AG's Wildcat Report » Shaquille Richardson

Arizona-Oklahoma State III: This time it’s personal

Anthony Gimino — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 17:08:55 +0000

Arizona cornerback Shaquille Richardson will try to get off the turf this season against Oklahoma State and running back Joseph Randle. Photo by Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Oklahoma State has humbled the Arizona Wildcats in each of the past two seasons, a direct hit to the pride of the UA veterans who have endured losses of 36-10 and 37-14.

Even for senior quarterback Matt Scott, who didn’t play in either game, sitting out the 2010 Alamo Bowl (coaches’ decision) and last season’s game in Stillwater (redshirt).

“I sat back and watched our team get beat two years in a row,” he said. “I wanted to get in there; I wanted to play. But it’s tough.

“(Not playing in the Alamo Bowl) obviously wasn’t my call or my decision. Just watching those two games makes me hungry to beat these guys even more.”

Same goes for junior cornerback Shaquille Richardson. He no longer has to face the departed pass-catch combination of Brandon Weeden-to-Justin Blackmon, but running back Joseph Randle is still around to torment the Cats, as he did last year.

Randle ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns and had 99 receiving yards last season.

“Definitely got to get hands on and play physical,” Richardson said.

“I know, personally, what he presents because he got me last year in the end zone. I’ve been waiting for this game for a long time. It’s going to be a dogfight. … He ran me over in the end zone. I haven’t forgot. We’ll meet again.”

Arizona senior center Kyle Quinn made his first start in the 2010 Alamo Bowl. Tonight’s game at Arizona Stadium (7:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) will be his 15th consecutive start.

“It’s personal,” he said.

“I feel I’m going to be pretty confident going in playing these guys again. We’re home this year. Everybody is going to be fired up. The Zone Zoo is going to be rocking. It’s going to a good fight on a Saturday night.”

Tonight’s game ends Arizona’s home-and-home series against Oklahoma State.

Gassed or gassed up? Beginning of fall camp will reveal Arizona’s fitness

Anthony Gimino — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 07:45:00 +0000

Taimi Tutogi is one of the players who says he’s in the best shape of his life. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats say they endured the pain; coach Rich Rodriguez is ready to measure the gain.

This, above all, is the story of Arizona’s camp: The players’ conditioning. Rodriguez wants to play fast on offense, to be fast on defense. Tempo. It’s all about tempo. No huddle. Run to the line of scrimmage. Fly around on defense.

Rodriguez said in spring practice, when he bemoaned the overall conditioning of his inherited team, that the players needed to be in the best shape of their lives by fall camp.

Well, it’s here.

As the Wildcats reported to camp Wednesday — with the first practice scheduled for Thursday night — four players were made available to the media for interviews.

“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been,” said running back Taimi Tutogi, echoing the other three.

OK, so what else are they are going to say? But there is reason to believe the players because offseason workouts were different. They had to be. Rodriguez is running different schemes than former coach Mike Stoops did, so training is going to be different, too.

Run, run, run.

“There have been a few people who are running as hard as they can, and they are throwing up as they run,” linebacker Jake Fischer told me last week at Pac-12 Media Day. “It was getting pretty bad.

“You can tell everyone is in better shape. Everyone has been working really hard, and that’s all you can ask right now.”

Rodriguez will be the judge of that.

“The first practice will tell me a lot,” he said.

“Guys that struggle through mightily, it probably tells us they didn’t do a whole lot this summer. We will have a conditioning test at the end of the first practice. Those guys who worked out and are in shape, they shouldn’t have any problem passing it.

“Those who didn’t will have a big problem.”

The running, the players said, was the most challenging aspect of the offseason workouts, with grueling sessions on Monday and Friday.

Said center Kyle Quinn: “Just the volume of running you have to do to be successful in this offense, nobody can prepare you for it until you actually do it.”

Said cornerback Shaquille Richardson: We have progressed so much. Just getting comfortable being tired, and pushing through our tiredness so that it pushes our maximum limit even higher.”

Said safety Mark Watley: “I should be in the Olympics right now with how much we’re running.”

Rodriguez hasn’t complained about the “buy-in” factor with the Wildcats, their willingness to accept new ways of doing things. Players are aware this isn’t his first rodeo. The stuff he is doing now is the same stuff that got West Virginia within one game of playing for the national championship.

“The coaches are bringing that championship attitude,” Fischer said.

“They have won their conference. They have won BCS games. They have shown us how to work like champions. I believe that is going to lead to positive results on the field.”

Rodriguez still likes to tell the story of his first practice of spring, when he offered popsicles in a shaded area of the practice field as a reward halfway through the two-hour drills. Guys were too gassed to make it off the field for the frozen treats.

“(Thursday) shouldn’t be as bad as that,” Quinn said with a laugh. “We know what to expect. We should be able to make it to the coolers and get the popsicles.”

That would be a start. Fact is, Arizona will be modestly talented and thin in most areas this season. If the Cats can’t use superior conditioning to master the tempo of the game, it’s going to be a really long season.

The answer will begin to be revealed Thursday.

“The minimum has been raised, basically,” Richardson said of the new culture of Arizona football.

“It’s not OK to miss times. It’s not OK to quit. It’s not OK to give up. It’s not OK to give in. It’s not OK to not give your all.”

Four Arizona defensive backs suspended after review of brawl

Anthony Gimino — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 03:38:41 +0000

Interim head coach Tim Kish won't have many defensive backs to yell at during the next game. Photo by Chris Morrision, US-PRESSWIRE

Arizona’s secondary will be stretched even thinner for the game at Washington on Oct. 29, as four defensive backs will be suspended for at least at a half because of their part in Thursday’s brawl against UCLA.

The Pac-12, after reviewing video of the incident Friday, handed down suspensions to 10 players, including six from UCLA.

“The Conference is extremely disappointed in the actions of the student-athletes involved in this incident,” commissioner Larry Scott said in a statement.

“It is unacceptable behavior and violated Conference rules, as well as NCAA fighting rules. I have taken these actions today because it is imperative that we hold our student-athletes and coaches to the highest standards of sportsmanship.”

Sophomore starting cornerback Shaquille Richardson was ejected, as was UCLA receiver Taylor Embree, with four seconds to go in the first half. The Pac-12 went further and extended their suspensions for one game.

Senior Lyle Brown replaced Richardson in the second half, but the Pac-12 has suspended him for the first half of the Washington game. Junior safety Mark Watley is also suspended for a half. Freshman nickel back Jourdon Grandon is suspended for the entire game.

“It was an unfortunate incident and one with consequences that we fully understand and support,” Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne said in a statement. “The University of Arizona in no way accepts such behavior from student-athletes.

“We stress that sportsmanship is a principle to follow in everything that we do. The Pac-12 moved quickly to resolve this issue and we’ll move forward.”

Arizona has been without starting cornerback Jonathan McKnight all season, and junior safety Adam Hall played in one game after rehabbing a torn ACL before re-injuring the knee at Oregon State on Oct. 8. He is not expected to play again this season.

Who’s left?

There is senior corner Trevin Wade and starting safeties Robert Golden and Marquis Flowers. Freshman Tramayne Bondurant made his first start Thursday, coming up with a team-high eight tackles.

His success and playing time might have been aided by interim head coach Tim Kish’s switch to the run-stuffing double-eagle flex scheme against the Bruins’ run-based offense.

Sophomore Derrick Rainey probably is next in line at cornerback. True freshman Cortez Johnson, who has mostly played on special teams, has been listed as a backup but has not played in the past two games because of undisclosed reasons.

Arizona will be facing one of the top quarterbacks in the Pac-12 — Washington sophomore Keith Price, who is fifth nationally with a passing efficiency rating of 177.91. The Huskies have a veteran receiving corps, including Jermaine Kearse, Devin Aguilar and James Johnson.

The suspensions for UCLA are:

Sophomore guard Alberto Cid — half-game
Sophomore wide receiver Randall Carroll — one game
Sophomore wide receiver Shaq Evans — one game
Sophomore wide receiver Ricky Marvray — one game
Sophomore defensive tackle Cassius Marsh – two games

With streaker and brawl, halftime show came early

Anthony Gimino — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:11:02 +0000

The Arizona Wildcats likely will remember Thursday’s game against UCLA for being a streak-buster, the end of a 10-game skid against FBS teams.

The rest of the college football world will just remember the streaking.

It’s not every week that somebody dressed as a game official comes off the sideline, blows a whistle, tries to take the game ball and then runs off toward the end zone while removing his clothes.

And that was only half of that.

While security attended to that little problem, a small group of Arizona and UCLA players started jawing. And then shoving and pushing. And then it brushfire became an inferno, both benches emptying and several skirmishes covering half the field.

In the middle of the night, a story about the bizarre incident — which happened with four seconds left in the first half — was on the home-page carousel on Yahoo.com.

“I was really disappointed with that,” Arizona interim head coach Tim Kish said of the fight. “If there was a black mark to this whole game, it was that.”

Arizona sophomore cornerback Shaquille Richardson and UCLA senior receiver Taylor Embree were ejected for committing flagrant personal fouls.

As Kish left the field to go to the locker room, Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne walked and talked with him.

“We needed to address it (at halftime),” Kish said.

“He made sure I was aware of that, and believe me, I was aware of it. … We addressed that issue the entire halftime. Without discipline you have nothing. I thought our guys reacted well in the second half and showed some composure.”

The Pac-12 will review the incident Friday, Byrne told ESPN in the third quarter, and can impose punishments to players who were not called for a penalty during the brawl. Richardson and Embree could also face additional sanctions, if not from the league, from their coaches.

Bottom line: Arizona and UCLA could each lose players to suspensions for next week’s games. The Wildcats play at Washington on Oct. 29.

The streaker-brawl combination won’t soon be forgotten.

“I turned my head because of the streaker,” said Arizona linebacker Paul Vassallo. “And then everybody started oohing and ahhing again. I turned back, and a fight was breaking out. I had to go out and protect my teammates.”

Said running back Taimi Tutogi: “It was bizarre. I have never been a part of something like that. It was funny and took our minds off of everything.”

Shaq attacked: Arizona cornerback confident amid struggles

Anthony Gimino — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:28:31 +0000

It's been this kind of season of cornerback Shaquille Richardson, not exactly in position to tackle Oklahoma State's Joseph Randle. Photo by Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats cornerback Shaquille Richardson smiles and nods at the question. Yep, it does seem like everyone is against him right now.

“I guess so,” he said, “but I hope they don’t get comfortable doing it.”

Richardson, a sophomore, has taken the brunt of the blame of Arizona’s poor start on pass defense — and no one is suggesting that the criticism is unfair. Getting beat or missing tackles … it’s all right there for everyone to see.

But what is it that is always said about cornerbacks? They have to have short memories, and an attitude bordering on cockiness is never a bad thing.

“I don’t think my confidence has gone down because I started to do bad,” Richardson said. “A lot of people wouldn’t think that, but I don’t think my confidence has gone down.”

That confidence will be tested again Saturday as Stanford’s Andrew Luck — the prototype NFL passer — tries to embarrass the Arizona passing defense on ESPN for a second consecutive week.

Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden threw for 397 yards last week against the Cats, twice hitting Justin Blackmon for touchdowns on fade patterns against Richardson.

“He’s had to play against Blackmon, and be pressed up against Blackmon,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters.

“The biggest thing to me is he accepted that challenge, and he didn’t shy away from it. When he had a chance to be physical he was. So that was encouraging. He can rest easier now having played against the best he will see all season.”

But Stanford wideout Chris Owusu, while perhaps no Blackmon, is plenty good, too. And Richardson still has to go up against all manner of top receivers later in the Pac-12 schedule.

“I feel like I’m over the hump, but I still have to go at every opponent expecting to see their best,” Richardson said. “I just can’t say that since I guarded Blackmon that everything else is going to be easy. I have to work hard to actually do it, even though I know I can.”

Shaquille Richardson

Arizona allowed NAU and Oklahoma State to complete a ridiculously high 78.48 percent of their passes (62 of 79), which is the worst mark in the country. The Cats have talked about the need to be more aggressive, to compete better when the ball is in the air.

“We have to work on doing that every play and not just some plays,” Richardson said. “You can tell against Oklahoma State. Sometimes we were aggressive, and we were very good. And some times, we weren’t as aggressive.”

Richardson’s struggles come after a promising true freshman season. He had the look of a future star. He’s listed at 6-2, 180 — super size for a cornerback. Coach Mike Stoops, during 2010 fall camp, said Richardson was “as good a corner as I’ve coached at this young stage.”

He started three games and was the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week after picking off two passes and making seven tackles against Washington State.

But a shoulder injury slowed his development in spring ball, allowing sophomore Jonathan McKnight to emerge as a starting cornerback ahead of Richardson. When McKnight suffered a torn ACL less than two weeks before the season-opener, Richardson became the starting left cornerback, opposite Trevin Wade.

Right now, Arizona has little other choice than Richardson; true freshman Cortez Johnson is the backup at both cornerback spots.

“When he plays physically, and he plays technically sound, he’s lights out,” Walters said of Richardson.

“I think these first two games have shook off the jitters, so to speak, a little bit. He has shown flashes of being a really good player. … He’s a good kid and competes hard. I can work with that.”

Related:

Arizona notes: Cats look to be competitive at home again

Will Andrew Luck be sixth No. 1-drafted quarterback to grace Arizona Stadium?

Arizona-Oklahoma State: The good and the bad for the Wildcats

Anthony Gimino — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 08:14:30 +0000

It's been this kind of season of cornerback Shaquille Richardson, not exactly in position to tackle Oklahoma State's Joseph Randle. Photo by Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

There was more bad than good in the Arizona Wildcats’ 37-14 loss at Oklahoma State on Thursday night. Let’s take a look:

Bad: Oklahoma State has attempted 94 passes in the past two games against Arizona, and the only sack the Wildcats registered came Thursday night when Brandon Weeden tripped and fell, tackling himself.

Arizona’s inability to get a sack on its own can be partly attributed to how quickly the Cowboys get rid of the ball, but some of it is just lack of pressure against a good offensive line.

Good: Wide receiver Dan Buckner led the Wildcats with 10 catches for 142 yards, both career highs. He shook himself free down the sideline on a stop-and-go pattern for a 54-yard touchdown.

“Dan showed up, and that was a positive sign,” coach Mike Stoops said. Buckner, a junior, made 42 catches with the Texas Longhorns in 2009 before transferring to Arizona.

Bad: Arizona has lost all eight of its road games against top 10 teams under Stoops.

Worse: Those eight losses have been by a combined score of 328-133.

Good: Redshirt freshman receiver Austin Hill made his first career start because of Juron Criner’s absence, coming up with eight catches for 128 yards. He has a bright future and is one of the reasons why the receiving corps looks good beyond 2011 after seniors Criner, David Douglas and David Roberts depart.

Bad: In its six-game losing streak against Football Bowl Subdivision competition, Arizona has allowed 1,202 rushing yards — 200 per game — emblematic of how the Cats have been pushed around physically. With games against Stanford and Oregon next, that average, sadly, could very well increase.

Bad: That six-game skid has all been televised on the ESPN family of networks, not the kind of exposure the Cats had in mind.

Bad: Arizona ran 21 times for 41 yards against Oklahoma State, and, for the second consecutive game, didn’t use true freshman running back Ka’Deem Carey until the fourth quarter. Stoops said starting running back Keola Antolin isn’t the problem. “We have to block for him,” he said.

Good: Jaime Salazar made both of his extra-point attempts and didn’t attempt a field goal, so at least we won’t be talking about the kicking game heading into the Stanford game on Sept. 17.

Bad: The opposing team successfully targeted sophomore cornerback Shaquille Richardson for the second game in a row. Richardson was beaten twice on fade patterns for touchdowns by Justin Blackmon — which is no great crime, considering Blackmon is the best in the college biz — but it just added to the season of lowlights that must be eating into Richardson’s confidence.

Bad: We question these decisions: Not electing to receive the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss, not playing Carey until the fourth quarter and letting Nick Foles drop back to pass with about a minute to go, when he took a shot to his left knee. (Seems like no harm done on that last thing, but still.)

Good: Foles is moving nicely around the pocket this season; Oklahoma State sacked him only once. Foles went 37 of 51 for 398 yards and one touchdown, and he has not thrown an interception in 93 attempts this season.

“We are very impressed with him,” Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Young was quoted as saying in the Daily Oklahoman. “He did a tremendous job of checking into the right plays. They’re gonna score a lot of points on a lot of people.”

Bad: Arizona’s defense has created only four turnovers in the team’s six-game losing streak to FBS teams. Time to get more aggressive?

Bad: Arizona had five false start penalties Thursday night in the first true road start for the entire starting offensive line. Growing pains, folks. Growing pains.

Related:

Arizona’s loss to Oklahoma State another example of failing to compete

Game blog: Running game is ‘our nemesis,’ Stoops says

Juron Criner underwent appendectomy, eyes return for Stanford on Sept. 17

Re-examining Arizona’s X-factors: Richardson, Salazar, Buckner

Anthony Gimino — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 18:40:33 +0000

Dan Buckner caught four passes in his Arizona debut. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

In advance of the Arizona Wildcats’ game against NAU, I took a look at three players to watch — basically, three X-factors, three players I had lingering doubts about.

Let’s see how they did in Arizona’s 41-10 victory over the Lumberjacks on Saturday:

Cornerback Shaquille Richardson

Richardson was picked on by NAU cornerback Cary Gossart and repeatedly beaten by guys named Khalil Paden and Ify Umodu.

In no time at all — like Thursday night at Oklahoma State with the college football world watching on ESPN — Richardson is going to have to try to stop Biletnikoff Award-winning receiver Justin Blackmon and quarterback Brandon Weeden, a strong-armed NFL prospect.

“Shaquille can play better. He knows it,” said coach Mike Stoops.

“I wasn’t pleased with the way he played, and neither was he. He is going to have to play better next week against a very prolific offense and receiver and quarterback.”

Richardson did finish with a team-high eight tackles, if only because NAU targeted his side of the field so much. For example, he made the tackle at the end of a 36-yard pass to Umodu, who beat coverage with a double move — the kind that often fooled Arizona during its five-game skid to end last season.

“You can’t do that in that situation,” Stoops said.

The situation was late in the first half, and the long pass play put NAU in position to score a touchdown before intermission to make the score 14-10.

Richardson was one of the freshman standouts of last season, starting three games. He is a 6-foot-2 cornerback with athleticism. His progress was slowed as he sat out the spring because of a shoulder injury, and he was behind cornerbacks Trevin Wade and Jonathan McKnight through fall camp … until McKnight tore his ACL less than two weeks before the opener.

Stoops suggested Richardson might be going through a crisis of confidence, much like what Wade went through in a disappointing junior season.

“We can’t afford for him to not show up and compete, and not play with fundamentals,” Stoops said of Richardson.

Bottom line: The injury to McKnight is the most costly of the team’s five ACL tears. Richardson might have to sink or swim Thursday night, considering a true freshman, Cortez Johnson, is the backup at both cornerback spots. Defensive coordinator vowed Arizona would play tighter coverage against Oklahoma State — not giving the receivers as much cushion — so those corners really will be on the spot.

Place-kicker Jaime Salazar

The junior college transfer seems to have caught a bad case of Zendejas.

Salazar won the job in fall camp from two-year starter Alex Zendejas, although Salazar didn’t make a high-enough percentage of kicks to be deemed completely trustworthy. Still, he might have had a slight statistical edge, and coaches wanted to see how he would convert in a game.

Not so well.

Salazar missed badly from 46 yards — the kick started right, then drifted further to the right — and pushed a PAT to the right. The coaches’ response to that was to put Zendejas back in for the final PAT of the game.

Stoops said after the game he didn’t know what he was going to do yet with the kicking game this week.

Bottom line: Going for the two-point conversion after every TD doesn’t sound so crazy, does it?

Wide receiver Dan Buckner

The Texas transfer fared the best of the X-factors, and not just because the other two set the bar limbo low. Buckner was OK in his Arizona debut, catching four passes for 38 yards.

Was he the big-play threat Arizona covets opposite Juron Criner? No, but quarterback Nick Foles has plenty of options, and the reception of everyone not named Criner likely will ebb and flow from game to game. Foles will just take whatever the defense gives him

Foles’ best buddy, David Douglas, didn’t even catch a pass (Foles misfired on one attempt to him over the middle).

Bottom line: NAU made the mistake of covering Criner one-on-one early. Other teams won’t be as generous. “If they are going to take him out of the game, then we have to be able to go to the other side of the field,” Stoops said. That’s when big-play Buckner needs to emerge.

Arizona Wildcats football: Three players to watch

Anthony Gimino — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:56:25 +0000

Wide receiver Dan Bucker says he's ready to roll after sitting out last season. Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona football team has no shortage of overarching concerns, including inexperience on both lines and a brutally tough early schedule.

Now, let’s look at three players who are X-factors. Three players who will have big roles to start the season.

Three players who, well, I have lingering doubts about.

WR Dan Buckner

Arizona, so deep at receiver, can have a great corps of pass-catchers without Buckner, but the plan all along has been to have Buckner and senior Juron Criner as unstoppable 6-foot-4 bookends on opposite sides.

The Texas transfer has proven he can play at this level, catching 44 passes for 445 yards and four touchdowns on the Longhorns’ team that advanced to the BCS championship game after the 2009 regular season.

At his best, he’s the insurance against defenses over-scheming to take away Criner. At his worst, he’ll be just another guy, not showing enough consistency, except for how much his mouth runs while he’s on the field.

At one particularly spirited fall practice, with the volume turned up to 11 on both sides of the ball, quarterback Nick Foles had to come to the sideline, grab Buckner around the helmet and maneuver him a few steps back while exhorting him to cool down.

Buckner missed the team’s final two scrimmages (he had complained about a possible concussion), but the thought is that Buckner has a chance to be a “gamer.”

“Dan started to come on in the last week,” Stoops said Monday. “I thought he started to show some improvement.”

Said Buckner: “I didn’t have the beginning of camp I wanted to, but as we’re getting close to game time, I’m ready to play.”

CB Shaquille Richardson

The sophomore steps in as a starter for the injured Jonathan McKnight, and Arizona is lucky to have a third cornerback as talented as Richardson. That said, there was a reason why McKnight and senior Trevin Wade were running with the first team.

Richardson sometimes struggled in deep coverage during practices, and Stoops often has lamented how his team gave up too many big passing plays last season. This will be an area to watch early in the season, with Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden and Stanford’s Andrew Luck on deck in the first few weeks.

“We have three corners who can start anywhere. I viewed all three of them as starters,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters.

“Obviously, Jonathan was playing lights out, but at the same time Shaquille and Trevin are top-tier corners in my opinion. Shaq, right after it happened, was like, ‘Hey, I’m ready and I already know what I have to do.’

“I didn’t expect anything less from him. Physically, he’s definitely impressive. And he’s starting to compete play in and play out.”

PK Jaime Salazar

Salazar didn’t really wrestle the starting position away from Alex Zendejas in camp. It was more like Salazar just picked it up off the ground after Zendejas dropped it.

Salazar, a transfer from Trinity Valley Community College in Texas, says he wants to be “100 percent from 45 yards and in.” Arizona fans would be ecstatic if he was 100 percent from 19 yards and in, converting all his extra points.

Salazar said it himself — he’s clutch. We have no way of knowing right now.

What we can surmise is that the coaches are not able to trust Zendejas after his late-season struggles and inconsistency. If Salazar doesn’t provide a comfort level in the kicking game, will Zendejas get another shot?

Or perhaps the better option will to be to just go for it on fourth down inside the opponents’ 30.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 20th installment of our 24 Hours of Arizona Football Blogging — one post at the top of every hour. Keep checking back at TucsonCitizen.com through Friday at 11 a.m. or follow the entire series with the “24 hours of blogging” tag.

Arizona football camp Day 3: Fights, position switch, Ka’Deem Carey update

Anthony Gimino — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 21:17:47 +0000

Sophomore Daniel Jenkins, seen here in the spring game, is a good bet for the No. 2 running back spot. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Arizona wore shoulder pads on Saturday for the first time in fall camp — it will be full pads on Monday — and the Wildcats held their most spirited practice of the first three days.

And by spirited, we mean there were fights.

They happened late in practice during 11-on-11 drills, and the first one started with some late pushing and shoving between offense and defense, with new offensive right tackle Jack Baucus in that mix.

Often, these things are broken up quickly but the scuffle grew from there, eventually with most of the Wildcats coming off the sidelines and several ending in a pile.

No one got hurt, so coach Mike Stoops wasn’t complaining.

“That tells me they’re competing, and that’s important,” he said.

“I think our toughness as a team needs to improve all the way through. In tough situations (last season), we didn’t respond as well as we needed to against elite teams. And that is something we will be tested in very quickly this season.”

Several plays after that the first fight, receiver Gino Crump and Shaquille Richardson got into it, with Crump ending up taking a swing at the cornerback. Fortunately for everyone involved — most of all Crump — he missed.

“It has to happen to get the aggression out, so you can move on to the next play,” Richardson said. “After I had my little scuffle, the next play we shook hands, laughed about it. You just have to let it out.”

He said it

“It just tells me that everyone is playing with passion and intensity. That just means that everyone is really hungry, you know what I mean? This isn’t a boy’s game. This is a man’s game. There might be a couple of fights out there. That’s OK, as long as nobody gets hurt. We’re all family afterwards and we don’t take it back to the locker room. That’s the good thing about it.” — Sophomore running back Daniel Jenkins

Newsworthy

Jack Baucus, the projected starting tight end, has been moved to right tackle (you can read my earlier coverage of that at TucsonCitizen.com). Players were unavailable after the morning practice, but a few of us media types caught up to Baucus as the Cats went through various photo stations back at McKale Center later in the morning.

“It was probably the most fun I’ve had since I’ve been here,” Baucus said of playing tackle.

As for the move, he said he talked to Stoops and offensive coordinator Seth Littrell and signed off on the proposal to change positions.

