek HS (2 stars)
Only saw spot duty (11 tackles) for three years before being moved to backup offensive guard during the 2012 season.

Mark Watley, DB, Encino, Calif., Crespi HS (2 stars)
He seemed to be in line to be a contributor in 2012, but he made only four tackles as he slipped on the depth chart after making 27 stops in 2011.

J’Marcus Webb, OL, Corsicana, Texas, Navarro JC (4 stars)
He was the only member of Arizona’s recruiting class who failed to qualify, landing at lower-division West Texas. Webb, who began his career at the University of Texas, was a seventh-round pick of the Bears in 2010.

R.J. Young, LB, DeSoto, Texas, DeSoto HS (3 stars)
After making 25 career tackles at Arizona, Young transferred after the 2010 season to Louisiana-Monroe, where he led the team in tackles in 2012 with 94, including 11 for loss.

This season wouldn’t have been possible without the play and leadership of Matt Scott. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Soon after Arizona hired Rich Rodriguez, the seniors-to-be filed into his new office, one-by-one, to hear the same message.

Center Kyle Quinn remembers Rodriguez saying something like this:

“This is your team. It’s the seniors’ team. I may not have recruited you guys, and this is your last year, but I want you guys to have the best senior year possible. You’re my guys.”

This is always the worry with a coaching change — the tenuous relationship between the new coach and the old players. The guy with the long-term plan doesn’t always have use for the short-timers. The short-timers tune out the guy with the long-term plan.

“We really bought into his philosophy and his mindset,” Quinn said.

“We were eager to change,” said senior defensive lineman Chris Merrill. “We knew we had to buy in for change to be implemented.”

“It started with us,” added senior fullback/defensive end Taimi Tutogi. “We talked to the guys and said, ‘Look at this guy’s record; he’s done a lot of good things at previous schools.’ The guys followed their leaders.”

Compare that to the situation at Washington State, where first-year coach Mike Leach said last month some of his seniors have an “empty-corpse quality.”

At Arizona, the senior class has helped pulled the Wildcats up from a 4-8 record last season to a 7-4 mark this year heading into Friday night’s regular-season finale against Arizona State.

It’s not that this senior class is supremely deep or talented — there are only five seniors who have started a majority of the games, none on defense. Several seniors are merely deep reserves, but they haven’t poisoned the well while filling small roles.

“I thought it was a good group of guys, but I didn’t know if they could play or not and what their contributions would be on the field,” Rodriguez said of his first impression of the seniors.

“But I loved their attitude. I thought they had a willingness to listen and learn and to lead in the right way. Particularly if you’re a senior and you’re not playing a whole lot, you could go a couple of different ways.

“You could buy into the team concept and help us out that way, or you could kind of go the other way and be a detriment. I think our guys chose to go the right way.”

This was hardly a seamless transition. Rodriguez asked the Wildcats to learn a new scheme on offense, a new scheme on defense, to practice differently — fast-paced all the time — to condition differently and harder than ever in the offseason. What’s more, the coaching staff has a different collective personality than that of the previous staff, another factor that could lead to unease and unhappiness.

“The guys that are here are happy that they stayed. I know it’s the best decision I’ve made,” Tutogi said.

“I’m just happy that Coach RichRod is doing what he is doing. It’s been a 360 (degree) difference from last year. Guys have stepped up. Now I wish I would have redshirted my freshman year. That’s just a product of how Coach RichRod coaches and his philosophy. I like that it’s a family.

“I’m sad, but I’m happy for the younger guys, because that’s what they are going to get for the rest of their career.”

The whole feel-good vibe has been a stark contrast to Rodriguez’s first year at Michigan.

These are some of the things that have been different at Arizona: UA didn’t have a public, anguished coaching search; Rodriguez nailed his introductory press conference; he’s had the full support of the administration; he hasn’t been publicly bad-mouthed by former players; his good ol’ boy personality has played well to the masses; he inherited an experienced senior quarterback … and any grumbling has stayed behind the scenes.

The proof of the buying-in is in the win-loss record and an on-field effort that can’t be called disappointing. Much credit goes to the seniors.

“He asked a lot of us as a group,” Tutogi said.

