Arizona linebacker Hank Hobson is carted off the field with a neck injury at UCLA on Nov. 3. Photo by Andrew Fielding-USA Today Sports

Arizona Wildcats linebacker Hank Hobson put his right hand at the side of his face and gestured all the way down his body.

“The right side of my head, my right arm and all of my side just went out, numb. Couldn’t move it, couldn’t feel it,” he said after practice last week.

Hobson was talking about the moment he collapsed in the fourth quarter of last season’s game at UCLA. He took on a blocker, staggered as he turned to pursue running back Johnathan Franklin, then dropped to the ground.

Trainers attended to him for several minutes before strapping him to a board and carting him off the field. Hobson stayed overnight at a hospital.

“When we talked to the neurologist, he was like, ‘How long did it last?’” Hobson said of the numbness.

“‘Oh a couple hours, three hours.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, that’s not too long.’”

Hobson laughed at the memory.

“Yeah, for you maybe,” he said.

Hobson didn’t play again after the UCLA game, missing the final four games, doing his rehab, but he was back at practice as Arizona began spring drills this month, feeling, in his words, “100 percent.”

He says he had been struggling with a nerve problem all season before the scary moment at the Rose Bowl.

“They said it was like a stinger — which, of course, I think that sounds like a wimpy kind of deal,” Hobson said. “I don’t know, just a nerve was all messed up.”

Hobson (6-3, 224) arrived for the 2011 season along with fellow freshman Rob Hankins, the future of the linebacker position for the Cats. It hasn’t worked out that way for either, but at least Hobson still has a chance.

Because of depth problems, Hobson and Hankins were thrown into the deep end as freshmen, before they were really ready, and Hankins never made it to his sophomore season, having to give up football during 2012 fall camp because of concussion problems.

Hobson, who probably was in line to be a starter in coach Rich Rodriguez’s first season, never found traction because of the nerve problem, missing the first two games of the season. He made 14 tackles in seven games.

“Definitely, this is the year I’m most looking forward to,” Hobson said.

This might be his time. A healthy Hobson would be a welcome sight to a linebacker corps looking for more depth, despite returning three starters.

Senior Jake Fischer is back in the middle. Senior Marquis Flowers returns at an outside linebacker spot (he could also see situational time at his more natural safety position). Sophomore walk-on Sir Thomas Jackson started all but one game at weak-side linebacker.

Those three were overly taxed in games last season, and never faced much competition in practice. That will change if Dakota Conwell and C.J. Dozier make big jumps as sophomores and Hobson stays healthy after losing most of last season.

“Hank is a guy who has worked and gotten stronger, a lot stronger than what he was at this time last year,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. “He’s a bright-eyed kid and he’s going to continue to get better.”

Said Hobson: “I have a long way to go.”

For now, Hobson is a 4-H player — healthy, hard-working, hungry and humble in the face of his injury scare.

“All in all, I’m grateful I can still play,” Hobson said.

“It’s a blessing it all turned out the way it did, because it could have been so much worse. I am where I am, and I have to get better from here.”

Arizona linebacker Hank Hobson is carted off the field after collapsing in the fourth quarter. Photo by Andrew Fielding-US PRESSWIRE

UPDATE, 10 a.m. — From the athletic department’s communication services: “Arizona football’s sophomore linebacker Hank Hobson was released from the hospital this morning after being kept for precautionary reasons Saturday night following the game at UCLA. Hobson suffered a neck injury during the fourth quarter and was assisted off the field by medical personnel. He will return to Tucson on Sunday.”

* * *

The postgame reports were positive about Arizona Wildcats linebacker Hank Hobson, who collapsed early in the fourth quarter and was taken off the field, immobilized, on a cart.

“They said he had movement in his hands and feet, but they’re taking him to the hospital to check him out,” coach Rich Rodriguez told reporters after a 66-10 loss to UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

He said on his postgame radio show that Hobson was taken to the hospital for “precautionary reasons.” Rodriguez said it was unclear if Hobson was going to be able to return on the team flight to Tucson.

Hobson collapsed at the end of a 14-yard rush by Johnathan Franklin with 12:55 to play in the game. Hobson took on a UCLA blocker, staggered as he turned to pursue the play, then collapsed on the field.

Trainers attended to him on the field for several minutes.

Hobson, a sophomore, seemed to be line for a starting spot in fall camp before suffering a shoulder injury that cost him the first two games. Playing as a backup to Sir Thomas Jackson at outside linebacker upon his return from injury, he entered Saturday night’s game at UCLA with 11 tackles in six games.

Hobson is the son of former major league player and manager Butch Hobson.