“I said, ‘Let’s go for it,’” Baucus said. “I want to win the Rose Bowl, and if that’s what it takes, let’s do it.”

Baucus said he played on the offensive line until the eighth grade. How soon can he be ready to play at tackle?

“I’d say fairly soon. Having my sort of background at tight end, playing tackle at a kid … I know the offense fairly well and I know where everyone is supposed to be at. I think I’m going to pick it up pretty quickly and be in the rotation pretty soon.”

Baucus is a redshirt sophomore. His brother, redshirt freshman Mickey Baucus, is the projected starting left tackle. The projected starter at right tackle is redshirt freshman Fabbians Ebbele.

He said it, part II

“Our (defensive) ends are coming along. I think we’re going to be able to get some edge pressure. I like our secondary and I like our inside guys. Even with those losses (ACL injuries to safety Adam Hall and linebacker Jake Fischer), we’re a pretty complete defense.” — Stoops

Lineup watch

We’ll have plenty more of this as camp goes on, and the team scrimmages (and newcomers are cleared by Stoops to speak to the media) … but for now it appears that freshman running back Ka’Deem Carey is competing for a third-string spot. Stoops said starter Keola Antolin and backup Daniel Jenkins are “light years” ahead of everyone else right now.

“He’s going to compete for that third spot,” Stoops said of Carey, from CDO high school. “We’d like to see him continue to improve. He’s got a lot talent. He’s physically ready. … If he can pick it mentally, I think he’ll have a chance.”

Noteworthy

WR Juron Criner is just fine. In Arizona’s two-minute drill at the end of camp, he laid out to make a catch of about 40 yards on a deep throw by Nick Foles. The pass looked overthrown while the ball was in the air, but Criner was able to track it. … If offensive coordinator Seth Littrell decides to dabble with the Wildcat formation this season, look for WR Richard Morrison to be taking the direct snaps. … Morrison and Jonathan McKnight are the prime candidates at punt returner. Special teams coach Jeff Hammerschmidt said a couple of days ago that Criner could be deployed on occasion as a punt returner, and Criner fielded a few kickoffs Saturday, too. But when Stoops was asked after practice if Criner could have a role in the return game, he said, “I doubt it.” He added with a smile, “I hope not,” clearly not wanting to risk injury to the offensive’s most dynamic weapon.

Arizona football preview: Defensive backs

Anthony Gimino — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:50:42 +0000

Coming off a disappointing junior season, Trevin Wade was more dedicated this spring. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Here is the ninth 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: I talked with new secondary coach Ryan Walters to get his breakdown of a position group that should be the strength of the defense.

INTRO

Perhaps the biggest news of the offseason in the Arizona secondary was the surprising coaching changes.

Head coach Mike Stoops, in a bold move, hired arguably the best in the business — former UA assistant Duane Akina — away from Texas. A few weeks later, in mid-February, Akina, citing family reasons, returned to the Longhorns when his old job became available again.

Stoops then went from the veteran savvy of Akina to the rookie coaching of 25-year-old Ryan Walters, who served last season as a graduate assistant, working with the defensive backs.

“I knew instantly he was going to be a rising star in this profession,” Stoops said.

Walters, a former defensive back at Colorado, inherits the defense’s best position group, led by established senior starters Trevin Wade and Robert Golden and a promising trio of sophomores.

Trevin Wade

He’s a “bounce-back” candidate after a disappointing junior season in which he briefly lost his starting job. Wade entered last season as a legit candidate for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back.

“Trevin did a great job this spring in putting last year’s performance behind him,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters. “His practice habits from last fall to this spring were leaps and bounds better.”

Wade, one of the several unheralded recruiting gems unearthed by coach Mike Stoops and his staff, intercepted four passes as a backup in 2008 and picked off five passes as a starter in 2009. He made just one interception last season, and his number of passes defended went from 14 to four.

“He really had an outstanding performance this spring, interceptions after interception,” Walters said.

Robert Golden

Golden was fine at cornerback last season after starting at strong safety in 2009. He broke up a team-high 12 passes.

But the Wildcats have plenty of cornerbacks, including a pair of athletic sophomores in Jonathan McKnight and Shaquille Richardson — and Golden was needed back at safety full time when safety Adam Hall suffered an ACL injury this spring.

“I just have to adapt to the position again,” Golden said.

Safety might not be as glamorous as cornerback, but Golden said he embraced the change. His
experience and versatility make him a leader in the secondary.

