There are not a ton of questions surrounding the Arizona offense heading into the season. The unit was good last year and seems poised to be even better this season. The Cats return the bulk of the unit that averaged 27.4 points a year ago and have replaced most of the loses.

Bill Bedenbaugh

Many felt the biggest loss would be offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes. Dykes is now the head coach at Louisiana Tech but he leaves two of his disciples, who are also disciples for former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, to man the Arizona offense.

While Co-coordinators is not the norm, both Bill Bedenbaugh and Seth Littrell have spent the bulk of their coaching careers in this offense and have worked together for most of that time. Littrell will do the actual play calling, but he and Bedenbaugh will work with the rest of the offensive staff to put the gameplans together.

It may be unconventional, but so far the move has generated positive reviews and no one seems to be concerned about the two sharing the role.

“A lot of people put too much into that,” said Littrell. “We have the same philosophies as an offense and we work well together as a staff. We’ll tinker with some things here and there and play to our personnel.” Littrell.

Fans seem worried about how the coaches will function, but they seem to be the only ones. Mikes Stoops called it a non-issue and the players have adjusted to the transition, with a few actually saying they prefer the new set-up.

So how will it work? Littrell will be up in the booth, calling the plays, while Bedenbaugh will remain on the field to work with the offensive line. Between series they will go over the gameplan that they developed at the start of the week.

Will it look any different? It might. Offensive lineman Adam Grant told the media that he thinks the offense will be a little more smash mouth in the redzone, while they showed some new formations and plays in fall camp that were hardly conducive to “three yards and a cloud of dust” football. 

Dykes’ departure also opened up a spot on the staff for a quarterback’s coach. Mike Stoops went out and tabbed Frank Scelfo to work with the signal callers, the first quarterback’s only coach in the last decade. So far the players are reacting positively to Scelfo’s teaching

“He knows so much,” said Foles. “He knows so much about the fundamentals of quarterback. I am just very lucky to be working with him, I am so excited.”

Shane Zink

The past few seasons the offensive line has been a strength for the Wildcats. With players with starting experience back, it looks like that could be the case again. As fall camp creeps closer and closer, we take a longer look at the offensive linemen.

TACKLES

• Adam Grant 6-6, 325, GR*
• Phillip Garcia 6-7, 330, SR*
• Jack Julsing 6-8, 310, SR
• Shane Zink 6-7, 302, SO*
• Trent Spurgeon 6-7, 270, FR
• Mickey Baucus 6-8, 275, FR
• Fabbians Ebbele 6-8, 295, FR

GUARDS

• Conan Amituanai 6-4, 335, SR*
• Vaughn Dotsy 6-5, 335, JR
• Jovon Hayes 6-2, 320, SR*
• Chris Putton 6-4, 295, FR*
• Trace Biskin 6-5, 295, SO*
• Eric Bender-Ramsay 6-6, 325, FR*
• Carter Lees 6-5, 320, FR

CENTERS

• Colin Baxter 6-4, 295, SR*
• Kyle Quinn 6-2, 310, SO
• Jake Baratz 6-5, 285, FR*

Honest Evaluation:

I think this is a solid group. Under Bill Bedenbaugh the Cats have been able to plug in pieces to deal with injuries and the line has responded. Baxter is a beast, and Grant and Garcia are very good when healthy. The Cats may be a little weak at guard, especially if Amituanai and Dotsy have any more injury issues. That being said. Bedenbaugh likes Putton and Biskin, and Hayes may be the next late bloomer to make the leap on the line. Quinn is a guy who can step in for Baxter at center and could slide over the guard if need be. The freshmen appear destined for a redshirt season.

On paper this is a better pass blocking unit than a run blocking group, but the Wildcats’ offense has the ability to adapt to its strengths.

Did You Know:

Grant was granted a sixth year of eligibility due to his numerous injury issues.

The Cats have six seniors among the group, but two were JC transfers.

The team will boast three linemen from Illinois, and TE Jack Baucus would make a forth if he converts to guard as some have suspected he may eventually. No coincidence that Bedenbaugh is from Illinois originally.

This is a diverse group from a recruiting geography aspect. In addition to the players from Illinois, the Cats have plucked these guys from Washington, California, Oklahoma and Arizona.

For more on the OL, go to WildcatSportsReport.com

The Arizona football team has added three “surprises” to the 2010 recruiting class. Two players committed and signed with the program this morning, while a third made his two-month old commitment known Tuesday night.

For full signing day coverage including interviews, video and bios make sure you check out WildcatSportsReport.com.

Arizona received two surprises when Fabbians Ebbelle and Jonathan McKnight each faxed in Letters of Intent.

Ebbelle is a huge 6-8, 295-pound offensive lineman from Chicago’s Simeon High School. Ebbelle chose Arizona over Illinois and Kansas. He is a rare commit from Illinois, but is the fourth player from the state to commit to the Wildcats in the past two seasons.

Assistant coach Bill Bedenbaugh has worked hard to open up the area and so far it is paying dividends with the big fellas. The Cats have landed three offensive linemen and a blocking tight end from the area.

The Cats also ventured to another unusual area to land their second surprise of the morning. Jonathan McKnight hails from the New Orleans area and become the second player from the Crescent City to commit to the Wildcats in the Mike Stoops era. Linebacker

McKnight is an athlete who can play either cornerback or wide out and had some nice SEC offers, including Arkansas and Tennessee.

He is also the brother of USC running back although they are different players.

“They are two different types of players,” McKnight’s high school coach J.T. Curtis told NOLA.com in August. “Jonathan is a pure corner/receiver type.”

Honolulu defensive tackle Defensive tackle Sani Fuimaono has actually been committed since December but was just a “soft commit” and wanted to keep things quiet until he was sure Arizona was the place for him.

Fuimaono fell in love with Tucson and the school.

“The main reason is probably just the place, you know, Tucson,” Fuimaono said. “It’s a great college town and I fit in real well. I like the campus and everything just fits me.”

The Cats’ entire class was signed by 11:30 local time and we’ll have a full re-cap this afternoon.

One player who did not sign was OL Matthew Jakubiec, who will likely go the junior college route.

“What is going on?” That is what a lot of Arizona football fans are wondering right now. The Wildcats have lost their fourth recruit in the last three weeks and could lose a fifth.

Arizona learned that quarterback Matt Brown has decided to de-commit from the Wildcats and will apparently wind up at TCU.

“It’s 90-10,” Brown told WildcatSportsReport.com when asked what the odds of him winding up at TCU and not Arizona.

For Brown, it is easy to pinpoint why the Wildcats are falling out of favor, Sonny Dykes. Brown was enamored with Dykes’ version of the spread offense and now that he is gone to Louisiana Tech, Brown is thinking about staying closer to his home in Texas.

Wildcat coaches Bill Bedenbaugh and David Nichol will meet with Brown on Tuesday night to try and salvage the situation, but as of now it does not look good for the Wildcats.

The situation is also dicey for the Wildcats and defensive line commit Kirifi Taula. Taula committed to the Cats in December without visiting and he decided to take visits to other schools. Oregon State made a great impression and he liked his weekend visit to Washington even more and is now leaning towards the Huskies.

“Well, I actually told the coaches at UW I wanted to be a Dawg,” Taula told ESPN.com’s Greg Biggins. “So I guess you can basically say I’m a soft commitment to Washington now because I still plan to make my official visit to Arizona next weekend.”

That is the good news for the Wildcats. They will get the last crack at Taula. He and his family will host Mike Stoops after coaches for Washington and Oregon State visit and the trip this weekend to Tucson will be his last.

“I’ll take my visit to Arizona and then sit down with my family and make a final, final decision early next week,” Taula added.

Three other players who were previously committed to Arizona will not become Wildcats. All three for different reasons. JC DB Eddie Elder was denied admission and wound up at ASU. He looked to factor in the Wildcat defensive backfield next season, but will instead play for the Sun Devils.

Athlete J.J. Whitaker decided to go to San Diego State. This was not a huge loss for the Cats. Whitaker started showing interest in the Aztecs when they offered a number of his teammates. When he started to think about de-committing the Wildcats did very little to fight to keep him. The loss of Whitaker was lessened by Texas receiver Dan Buckner transferring to Arizona.

The Cats also parted ways with defensive lineman Dominique Jones. Jones claims that the Cats informed him that they no longer had a scholarship at his position and he recently committed to Baylor.