Thought and Prayers go out to my Brother Hank Hobson and the Hobson Family!!! #GodBless

— Marquis Flowers (@MrHitThat_2) November 4, 2012

Rich Rodriguez might add a couple of players to the mix on defense this week vs. South Carolina State. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona has a short injury list this week, reporting only four players and possibly eying the season debuts of linebacker Hank Hobson and defensive end Dan Pettinato.

Hobson, who was in line for a starting job in camp, has been out because of a shoulder injury. He has improved from questionable in week 1 to probable in week 2 to not listed at all this week.

Pettinato, who had figured to be in the rotation at end, is considered probable — although that is the same status he had last week, when he did not play.

Coach Rich Rodriguez says he would like to get to the point where he can play 22 or 23 guys on defense, and having these two guys will help get him closer. The rotation has been more like 16 to 17, with a few players in the back end not leaving the field at all.

Arizona’s defense has been on the field for 186 plays, the most of any team in the country through two games.

Elsewhere on the injury list, tight end Drew Robinson (pneumonia) is probable. Backup left guard Cayman Bundage (knee) is questionable. Linebacker Greg Nwoko, converted from running back in camp, remains out because of a preseason hip injury.

Earlier this week, sophomore linebacker Rob Hankins had to give up football because of a serious concussion suffered early in fall camp.

Paul Vassallo will be trying for his second season with 100-plus tackles. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Here is the eighth part of our Arizona Wildcats football preview in collaboration with our Gannett partner, The Arizona Republic.

We write the words, and they have taken the cool photographs and put it all together in a slick presentation at azcentral.com.

Check back here and at azcentral.com every Friday as we roll out more of our preview every week, all the way into August.

This week: The linebackers.

INTRO

It has been an offseason of attrition at linebacker, but Arizona’s two leading linebackers — seniors Paul Vassallo and Derek Earls — return.

Backups R.J. Young and Trevor Erno left the program, starting linebacker Jake Fischer suffered a torn ACL in the spring game, and there was an academic casualty. That left Vassallo and Earls as the only scholarship linebackers before freshman reinforcements arrive for camp in early August.

“We can’t stop because some people quit or someone went down,” Earls said.

If Vassallo and Earls stay healthy, then this will be a position of strength for the Wildcats, who use just two linebackers the majority of the time, relying more on their nickel package.

But the newcomers, led by freshman Rob Hankins, will have to play some right away — and be ready to play a lot.

Paul Vassallo

Vassallo has been one of coach Mike Stoops’ best junior college finds, leading the Wildcats in tackles last season with 102 and earning honorable mention all-conference honors.

More than that, he became a leader on the defense in his first season in the program.

“Paul is a very outspoken man,” linebacker Derek Earls said last year. “Paul gets offensive really easily. It’s pretty funny. He is usually the first one to go off.”

Said Vassallo: “I like it when things are done the right way, so when things aren’t going as smooth, it kind of frustrates me at times. So then I will say something.”

Vassallo was the first Arizona player to reach triple digits in tackles since Spencer Larsen in 2007.

Derek Earls signs autographs after the spring game. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Derek Earls

Earls, following a successful debut season as a junior college transfer in 2010, brings toughness and savvy to the middle linebacker position. He made 44 tackles, including 6.5 for loss, last season.

He and fellow starting linebacker Paul Vassallo became roommates and fast friends after each arrived at UA for the 2010 spring semester. That chemistry should only be better on the field in their second seasons.

“In the first year, we were a little bit hesitant, trying to make sure we were in the right spot. We really weren’t going 100 percent sometimes because we didn’t want to not be in the right spot,” Earls said.

“But now that we know what our defense is doing, we’re not thinking as much and we can fly around.”

Jake Fischer

Coach Mike Stoops says that Fischer was showing signs of becoming a potential impact player in the spring, when the junior suffered a torn ACL late in the final scrimmage.

Fischer’s status figures to be updated when Arizona begins camp, but a mid-season return seems to be the most optimistic outlook. Fischer has a redshirt season available.

Fischer, from Oro Valley’s Ironwood Ridge High School, played mostly on special teams as a true freshman before becoming a starter last season. His spot was often replaced by the nickel back, but Fischer saw ample time and made 58 tackles, including 7.5 for loss.

That kind of production put to rest concerns that his height (5-foot-11) would be a detriment.

Bilal Muhammed

Muhammed played on special teams last season after making the team as a walk-on from El Camino Community College in Torrance, Calif. Given the Wildcats’ attrition at the position, he’s in line for key time at linebacker if he can continue to build off a good spring.

His year of experience in the program will help as he tries to hold off freshman newcomers Rob Hankins, Hank Hobson and Domonique Petties (who is working through some NCAA Clearinghouse issues).

Another possibility is SirThomas Jackson, who, according to various reports, is expected to arrive as a walk-on this fall. He was an all-state defensive end at Seattle O’Dea High School, projecting as an outside linebacker in college.