“Safety is probably his better position anyway,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters. “I think it worked out for the better.”

Marquis Flowers should step into a starting role as a sophomore. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Marquis Flowers

Flowers, from Goodyear Millennium High School, was the headliner in Arizona’s 2010 recruiting class, arguably the best player from the state. He was a multi-purpose threat in high school, but the UA coaches immediately put his size and athleticism to work on defense as a true freshman.

At 6-3, 220 pounds, he might be the secondary’s fastest player, said secondary coach Ryan Walters.

Flowers’ role, entering the spring, was going to be as the nickel back, but Adam Hall’s ACL injury launched Flowers into a starting job at safety. He made 11 tackles last season in limited duty.

“Marquis is a guy who has to come into his own,” coach Mike Stoops said. “And I think he will this year.”

Adam Hall

The hard-hitting junior was projected to be one of the top playmakers on Arizona’s defense this season, but his availability is in doubt because of an ACL injury suffered during spring practice. Hall, who was a two-way star at Tucson’s Palo Verde High School, has a redshirt year available if he can’t make it back for 2011.

As the team gets into camp and he continues his rehab, the coaches might better be able to peg a possible return date.

“We would love to have Adam,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters. “He was going to be a premier safety in this conference and in college football.”

Hall was the nickel back a year ago, making 54 tackles and intercepting two passes, and his aggressive play gave opposing ball-carriers someone to fear.

Jonathan McKnight

With Robert Golden moving back to safety and fellow sophomore Shaquille Richardson sitting out spring because of a shoulder injury, McKnight got all the practice work he could handle in the spring. He absolutely took advantage of the opportunity.

“He got a tremendous amount of reps that he needed, and he was impressive in terms of the improvement he was able to make,” secondary coach Ryan Walters said.

“He was lights-out in terms of practice. He came out to compete, and that competitiveness is what makes him a good corner.”

McKnight, the brother of former USC running back Joe McKnight, played some last year as a true freshman, making 12 tackles and breaking up two passes. From the arrival of McKnight and Richardson, coach Mike Stoops has said they were as advanced as any young cornerbacks he had been around.

Shaquille Richardson

The one-time UCLA signee will resume his push for a starting job in camp after sitting out the spring because of a shoulder injury. He seemed to be next in line last season, when he started three games, made 29 tackles, intercepted two passes and broke up seven.

“I expect him to be leaps and bounds better than what he was last year,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters. “He is still physically maturing.”

Walters said that Richardson has been going through the team’s summer program, putting up good workout numbers under the eye of strength coach Corey Edmond.

Whether it’s Richardson or Jonathan McKnight who wins a starting cornerback job, the other figures to be the nickel back, which is nearly a full-time spot in Arizona’s scheme.

Josh Robbins will have to be ready to catch some playing time as a redshirt freshman. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Josh Robbins

Robbins was an important recruit for coach Mike Stoops in the 2010 class. Not only is Robbins a local kid from Canyon del Oro High who earned Arizona Republic first-team Class 4A all-state honors, but he was a legacy recruit. His father, Randy, is a former UA star defensive back and NFL player, as well as an ex-UA assistant coach.

And Josh has size and talent.

“Josh is a big safety who shows a lot of potential,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters. “We have to see how he competes in the fall and how fast he picks up the defense on a weekly basis. I definitely expect him to get some playing time this season.”

Robbins redshirted last season as a true freshman.

Jourdon Grandon

He didn’t arrive with the same fanfare as some of the other defensive backs in the 2010 recruiting class, but perhaps that’s because he missed nine games as a senior at Avondale’s Westview High School. Still, his past performances helped him land on the Tacoma News-Tribune’s Western 100 list.

Grandon redshirted last season but made a case this spring to earn backup’s minutes at cornerback or at nickel back.

“He had a tremendous spring, and he’s had a good offseason,” said secondary coach Ryan Walters.

Grandon also played quarterback in high school, throwing for 1,526 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior at Westview.

Mark Watley

Watley, a redshirt junior, is entering his fourth season in the program, so he should know his way around the defense. He will enter camp vying for time at a safety position, and he should continue to contribute on special teams as he did last season.

“He’s got to show progress in fall camp and be more aggressive,” secondary coach Ryan Walters said. “We need him to be more aggressive.”

Others to watch in the secondary include sophomore cornerback Derrick Rainey and incoming freshman safety Cortez Johnson, who seems to have the size and physical skills to contribute right away.