The Star presents five storylines of interest as the Arizona Wildcats host Colorado on Saturday in the Pac-12 home opener at Arizona Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. The game will air on Pac-12 Networks.
Arizona offensive lineman Jordan Morgan celebrates with running back Jonah Coleman after an early-season touchdown last year. Morgan, a preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team selection in 2023, is on track to start the Wildcats’ season opener Sept. 2 against NAU after rehabbing a right ACL tear from last November.
As Arizona OT Jordan Morgan continues to excel, NFL draft buzz grows
Brennan Carroll knows what an NFL offensive lineman looks like. He has been there and coached them.
Arizona might have a future NFL lineman in left tackle Jordan Morgan, who has begun to fulfill the potential he showed as a sought-after recruit from Marana High School.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Carroll said amid preparations for the UA’s Pac-12 home opener against Colorado. “Now, the difference between an NFL lineman and a college lineman is experience. You don't have all the same experiences you do when you play in the NFL for a couple years. But he's on the right trajectory to become not just a good lineman but one of the great ones.”
In late August, CBSSports.com posted a list of its top 50 draft prospects. Morgan checked it at No. 49, which would put him in the middle of the second round.
That projection came on the heels of a season in which Morgan struggled to play through an ankle injury. He’s healthier and stronger now, and it shows.
Morgan is the third-highest-rated lineman and the top-rated tackle in the Pac-12, according to Pro Football Focus’ grading system. He has raised his overall grade from 53.1 to 80.8.
Morgan has yet to allow a sack this season after surrendering five in 2021. He has yielded six quarterback pressures in 291 snaps and has yet to be whistled for a penalty.
“Jordan is playing a fantastic level of left tackle right now,” said UA coach Jedd Fisch, who, like Carroll, has spent several seasons in the NFL.
Morgan said the main difference in his performance is health. The high-ankle sprain he suffered last year happened during training camp and hindered him throughout the season.
Morgan also starred in the weight room during the offseason and worked extensively on his pass sets. “Over and over again,” he said.
Morgan’s 84.6 pass-blocking grade ranks third among Pac-12 tackles, per PFF.
“I think it's just believing in the process and the plan that we laid out for him,” Carroll said. “It's a combination of having the physical tools, which he does have, and it's working on those.
“He's been a fantastic weight-room guy for us ever since we got here. His body, he’s made great changes. He can lift as good as anybody I can remember at this level.”
Morgan, a fourth-year junior, said making it in the NFL has “been a big goal of mine.” He is thankful for the opportunity that could come his way.
“But also,” he added, “I need to focus on the season.
“We want to be a great team. We want to have a winning record. We will have one.”
Arizona is 2-2 entering the Colorado game. The Wildcats are favored by 17.5 points. If they were to win, they’d be halfway to a bowl berth – something Morgan and most of his teammates have yet to experience.
Having an offensive lineman selected in the NFL draft also would be something new for Arizona. The school hasn’t had one since Eben Britton in 2009. The Jacksonville Jaguars picked him in the second round.
Carroll said consistency will be the key for Morgan to become the next one.
“He's shown that he can do it over four games,” Carroll said. “He’s graded out very well. He has to keep doing it and keep trusting it.”
How Arizona WR Dorian Singer’s (basket)ball skills help him on the football field
Dorian Singer
Receiver Dorian Singer made Arizona’s catch of the year last week at Cal.
Jayden de Laura launched the ball down the right sideline, where Singer was trying to get past Golden Bears cornerback Lou-Magia Hearns III. Singer leaped for the ball and snagged it with his right hand. He held onto it despite (A) crashing to the turf and (B) Hearns attempting to knock it away. Singer also managed to remain inbounds.
Singer’s ball skills stem in part from his ability to excel in a different sport.
“He's a phenomenal basketball player,” UA coach Jedd Fisch said. “When you watch some of the things that he does, you can see basketball was his first sport or his first love. You watch him with the ball in his hands. You watch his eye-hand coordination.”
Singer is from Saint Paul, Minnesota, but spent his senior year at Pinnacle High School in Phoenix. As a basketball player for the Pioneers, he averaged 8.8 points, 2.6 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game, according to MaxPreps.
“The instincts come (into play) when he's catching the football,” Fisch said. “He’s learning the route running, the run blocking, the spatial recognition that occurs on a football field. Every day is a development there. I'm really impressed with how hard he's working to get better at being a great wide receiver.”
In his second season at Arizona and his first as a full-time starter, Singer ranked third in the Pac-12 in receptions (23) entering this weekend. He was ninth in receiving yards (287).
A former walk-on, Singer has managed to distinguish himself in a receiver room that also features star transfer Jacob Cowing and touted freshman Tetairoa McMillan.
“Dorian has embraced the grind of what we're asking him to do,” Fisch said.
“When you look at what he's done since he's been here, (he) arrived as a walk-on (and) earned himself a scholarship based on the way he played the last five weeks of last season. Then embraced all the T-Mac and Jacob talk all offseason and just kept working.
“I don't believe he ever missed a practice in spring or fall. And then has continued to improve his ability to make a bunch of plays.”
Fomer Colorado running back Jarek Broussard, left, followed former CU coach Mel Tucker to Michigan State.
Where are they now? A look at the top transfers Colorado lost
Colorado has gotten progressively worse under Karl Dorrell, going from 4-2 during the pandemic year to 4-8 last year to 0-4 this year.
A huge reason for that decline: The Buffaloes have suffered significant personnel losses through the NCAA transfer portal.
Few teams across FBS endured bigger defections this past offseason than Colorado, which also struggled to replace those players – a near-impossibility given their production and pedigree.
More than 20 CU players have entered the portal since September 2021. Some of them transferred within the Pac-12, making a bad situation even worse.
Here’s a look at six prominent ex-Buffs, all of whom started in last year’s 34-0 CU victory over Arizona in Boulder:
CB Mekhi Blackmon, USC
At Colorado: Appeared in 25 games, including 19 starts, from 2018-21; recorded 87 tackles, 13 pass breakups and two interceptions
At USC: Has started all four games, recording 15 tackles, two interceptions and one fumble recovery
RB Jarek Broussard, Michigan State
At Colorado: Appeared in 17 games, including 15 starts, from 2020-21; rushed for 1,556 yards and seven touchdowns
At Michigan State: Has appeared in four games, including one start; has rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns; has returned four kickoffs for 73 yards
CB Christian Gonzalez, Oregon
At Colorado: Started 18 games from 2020-21; recorded 73 tackles, 5.5 TFLs and nine pass breakups
At Oregon: Has started all four games, recording 12 tackles, two pass breakups and one interception
S Mark Perry, TCU
At Colorado: Appeared in 26 games, including 15 starts, from 2019-21; recorded 87 tackles, three TFLs, three interceptions and one fumble recovery
At TCU: Has started all three games, recording 15 tackles and one TFL
WR Brenden Rice, USC
At Colorado: Appeared in 17 games, including 12 starts, from 2020-21; caught 27 passes for 419 yards and five touchdowns; returned 19 kickoffs for 506 yards; returned one punt for 81 yards and one TD
At USC: Has started all four games, catching nine passes for 71 yards and returning three kickoffs for 49 yards
WR Dimitri Stanley, Iowa State
At Colorado: Appeared in 30 games, including 23 starts, from 2018-21; caught 70 passes for 820 yards and four touchdowns; returned 28 punts for 247 yards
At Iowa State: Has appeared in three games, including one start; has caught seven passes for 81 yards and one touchdown
Colorado-Arizona won’t be first matchup between McCowns, Taylors
The Colorado-Arizona game features a matchup between the sons of former NFL players.
The Buffaloes’ starting quarterback is freshman Owen McCown, whose father, Josh, played in the league from 2002-19 for multiple clubs.
One of the Wildcats’ starting safeties is expected to be redshirt freshman Isaiah Taylor, whose father, Jason, carved out a Hall of Fame career over 15 seasons, mostly with the Miami Dolphins.
The meeting between NFL progeny wasn’t expected a few weeks ago. McCown became Colorado’s starter last week after veterans Brendon Lewis and JT Shrout struggled. Taylor is penciled in for his first career start in place of veteran free safety Jaxen Turner, who suffered a shoulder injury last week at Cal.
Did their fathers ever face each other? They did, once, in a memorable game on Nov. 7, 2004.
Josh McCown was playing for the Cardinals at the time. Jason Taylor sacked him in the third quarter for a 13-yard loss. The Dolphins led 12-3 at that point.
Miami went ahead 23-17 with 1:56 remaining. But McCown led a successful two-minute drive. It included a Taylor sack that was wiped out by a penalty. On the next play, McCown connected with Larry Fitzgerald for a 2-yard touchdown with 19 seconds remaining. The Cardinals won 24-23.
Arizona's Tanner McLachlan, top, is on pace to post one of the best seasons for a tight end in UA history.
Arizona TE Tanner McLachlan is on pace for a Gronk-like campaign
Tanner McLachlan is on pace to have one of the best seasons by a tight end in Arizona history.
The breakout transfer from Southern Utah has 15 receptions for 199 yards through four games. Projected over a 12-game slate, McLachlan would have 45 catches and 597 yards.
Only one tight end has surpassed those totals in UA annals: Rob Gronkowski in 2008. The future NFL superstar had 47 catches for 672 yards with 10 touchdowns that season.
The only Wildcat tight end who has come close to matching those figures is ... Gronkowski. He had 28 grabs for 525 yards and six TDs the previous year.
McLachlan already ranks in the top 10 for a UA tight end in single-season catches and yards dating to 1996, according to STATSPASS. Here are the top five in each category over that time frame:
Catches
Name/Catches/Year
Rob Gronkowski/47/2008
Rob Gronkowski/28/2007
Bryce Wolma/28/2017
Brad Wood/27/2005
Steve Fleming/24/2003
Receiving yards
Name/Yards/Year
Rob Gronkowski/672/2008
Rob Gronkowski/525/2007
Steve Fleming/332/2004
Brandon Manumaleuna/316/1999
Brad Wood/304/2005
Arizona cornerback Treydan Stukes and tight end Tanner McLachlan talk about the Wildcats' upcoming Pac-12 opener at Cal; plus, McLachlan shares how he used YouTube to rehab his ACL injury.
