Hot sheet: On RhettRod's perfect night, the Arizona Wildcats' fastest man, and Houston's return to normalcy

Get the scoop on the Wildcats' Week 2 matchup with Houston

Now well into the second full week of college football, Houston will open its season at Arizona Stadium on Saturday after canceling its opener with UTSA due to the effects of Hurricane Harvey. The Star's Michael Lev and Zack Rosenblatt break down Arizona's speedy playmaker, the Wildcats' task of slowing Cougars DT Ed Oliver, and Houston's return to the field. 

Wildcats' debut is picture-perfect for freshman Rhett Rodriguez

So … this doesn’t happen every week in college football:

Arizona Wildcats freshman quarterback Rhett Rodriguez — the son of UA coach Rich Rodriguez — made his debut against NAU last Saturday. The younger Rodriguez entered the game in the fourth quarter after backup Khalil Tate got hurt.

While Rhett huddled with his coaches and fellow quarterbacks on the east sideline, someone wanted to take his picture.

“I’m like, ‘Mom, I’m still in the middle of the game,’” Rhett said. “She’s like, ‘It’ll take a second.’"

It was an occasion worth commemorating for mom Rita, sister Raquel (a UA cheerleader) and even dad Rich, who mostly was focused on winning the game. Just months after graduating from Catalina Foothills High School, Rhett played in his first game for his hometown team, which his father happens to coach.

“It was kind of a surreal moment,” Rhett said. “I’ve thought about that a lot. Honestly, going into the game, I was like, ‘I probably won’t play.’ I wasn’t sure either way. Once I was in there, I was like, ‘Uh, this is really it.’ ”

Rhett didn’t have much time to think about it as it was happening. Tate hurt his shoulder and quickly returned to the sideline. Rich Rodriguez summoned Rhett, who already was loose (he helped warm up Tate) and had his helmet on. He came in for one play at the NAU 10-yard line, a handoff to Branden Leon that resulted in a touchdown.

“They called the easiest play in the playbook,” Rhett said, laughing. “I don’t have a read, I don’t have a throw or anything. Just (caught) the ball, handed the ball off and scored a touchdown. So I was 1 for 1.”

After the Lumberjacks drove for a field goal, Rhett got to run the offense for an entire possession. Fellow freshman Nathan Tilford’s 65-yard run moved the ball right back to the NAU 10. Four plays later, Rich Rodriguez called his son’s number. Rhett sneaked in from the 1 for his first career touchdown.

The outside expectation entering the season was that Rhett Rodriguez and the other three freshman quarterbacks on the roster would redshirt unless an emergency arose. Tate’s injury, with Arizona leading 48-21 in the fourth quarter, didn’t qualify as one.

Rhett said he left that decision to his dad’s judgment.

“No one goes in wanting to redshirt; everybody wants to play,” Rhett said. “I just didn’t want him to think that I wasn’t ready, because I thought I was ready to go out there.”

He was ready for some proper photos after the game. Both of Rhett’s grandmothers were in attendance, as was an aunt and other out-of-towners.

“We all got a big picture,” Rhett said. “It was a cool experience.”

Tyrell Johnson, Arizona's speedy playmaker, is no longer feeling hamstrung

Tyrell Johnson is the Arizona Wildcats’ fastest man. But that speed isn’t particularly useful when Johnson is unavailable.

The kick returner/slot receiver missed the first five games of 2015, the last three of ’16 and time in between because of injuries. He’s healthy now, and if the opener was any indication, Johnson is ready to provide a spark Arizona has been missing.

The senior from Fort Myers, Florida, electrified Arizona Stadium with a 55-yard touchdown run on an end-around in the UA’s 62-24 victory over Northern Arizona. He later added a 58-yard kickoff return, the Wildcats’ second significant special-teams play of the night.

“It seems he’s had a nagging injury each year that’s probably stopped him from really getting as many reps and as many opportunities as where he is right now,” said UA coach Rich Rodriguez, whose team hosts Houston on Saturday night. “He’s a guy you want to try to get the ball to.”

Johnson has averaged one touchdown every 12 times he has touched the ball on offense as a rusher or receiver. At 5-7, 164 pounds, he is ideally suited for a returner/gadget role – a handful of plays per game where Arizona can catch the opposition off guard.

Johnson was forced out of that role last season, when a rash of injuries forced him to become one of the Wildcats’ primary tailbacks. Johnson rushed for 78 yards on 16 carries against UCLA. Two weeks later he pulled a hamstring against USC and was done for the season.

Hamstring issues cropped up for Johnson multiple times. Even his return to the UA track team in spring was cut short because of them (although not before Johnson ran the 100 in 10.4 seconds).

But after taking time off before summer workouts — and devoting himself to “prehab,” including daily cold-tub sessions — Johnson is feeling fit. It was evident on the second-quarter end-around, which Johnson described as follows:

“There was no one over there. My receiver buddy, Ced Peterson, he pushed his corner out of bounds. And I had Layth Friekh leading me around the end. It was my speed against their speed, basically. I had to just turn ’em on.”

Johnson dashed to the same sideline on his fourth-quarter kickoff return. He had suggested to special-teams coach Brian Knorr that the Wildcats go wide after noting that the Lumberjacks were “squeezing” him by angling kicks outside the hash marks.

“I think we can bust one back across field,” Johnson told Knorr. “We just went with it.”

Johnson has yet to return a kick for a score, but the performance of Arizona’s special teams suggests he’ll have a chance during his senior season. Shun Brown returned a punt for a touchdown in the first quarter against NAU.

“We preach that we’ve got to be great in all three phases,” Johnson said. “It starts with special teams.”

Jacob Alsadek ready to see what Houston star Ed Oliver is all about

Every season, it seems like Jacob Alsadek is doing battle with another batch of future NFL defensive linemen. Alsadek has been a starter on Arizona’s offensive since his redshirt freshman season in 2014, and the Pac-12 has sent a horde of defensive line talent to the NFL since then.

Houston’s Ed Oliver will be the latest one.

The Cougars’ 6-foot-3-inch, 290-pound defensive tackle has been billed as the No. 1 player in all of college football, ahead of USC’s Sam Darnold and Louisville’s Lamar Jackson.

“He’s very quick, he’s very active as well as being very good technically...he’s a good player,” Alsadek said of Oliver. “He’s very good technically and that’s something we’ve gotta take into account.”

Here’s Alsadek’s list of the toughest opponents he’s ever faced:

Danny Shelton, Washington: Shelton was a first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns, and he was a load to block at UW. “I feel like he’s one of those guys that’s a huge human,” Alsadek said. “He’s…I think the best guy I’ve ever gone against.” Shelton had nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack when he faced Alsadek and the UA.

Solomon Thomas, Stanford: Thomas was a first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers. “Solomon plays a lot like Ed, he just plays really low, he’s not very big. He’s just so good technically,” Alsadek said. In two games against Arizona, Thomas had seven tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

Leonard Williams, USC: Williams was a first-round pick of the New York Jets. In 2014, Williams famously tackled Arizona running back Terris Jones-Grigsby so hard that the UA senior’s helmet flew off. Alsadek said he Williams even playing his best. “I think he was kind of checked out, to be honest,” Alsadek said, laughing. “But when he wanted to play, he played really hard and really well.”

Return to field will bring 'normalcy' for hurricane-affected Houston team

Thank you, Tucson. You've filled the 2nd equipment truck. We're sending almost 70K lbs of goods to Houston. #BearDown #HoustonStrong pic.twitter.com/KVEfK7Y4h3

— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) September 8, 2017

Arizona’s season began last week, but Houston will start in Tucson after their Week 1 match-up with UTSA was cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey.

This week, the Cougars finally returned to practice in Houston for the first time in a couple weeks after spending most of their time training and prepping for the season in Austin at the University of Texas.

UH coach Major Applewhite said the team is ready to “be back in some normalcy.”

Earlier this week, the Star spoke with Applewhite as part of the American conference’s coaches call.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

On if the team watched any football on Saturday without a game: “I’m sure our players did, I spoke with a lot of them when they returned. A lot of them spent time watching games, a lot of them spent the earlier part of the day, kind of helping out teammates and doing those sort of things.

On getting back to Houston: “It’s been a ride and we’re ready to get back to some normalcy. Our players, staff, our support staff we spent a lot of the last (few days) making sure that everybody’s OK home-wise, transportation-wise, food-wise. Cross those ts and dot those Is in making sure everybody’s back. School week starts tomorrow. We’re ready to get back into the normal way of doing things.”

On Arizona: “Going all the way back to all of the Rich Rodriguez-coached teams, whether it was at West Virginia or Michigan or Arizona … the teams play with great effort, they play with a lot of toughness, they’re very well-conditioned, obviously just from an offensive and defensive standpoint they have a great pace on offense and they run the football.”

On Arizona’s season-opening win against NAU: “That was a good opening win for them , it looked very clean for the first game out as a football team, thought they played with a lot of poise and their quarterback played with a lot of poise. He understands their system, he understands how to operate their system. He’s a competitive player. They’re a very good ball club. It doesn’t surprise me just being a fan of football and watching Coach Rodriguez and his staff, there’s a lot of continuity in his staff.”

Wildcats have found their kind of guy in Houston-area high school

Arizona has made a concerted effort in the 2018 cycle to recruit players from the state of Texas, and Houston in particular.

The Wildcats have already secured one commitment in Darrius Smith, a running back from Dawson High School.

Smith fits the mold of an Arizona OKG — “Our Kind of Guy” — largely due to his size. Smith’s only offers other than Arizona came from Alabama A&M, Howard and Texas Southern. Even if he’s only 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, Smith is still one of the most productive players in Houston.

Smith rushed for 1,500 yards as a junior, added 300 receiving yards and scored 20 combined touchdowns on his way to winning the district’s MVP award.

Dawson coach Eric Wells said he uses Smith as a running back, slot receiver and, occasionally, a “Wildcat” quarterback.

“He’s a great player, really smart as far as understanding the concepts we have on offense,” the coach said. “He’s a special kid.”

Wells said Smith size turned off some major programs, though schools did start calling after Arizona offered him.

“He’s not quite big, but he’s not a midget,” Wells said. “He’s one of those kids sometimes that falls between the cracks but when you get in there and get a coach who watches his film and see how explosive he is it’s pretty easy to recruit him.

“It was funny because when Arizona offered him, people started calling from everywhere. We saw him on paper as 5-9 so we didn’t even come by there. Arizona offered and now Arizona offered and people want to see why is he so special. They watch his film and it’s holy crap he’s awesome.”

Scout.com’s Greg Powers, who covers Texas recruiting, likes the fit for Smith at Arizona.

“Darius is a good player but in RichRod’s offense he’s a guy who fits in there well,” Powers said. “He’s a guy who was the offensive MVP of their district, he racked up over 2,000 offensive yards, catches the football well so I think he’s a great fit for what they like to do.”