This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If nothing else,http://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcats/football/blog/arizona-wildcats-qb-brandon-dawkins-ribs-questionable-to-play-vs/article_9468131c-8c05-11e6-8d03-931255b61451.html";> Arizona's injury report highlights all the unknowns of Saturday's game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
For both teams, http://bit.ly/2e02kqc";>injuries are a huge problem. But Arizona might be even more battered than Utah, listing 11 players on the report and with perhaps seven to eight more players who are less than certain. That includes big positions: quarterback, running back, offensive line, defensive line and more. What will the Wildcats even look like against Utah? How did they arrive at this dire point?
To answer some questions, I turned to Zack Rosenblatt of the Arizona Daily Star, who covers both football and basketball. You can follow him on Twitter @ZackBlatt, and you can find his stories at the Daily Star website. He tackled some pressing matters, including Arizona's dodgy injury situation:
*****
1. Arizona burned the redshirt on Khalil Tate against UCLA, and he did relatively well (5 for 9 for 72 yards, 79 rushing yards). http://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcats/football/with-injuries-mounting-richrod-unsure-who-will-play-qb-for/article_cb1d4eeb-3704-55cc-b86a-b96cf44bd9b6.html";>What is the status of Arizona's other quarterbacks, and if Tate does start on Saturday, what is his skill set and what are the biggest risks for the Wildcats playing the 17-year-old?
Zack Rosenblatt: Well on Arizona's weekly injury report Anu Solomon (knee) was listed as "doubtful" and Brandon Dawkins (ribs) was "questionable", so in all likelihood, Khalil Tate will make his first career start on Saturday, which has been the going assumption all week. In terms of Tate's skill set, his athleticism and mobility at the position is unquestioned, and he brings a power to his running style — he sought out contact against UCLA at times — that you don't often see at the position. In limited time, he showed some impressive touch on some of his passes against the Bruins, but the biggest questions for him are still probably his accuracy and his grasp of the offense, the latter certainly understandable for a true freshman.
2. The Wildcats have a history of torching Utah on the ground, but this week seems to see them especially thin at running back and offensive line? Could you take us down the timeline of how Arizona got to that point, and give us a picture of who will line up on Saturday?
ZR: Last year Arizona was cursed at middle linebacker, getting down to starting a freshman walk-on at one point, and this year the Wildcats have similarly been hit hard at running back, which is perhaps more alarming when you consider how important the position is to Arizona's offense. For starters, Nick Wilson has been injury prone since his freshman season, and since he started off last season strong, he's missed or left early in 11 of Arizona's 13 games. He's unlikely to suit up on Saturday. Then, his supposed "co-starter" Orlando Bradford was arrested and promptly booted off the team before Arizona's game against Hawaii. Freshman J.J. Taylor burst onto the scene in that game, before breaking his ankle one week later against Washington. So now, Arizona will likely give the bulk of its carries to a converted receiver (Tyrell Johnson) and a little-used redshirt junior (Zach Green) for the time being. It's dire straits, to say the least. On the offensive line, it's not much better — left guard Freddie Tagaloa has been hurt pretty much since he arrived from California a few years ago, and both right guard Jacob Alsadek and right tackle Gerhard de Beer were injured against UCLA, leaving the inexperienced Christian Boettcher (a former walk-on), Alex Kosinski and Cody Creason to fill in.
3. Arizona is one of the better teams in the Pac-12 at turnover margin (plus-4). How do the Wildcats manage taking care of the football, and has an overhauled defensive staff helped the team generate more turnovers?
ZR: I think that stat is a bit misleading from the defensive side of the ball, as all but one of those forced turnovers came against Grambling State and Hawaii, but with new defensive coordinator Marcel Yates, the Wildcats have shown a more aggressive attitude on defense with the goal of trying to force as many turnovers as possible. On offense, Arizona's quarterbacks have generally taken good care of the ball, which is why the offensive turnover aspect of that stat has been solid.
4. Two-star Scoob, we hardly knew ye. With Scooby Wright having taken off to the NFL after getting hurt last year, who has emerged in the front seven of UA's defense, and how do they match up with http://bit.ly/2dreIgX";>Utah's line and power run game?
ZR: In this defense, Arizona doesn't necessarily use a traditional front seven, as a safety — called a "spur" — often will come down to the line of scrimmage as an extra pass rusher, a sort of safety-linebacker hybrid. Really, though, no one in particular has burst out as their next best playmaker, though that's largely due to injuries. Arizona's most impressive defenders to my eyes, have been linebacker DeAndre' Miller and "stud" Tellas Jones. Between them, they've missed five games this season, and Miller is "probable" for Utah on the injury report. Arizona doesn't really match up well with Utah's power running style — or any team that runs that kind of offense — largely because of their undersized defensive lineman. The Wildcats only really play one player with legitimate size on the defensive line (Aiulua Fanene) and he was an offensive lineman a year ago. Elsewhere there's a 247 pound walk-on starting at defensive end (Justin Belknap) and perhaps their best defensive lineman (Parker Zellers) is also 247 pounds and a former walk-on who won't even play this week due to a knee injury. So, not promising.
5. The depth issues are really troublesome for Arizona right now. How much is freak injuries and occurences, and how much of it reflects a long-term issue http://tucson.com/sports/greghansen/hansen-arizona-wildcats-rough-stretch-shouldn-t-come-as-a/article_8f6afe35-f16f-5abe-8066-b4ab38d1232c.html";>for Rich Rodriguez bringing talent into the program?
ZR: Like I mentioned earlier, Arizona had some bad luck with injuries on defense last year, and the bad luck has struck again this season. I do think it's more bad luck than any fault of anyone in particular, though at some point if this continues you have to question whether or not Arizona should be altering its training methods in some way. I don't think it reflects a long-term issue at all, rather more of an issue with recent history — that is, a bevy of recruiting failures, especially on defense, has left the Wildcats perilously thin across the board. Arizona incoming recruiting class is considered the best in the conference, and the new defensive staff has made a huge difference on the recruiting trail, so I know that at least Rodriguez is fairly confident that depth will be less of an issue — with or without a multitude of injuries — in the coming years.
*****
Thanks for chiming in with some answers, Zack.
Get ready for Saturday night. Stay tuned for more coverage.
kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon