Marquis Flowers hopes to be turning some heads if he sees extended time against Iowa/Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

Arizona Wildcats sophomore safety Adam Hall, recovering from a shoulder injury, seems probable to play against Iowa this weekend. Marquis Flowers will be ready, just in case.

As co-defensive coordinator Greg Brown said, “This is why we recruited Marquis Flowers.”

Flowers was the high school headliner in coach Mike Stoops’ class of 2010, and he has made good on that promise by playing right away as a reserve in the first two games.

“The first two games definitely taught me the game speed of college and how it is,” Flowers said. “It definitely taught me the physicality, what you need to do. It’s been a little rough, but I’m getting used to it and I like it.”

Stoops loves Flowers’ potential, but the coaches would be much more comfortable with Hall (6-foot4, 212 pounds) starting in the team’s nickel package Iowa. Stoops said that Hall’s playing status could be a game-time decision.

“The guy is big, rangy,” Brown, also the secondary coach, said of Hall.

“He’s gotten a lot of playing experience. In the first week against Toledo, he did a great job. He brings an element of physicalness to the table. He’s a tough guy. He is going to run through offensive players, and he does the same thing on special teams.

“That would be tough if he can’t go.”

On Monday, Flowers said he would be watching more game film than in the first two weeks.

“Preparation is the key,” he said. “I want the coaches to be able to trust in me.”

Flowers has five tackles in the first two games.

“He’s a young guy who also is big and can run and hit,” Brown said. “It would be his time. It’s just that he hasn’t had as much reps as Adam.”

More on the defensive backs

With Flowers, Shaquille Richardson and Jonathan McKnight, the Wildcats have played three true freshman defensive backs. Put them together with Hall (and starting corners Trevin Wade and Robert Golden are only juniors) and you have to think the secondary is going to be very good for the foreseeable future.

“These guys, they’re ready-made players,” Stoops said of the three true freshmen.

“I don’t know what their star-rating was, and I don’t really care. But I know great players when I see them. If they stay true to who they are now and continue to develop, they’re as good as any players I’ve seen anywhere, and I’ve been some great places.

“They have great maturity about them and a serious side about them that allows them to compete at a very high level at a very young age.”

He said it

Iowa isn’t used to playing night games and playing this far west — the Hawkeyes are 2-8 in their last 10 non-conference games west of Iowa — two factors that could work in Arizona’s favor Saturday.

No big deal, according to Iowa safety Tyler Sash.

“Everybody’s making this big deal of going west,” Sash told Hawk Central. “I feel like it’s just the opposite of going east.”

Baxter speaks

Arizona senior center Colin Baxter, who will be a key figure going against the super Iowa defensive line, met with the media, including Brad Allis of our TC.com Sports Network partner WildcatSportsReport.com, after Wednesday’s practice.

“They don’t do a whole lot of stuff,” Baxter said of Iowa’s defensive line, “but they stuff that they do, they do very well.”

Brad has the video: