Tevin Hood started three games for Arizona last season. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

At the worst of times, Arizona senior defensive lineman Tevin Hood had a friend on the coaching staff.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez had sent Hood home with his parents from the New Mexico Bowl for fighting on the sideline with teammate Cody Ippolito, missing the thrilling finish as the Wildcats scored twice in the final minute to defeat Nevada 49-48.

Hood said he got a phone call within five minutes after the game. It was defensive line coach Bill Kirelawich.

“He told me that whatever happened, he’s going to go to bat for me,” Hood said this week. “I know if I have him in my corner, I really wasn’t worried about too much.”

Hood and Ippolito, a linebacker, did work themselves back in Rodriguez’s good graces after the bowl game and were ready to go at the start of spring ball. Hood gives the Wildcats something they otherwise lack — a true 300-pounder in the middle of the defensive line.

“Tevin is the toughest son of a bitch I’ve got,” Kirelawich said.

“I like Tevin. I love the way he plays. I think he’s a hard-noser. I think he’s dependable. I think he’s every good thing you can say about a football player. …

“He’s an all-around guy. He’s good in the weight room. He’s good in the classroom. And he’s good in the meeting room. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Hood — who began his career at Duke before transferring to the University of San Diego and then walking on at Arizona after the 2011 season — started three games last season, including the final two, displacing junior Sione Tuihalamaka.

Hood made 26 tackles, three for loss, and forced a key fumble against USC that Arizona recovered during its second-half rally en route to victory.

Hood doesn’t necessarily have to have big stats in the middle of the 3-3-5 defense, but he needs to successfully occupy a couple of blockers and the let the linebackers be free to attack the line of scrimmage. At 6-feet tall, Hood is a fireplug, tough to uproot.

“People say it’s a weakness, but I’m short, so the offense can’t really get underneath me and displace me,” he said. “I play heavy and can play big, and I think that lets me anchor the nose.”

Hood is on his way to being a cornerstone of the defensive line, but exactly what the three-man front will look like won’t be determined until the fall. The line is missing a few players this spring due to injury. Six defensive linemen who started at least one game last season return, but the Wildcats are desperate for pass rushers after coming up with a scant 16 sacks in 2012.

“When we switched to the 3-3-5, it was more of a learning experience for all us and we played more base defense,” Hood said. “But we’re integrating more blitzes and more packages. Coach Kirlav is letting us kind of do our thing inside and that’s allowing us to have high production.”

Kirelawich (pronounced “Kerr-LAV-itch”) is an old-school, cigar-chomping coach who won’t be impressed by anything less than full effort. So his endorsement of Hood should not be taken as common coaching platitudes.

“He’s smart. He’s a good guy. A really good guy. A good guy to coach,” Kirelawich said. “I’m glad he’s on our team.”

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Here is what Kirelawich had to say about some other members of the defensive front:

Junior defensive end Reggie Gilbert: “I like Reg. I think Reg is a good pad-under-pad guy. I would like to see Reg with a little more of a sense of urgency, but I think Reg is a tough kid. I think he’s a dependable guy. He’s got to learn to play through some little injuries along the way. I think Reg has done a good job this spring and he’ll continue to get better.”

Redshirt freshman Dwight Melvin: “Long way to go. Long way to go. And that’s on Dwight Melvin. Dwight Melvin will get there when he decides to get there. There is a part of me that thinks he has the tools to do what he’s doing. Now, he has to tie it all together. … I need to see more hustle, I need to see more sense of urgency, I need to see more of a lot of things out of him. Now, does he have the tools? Yeah, I think he has the tools. He’s a big, strong kid. He moves OK. He should be better than he is right now after 11 practices, and I will tell him that to his face.”

Redshirt freshman Kyle Kelley: “I think out of all the kids, he’s come the furthest in the spring. He may have a lot longer to go, but I think he’s improved. I think he’s another guy who tries like hell, shows up, does a good job for us. Is he game ready? I don’t know yet. He’ll determine that in summer camp, but he’s moving in that direction.”

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

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The Arizona Wildcats’ injury problems started during their spring game. That’s when safety Adam Hall tore his ACL for the second time in a year.

The bad news kept coming for Rich Rodriguez in the summer and fall camp.

Four players never made it to the start of the season, including sophomore linebacker Rob Hankins, who had to give up football because of a concussion. Senior Greg Nwoko, who moved from running back to linebacker in camp, suffered a career-ending hip injury.

Injuries hit hard at offensive tackle. Jack Baucus, a converted tight end who might have been able to help, succumbed to a knee injury and is no longer on the roster. Promising redshirt freshman Jacob Arzouman suffered a torn ACL in August practice. Another redshirt freshman tackle, Lene Maiava, played in four games before tearing his ACL.

The offensive line further had to be a mix-and-match unit to cover for in-season injuries to guard Trace Biskin, center Kyle Quinn and guard/tackle Chris Putton.

“I don’t look at it as a patchwork deal,” offensive line coach Robert Anae said a couple of weeks ago.

“Guys who are playing have earned that. They earned that. To me, if you have a patchwork approach, the guys are playing out of default. We’ve had some injuries, so there has been some of that, but I don’t like to look at it as a guy is playing out of default.

“I like to look at it as a guy has earned his time to play and deserves to be on the field.”

Said Rodriguez: “That group probably has as much pride as any group we’ve had.”

Injuries also made Arizona (more) vulnerable at every level of defense. Freshmen and walk-ons have had to step in at linebacker and at safety. Arizona’s most productive defensive lineman early in the season, senior Dominique Austin, won’t be back after suffering a foot injury in the fifth game, Rodriguez said.

The big question for this week is whether quarterback Matt Scott — as well as Putton and safety Jourdon Grandon — will return for Saturday’s game at Utah. All three starters missed last week’s 56-31 win over Colorado because of concussions.

Arizona will release its official injury list Thursday afternoon.

Looking only at guys who did or could have impacted the two-deep, here is a list of how many games Arizona players have missed (or in the case of those who won’t be back will miss) this season because of injury. Total games lost so far: 112.

*Projected

Reggie Gilbert

Arizona Wildcats redshirt freshman defensive lineman Reggie Gilbert was famished. He hadn’t played in a football game in nearly a month.

“I was so hungry,” he said after Wednesday’s practice.

“I would come out here to watch my teammates, and I saw them practicing, running around, having fun. I got kind of jealous. I was saying, ‘I’ve got to get back on the field.’”

Gilbert (6-3, 254) suffered a high ankle sprain in the first half at Oregon on Sept. 22 and missed the next two games before returning Saturday against Washington. Gilbert had 1.5 sacks — the first sacks of his career.

“I love football to death,” he said. “It was so great to be out there and help my teammates win.”

Coach Rich Rodriguez keeps saying he is looking for guys who “love” football, not just like it. Add Gilbert to guys on the first list. He is, after all, a guy who kept describing practice as fun.

“Oh, yeah, practice is fun every day for us,” he said.

“We’re out here competing against one another. Our practice, our tempo, our whole style, is competitiveness — all day, every day, you know?”

Gilbert and the rest of his mates on the defense line will try to show that Saturday against USC, starting at 12:30 p.m. at Arizona Stadium.

Gilbert, from Fairfax High in Laveen, started the first four games of the season at defensive tackle in UA’s 3-3-5 scheme (the tackle position would be more like a defensive end in a four-man front). The defensive line has only 3.5 sacks this season, and the Wildcats have a mere 10 as a team.

Arizona did have four sacks of Washington Keith Price last week, its most in a game since having six against Arizona State in the 2010 regular-season finale. That’s nice, but the Huskies’ injury-riddled offensive line is not good.

USC is a different story. The Trojans have allowed only two sacks in the past four games, although here’s maybe something for Gilbert and Arizona to exploit: Max Tuerk is in line to be the first true freshman to ever start a game at left tackle for USC. Aundrey Walker is ailing with a neck injury suffered last week.

No doubt, Arizona lacks an elite pass rusher. That’s why fullback Taimi Tutogi comes in at end in third-down pass-rushing situations. But having Gilbert back helps.

“He is a strong guy,” Rodriguez said.

“Reggie has been battling injuries and I don’t think he has been 100 percent all year, but he is a strong guy that has good athletic ability. When he is healthy he has been one of our better pass rushers.”

And one of Arizona’s hungriest players.

That’s been a theme for Rodriguez.

Before last week’s game, he exhorted his team, saying, “It’s time to eat, it’s time to eat.” In the postgame locker room, players chanted, “Gotta eat, gotta eat.” (See video below).

“When one person is hungry, it’s like a domino effect. Everyone wants to eat,” Gilbert said.

“A man who is hungry will pretty much do anything to eat. That’s why we work as hard as we do, so when it comes to Saturday, when it comes to showcasing our skills, then we can eat.”

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