“It’s been easy when you’ve got a group of guys like the ones you’ve got. We didn’t know what guys were going to think when Coach Rod came in because you have a lot of different opinions with a lot of different coaches. But it started with us.”

Arizona rotates captains on a weekly basis but on Wednesday named captains through the bowl game — Scott, Quinn, Biskin and junior linebacker Jake Fischer, a fourth-year player who is the leader of a defense that does not start a senior.

“A few of the guys have been not just good leaders but great leaders. I think that has really helped us in a year of transition,” Rodriguez said.

“We’ve been fortunate to make steps as a program while the seniors have been all in.”

* * *

Arizona’s 2012 senior class

*Note: WR Terrence Miller not listed because it is expected that he will get a medical hardship for this season, able to return as a fifth-year senior in 2013.

Greg Nwoko was a happy Wildcat during football media day in August 2010. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona fifth-year senior Greg Nwoko, given a new way in which to potentially contribute this fall, likely won’t ever get a chance to play again for the Wildcats.

Nwoko, who was deemed out for the season on last week’s official injury update, would seemingly qualify for a rare sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA because he will have missed two full seasons due to injury.

But coach Rich Rodriguez said Nwoko’s hip injury, suffered in practice during fall camp, makes it appear that “his football career is probably finished.”

“He’s a great young man. You feel bad for him,” Rodriguez said.

“Greg has done everything we’ve asked in the program. He’s going to get his degree. And he’s there every day. He still comes out to practice every day in his shorts and T-shirt.”

Nwoko (6-1, 237) provided Arizona with a big-back option in the running game in 2009 and 2010 after redshirting in his first year on campus. He rushed 133 times for 543 yards and six touchdowns in two seasons, also catching 24 passes for 225 yards, before suffering an ACL injury in spring 2011.

With ample depth at running back, the new coaching staff considered moving him to linebacker when he came back healthy this spring, but Rodriguez didn’t make the change then, saying he figuring it might not be fair to do so for his final season. After a couple of linebacker defections over the summer, though, Rodriguez decided he needed Nwoko to give defense a try.

He was injured soon after switching positions.

“We were really excited about him moving over there and giving us a big body at linebacker,” Rodriguez said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.

“It looks like his football career is probably finished, but whatever walk of life he goes into, Greg Nwoko will have success.”

Lene Maiava

The Arizona Wildcats have lost backup right tackle Lene Maiava to a season-ending ACL tear, according to the team’s injury report sent out Thursday afternoon.

Maiava suffered the injury during Saturday’s game at Oregon.

The redshirt freshman from American Samoa is a promising player who has been in the rotation behind starter Fabbians Ebbele.

This is the second season-ending ACL injury to one of Arizona’s young tackles. Redshirt freshman Jacob Arzouman tore his in fall camp; coach Rich Rodriguez said Arzouman was on pace to be in the playing rotation, too.

Another potential tackle, Jack Baucus, had to give up football this fall because of multiple injuries.

Maiava was still listed as second-string on this week’s depth chart. Shane Zink is the backup left tackle behind Mickey Baucus.

Also, senior Greg Nwoko, who missed last season because of ACL injury, has been declared out for this season. Nwoko, who switched from running back to linebacker in fall camp, has not played this year because of a hip injury suffered soon after his move to defense.

Elsewhere on the injury report, three players are listed as questionable for Saturday night’s game against Oregon State: Starting right guard Trace Biskin (toe), starting defensive end Reggie Gilbert (ankle) and starting wide receiver Terrence Miller (thigh).

Miller missed last week’s game at Oregon.

Adam Hall's return from an ACL tear could be just a couple of weeks away. Photo by Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

At the rate things are going, the Arizona Wildcats are going to need a big second half of the season to make a push for a bowl game. The good news is the Wildcats could get three key players back with half the season to play.

Starting safety Adam Hall might be back even sooner.

Hall is one of three players trying to come back from spring ACL injuries, the others being starting linebacker Jake Fischer and fullback Greg Nwoko. Defensive tackle Willie Mobley tore his ACL in May playing pickup basketball and is out for the season.

“They’ll be a couple of weeks away,” coach Mike Stoops said of the others on Monday, “but I’m confident they will be back.”

More specifically, Hall is slightly ahead in his rehab and the game at Oregon State on Oct. 8 “would be a good estimation” for his return, Stoops said.

He added: “I’m not putting USC out of the question,” referring to Arizona’s game in Los Angeles on Oct. 1.

The target for Fischer and Nwoko is the Thursday night home game against UCLA on Oct. 20, which comes after a bye week.

Hall and Fischer are participating in seven-on-seven drills in practice and are doing everything except live tackling. Stoops said of Hall, “He’s going to progress into a live situation before long.”

All this assumes nothing goes wrong in the final rehab push. Hall and Fischer have redshirt years available, so that is still a consideration.

“It depends on how good they feel,” Stoops said. “If they have to play a game or two where they don’t feel comfortable … I don’t want to put anybody in an uncomfortable situation where they don’t feel 100 percent.”

Arizona is 1-2 heading into this week’s home game against 10th-ranked Oregon. The rest of the first half consists of the USC and Oregon State games. UA might do well to be 2-4 at the mid-point, when the schedule won’t include any more Top 10 teams (and maybe just a couple of fringe Top 25 teams).

Hall’s hitting ability and experience would greatly help a secondary that has struggled to stop the pass. He could pair with Robert Golden at safety, with Marquis Flowers moving from safety to nickel back. Or Golden could move back to cornerback, although defensive backs coach Ryan Walters has said Golden’s better position is safety.

Jake Fischer is taken off the field at the spring scrimmage after suffering an ACL tear in his right knee. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Fischer’s return means Arizona wouldn’t have to rely as much on freshmen at linebacker.

Nwoko, at 235 pounds, is the power back Arizona otherwise lacks.

“Those guys are not only great players, but they’re good leaders for us,” Stoops said.

“You lose a part of your DNA because they’re very disciplined, tough, hard-nosed players. Certainly, it takes away from those areas of your team when you lose players like that. It’s kind of a double-lose — not only their play and experience, but you lose the element of tough. Those guys are tough, tough football players.”

All three have been doing their usual off-field work — position meetings, film review, even traveling to Oklahoma State a couple of weeks ago. Running backs coach Garret Chachere said he has kept up Nwoko’s spirits by telling him how valuable he could be down the stretch.

Nwoko already has redshirted, so he can’t regain this year of eligibility if he sits out.

“I told him … if you can help us win four or five games and get to a bowl game, even though you wouldn’t have played an entire season, you may have played in the most important part of the season,” Chachere said.

“And that’s not a lost year by any stretch of the imagination.”

Keola Antolin was Arizona's leading rusher in 2010. Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

In collaboration with our Gannett partner, The Arizona Republic, we will be providing a weekly series throughout the summer, previewing the Arizona Wildcats football team.

The Republic sent a photographer to Tucson three times in the spring to capture the pictures needed for its slick presentation of the preview, which you can find here at azcentral.com. You can also read about those other guys all summer in the ASU preview.

At TucsonCitizen.com, we can’t offer the cool look of the preview that you’ll find on azcentral.com, but we’ll give you the text and some of the photography.

Here is the fourth part: The running backs. Look for updates every Friday.

INTRO

Coach Mike Stoops says the Wildcats need to run the ball better, which isn’t the same as running the ball more.

“I think we’re going to throw it more,” he said.

What Stoops wants to see is a more explosive attack that will complement the team’s spread passing game. The Wildcats tried different sets and blocking schemes in the spring to try to get tough yards and big lanes up the middle as they spread out the defense.

Arizona averaged 131.7 rushing yards per game last season — eighth in the conference — and not quite four yards per carry.

In UA’s system, there figures to be ample carries for only two running backs, which sets up a fall camp battle behind dependable Keola Antolin.

Keola Antolin

Antolin was the team’s leading rusher as a junior, running for 668 yards and an average of 4.7 yards per carry.

He doesn’t have a lot of wiggle in his running style, but the bulldog-like back attacks the line of scrimmage and showed his straight-line speed with a 78-yard touchdown burst against Washington.

“I’m very impressed with how our backs hit the hole,” said new offensive line coach Robert Anae, also the running game coordinator. “Our little backs, they hit it every bit as intense as some of the big backs that I’ve been around.”

Antolin has proven capable in the short passing game, with 45 receptions in the past two seasons, when he mostly split time with the departed Nic Grigsby.

Daniel Jenkins runs during a spring scrimmage. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Daniel Jenkins

Jenkins, a sophomore, took advantage of injuries elsewhere in the backfield this spring to make a case for the backup role. He was the leading rusher in the spring game with eight carries for 35 yards.

“Daniel Jenkins had a real productive spring,” coach Mike Stoops said.

Jenkins has generally looked good in scrimmages in the past two years, with a nice blend of moves and speed, although he still has to prove that he has a “wow” factor. He carried eight times for 26 yards as a redshirt freshman, with six of those rushes coming in a blowout of The Citadel.

He’ll enter fall camp as No. 2 on the depth chart, trying to hold off other unproven players.

Kylan Butler

Butler arrived in the same 2009 recruiting class as Daniel Jenkins, and each has had to wait behind Nic Grigsby, Keola Antolin and Greg Nwoko.

Arizona wanted to get a longer look at Butler this spring — and he did get a team-high seven carries for 22 yards in the first scrimmage — but he was banged up by the end of the spring. He’ll resume the competition in the fall, but he’s a figurative step behind Jenkins.

Butler, from powerhouse De La Salle High in Concord, Calif., was Arizona’s first commitment in the 2009 class, pleading to the Cats while on a trip to see the 2008 spring game.

Greg Nwoko

Nwoko has been Arizona’s primary big-back option in the past two seasons, primed for a more significant role in 2011 before suffering a torn ACL early in spring practice. The best-case scenario appears to be a mid-season return.

“You felt Greg was starting to come into his own,” coach Mike Stoops said.

Nwoko sat out as a freshman in 2008, so redshirting him is not an option.

He has shown enough in two seasons to be considered more than just a short-yardage specialist, with career totals of 133 carries for 453 yards and six touchdowns.

Ka’Deem Carey/Jared Baker

There are high hopes for Carey, the hometown kid from Canyon del Oro High School, who ran wild for 2,738 yards and 45 touchdowns as a junior before senior-year injuries cut into his production. He still rushed for 1,754 yards and 26 scores in 2010.

“We have to get more explosive plays out of our run game,” coach Mike Stoops said. “Players have to make plays sometimes, and he certainly brings big-play ability. … Ka’Deem will fit in the picture right away.”

With his highlight-making ability, Carey is expected to be one of the big stories of camp, although perhaps not the only one at running back. Baker, a freshman from Los Angeles, also has a chance to add needed zip to the ground attack.

Willie Mobley at Arizona's scrimmage on April 2. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

The ACL hits keep coming for the Arizona football team.

Junior defensive tackle Willie Mobley suffered an ACL tear playing basketball at the student rec center, and will undergo surgery this week, a UA official confirmed Monday.

Mobley played sparingly last season, appearing in 10 games and making seven tackles, including 1.5 for loss and a half-sack. He was slated in the spring to be a backup to sophomore Justin Washington, who had 11.5 tackles for loss and six sacks last season, earning Freshman All-American honors.

Mobley began his career at Ohio State, redshirting as a freshman in 2008, before transferring to Orange Coast Community College in Costa Mesa, Calif., where he did not play in 2009.

Sophomore Sione Tuihalamaka, who made four starts and 23 tackles last season, is penciled in as the starter at the other defensive tackle spot. Arizona has promising depth but is young and inexperienced behind the sophomore starters.

Junior Chris Merrill (two tackles last season) was listed in the spring as a backup to Tuihalamaka. Junior Jowyn Ward redshirted last season; he has two career tackles.

Senior Dominique Austin, who saw time as a big end (292 pounds) in the spring, has position flexibility. Other possibilities include redshirt freshmen Kirifi Taula, Saneilia Fuimaono and Alualu Fanene.

Mobley’s ACL injury is the fourth of the spring for the Wildcats.

Jake Fischer is taken off the field at the spring scrimmage after suffering an ACL tear in his right knee. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Backup running back Greg Nwoko suffered an ACL tear early in spring camp. Then, starting safety Adam Hall tore his ACL, and starting linebacker Jake Fischer suffered the same injury late in the team’s final spring scrimmage.

Talking about his defense last week, coach Mike Stoops told TucsonCitizen.com:

“Jake and Adam are really going to be hard to replace, just because they were coming into their own as players. They were becoming playmakers, and you can never have enough playmakers in this league.

“Jake is an explosive, fast player, and Adam is very physical player. I think we’re good enough in the back end to manage it. We’re going to have to tweak our personnel a bit, but we’re good enough, athletic enough, to do that.”

Stoops said the rehabs were going well, but added that, “We’re not going to pressure them back. We’re going to let it run its course. … If they don’t return, they don’t. If they’re ready to go, they’re ready to go.

“I would think the best-case scenario would be the second half of the season.”

Greg Nwoko has been Arizona's third-string back in each of the past two seasons.
Photo by Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

The junior season of Arizona Wildcats running back Greg Nwoko is in jeopardy because of a knee injury suffered in a scrimmage last weekend.

“He was just making a cut, trying to elude a tackler,” said Arizona coach Mike Stoops. “Just a freak injury.”

Stoops said the preliminary diagnosis is a torn ACL.

“We’ll see how that progresses, but it looks like it will be a long-term deal with him,” Stoops said. “This looks like a seven-month total injury for him. I would imagine we would get him back at some point during the season, but I would imagine it would be the latter end.”

Senior Keola Antolin is expected to be the lead tailback for the Wildcats; he has rushed for 1,830 yards and 21 touchdowns in his career.

Nwoko, who has been third-string behind Antolin and now-departed Nic Grigsby for the past two years, has been Arizona’s bigger-back option. He was listed at 6-foot-2 and 228 pounds last season.

Nwoko, who has used his redshirt season, rushed 57 times for 270 yards and three touchdowns in 2010.

“Greg getting hurt was just a blow for everyone because Greg is just so well-liked on the team,” said assistant Garret Chachere, who is coaching the running backs this year after two seasons of directing the inside receivers (more on this in a later story).

“He worked so hard and he’s such a good person. This was going to be an important spring for him. It was a chance to give Greg a lot of reps and have him get a lot of confidence going into the season. With that, and the new wrinkles in the offense, it was going to be a big spring for him.

“Now, with the injury, it sets him back, but it gives other guys more reps.”

This could accelerate the timetable of sophomore Daniel Jenkins, who looked good in scrimmages last spring, although he carried just eight times during the season.

“Daniel Jenkins has had a really productive spring so far,” Stoops said.

The rotation at running back doesn’t figure to get settled until the fall, when freshman recruits Ka’Deem Carey and Jared Baker arrive.

Running back Greg Nwoko had a couple of big plays in Saturday night's storm-shortened scrimmage/Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona got in only 20 minutes and 25 plays of its scrimmage Saturday night. Coach Mike Stoops wanted to see more … but, in another sense, he had seen enough.

At least, he had seen least enough to know that defense remains the overriding concern of these Wildcats, now 12 days away from the opening kickoff at Toledo.

“I was hoping we would be a little bit further along, but we have a lot of young players,” Stoops said after lightning cut short the scrimmage at Arizona Stadium.

“That correlates to some confusion. We have to eliminate some of the confusion so we can play faster and more effectively defensively.”

The team was scheduled to have Sunday and Monday off, but, given the abbreviated Saturday night, Stoops said he likely will hold a scrimmage during that time. That young back seven on defense needs the work.

There were a few highlights packed into the 20 minutes of scrimmage.

Quarterback Nick Foles nicely worked the first-team offense down the field in the opening possession, driving 70 yards, capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dave Roberts.

Foles rolled right on the play and fired a low pass into the front corner of the end zone. It was one of the those “only the receiver could catch it passes” as Roberts went low and curled up for the catch.

Third-string running back Greg Nwoko, who missed the spring because of shoulder surgery, looked strong and quick. He went 29 yards on a swing pass from Foles and later scooted 24 yards on a draw play. One problem: He fumbled at the end of that run, as safety Anthony Wilcox knocked the ball loose. Cornerback Trevin Wade recovered for the defense.

Another highlight for the defense was safety Adam Hall ripping the ball out of the hands of tight end Jack Baucus after a reception. Baucus recovered, though.

“We’re still defensively not where we want to be,” Stoops said. “We’re not playing good enough to play for a championship at this point. If we don’t get better, then we are going to struggle.”

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.