Arizona Wildcats storylines: On Cochran's return, Connolly's hunger, Mariscal's move

In the spring of 2017, Jalen Cochran announced he was transferring. The career the defensive end envisioned for himself at Arizona hadn’t materialized. The native of Plymouth, Michigan, felt homesick.

“I felt like I needed to be home with my grandma,” Cochran said. “When I got home, I kind of realized there really wasn’t a lot there. I felt like it was better for me to come back and … do what I came here to do.”

Cochran had hoped to be a pioneer of sorts. He was the first member of his family to earn a college scholarship. He held offers from Michigan State and the three Michigan representatives from the MAC.

But Cochran always “wanted to make a statement,” he said. “I wanted to create my own legacy here and build something special.”

His grandmother, Esther V. Smith, reminded him of that. She’s been helping people all her life. Smith is an evangelist, a gospel singer and author.

“My grandma is a huge influence on my life. Her opinion on anything, I’m always going to listen,” Cochran said. “She realized me coming home was not the best. A lot of people who are from Michigan stay in Michigan. I always had that desire to leave. She just wanted me to stay on that path and strive to be great at U of A.”

Sophomore D-lineman Jalen Cochran (from Plymouth, Mich.) chose UA over Michigan State “to create my own legacy.” pic.twitter.com/yYUyDtouDS

— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) September 18, 2018

Grandma always knows best. About a year and a half later, Cochran has become an important part of Arizona’s defensive line rotation. With starting end Justin Belknap possibly out for the year because of a broken foot, Cochran is now sharing time at the position with JB Brown.

Brown is expected to make his second straight start Saturday at Oregon State. Cochran saw his most extensive action last week against Southern Utah. He has one tackle and one pass breakup in two games — the first two games of his UA career.

After redshirting as a freshman in 2016 and changing his mind about leaving, Cochran returned to Tucson with renewed enthusiasm. But before the ’17 season got started, Cochran suffered a torn pectoral muscle. He underwent season-ending surgery.

“That kinda sucked,” Cochran said. “Coming back, trying to prove myself, then I get hurt.”

Cochran faced a long rehabilitation process. He used the time not only to rebuild his strength but to work on himself off the field. He strove for self-improvement. The adversity he faced — again — taught him to persevere.

“Trying to stay positive through bad things,” Cochran said. “Each day I try to be the best version of myself.”

Cochran is majoring in Care, Health and Society, with a minor in Sports Nutrition. He’d like to “stay around sports” when his playing career is over. Like his grandmother, he wants to help people.

Cochran said he is viewed as something of a “golden child” in his family. That label can be good and bad. It carries the heavy weight of great expectations.

“I don’t want to let anybody down,” Cochran said. “That’s why I’m here. I want to make my family proud, make U of A proud and also make myself proud.”

Like the rest of his teammates, Arizona defensive tackle Finton Connolly spent extensive time in the offseason working with strength coach Brian Johnson. But it takes more than weightlifting for Connolly to maintain his 300-plus-pound figure.

Connolly likes to eat. He really, really likes to eat.

Asked this week to describe his diet, Connolly said: “Everything that’s edible.”

Does he have a specific daily calorie count?

“I don’t really know the number,” Connolly said. “I just kind of eat until my stomach says no.”

The 6-5 Connolly was listed at 251 pounds as a freshman in 2015. The redshirt junior now checks in at 303.

Connolly says he feels comfortable at that weight, and his play reflects it. He has been one of Arizona’s most effective interior linemen, totaling five tackles, including one for a loss, and one pass breakup in three games.

Connolly is hungry for his first sack, among other things. He listed burgers and pizza among his favorite foods. He saves room on his plate and in his belly for the vegetables “that your mom told you to eat as a kid.”

Connolly described a typical breakfast as follows:

“Two French toasts. A big old plate of eggs. It’s on a buffet, so I probably do three big old scoops. Bacon for sure. And sausage. And two pancakes.”

Pause.

“That’s my first plate,” Connolly said. “Then I go back maybe two or three more times. Same thing. Maybe less.”

The Star posted a video of Connolly’s breakfast boast. He quote-tweeted it, saying: “If anyone is down to have an eating contest, let me know.”

That naturally spawned several challenges.

Offensive lineman Bryson Cain tweeted, in all caps: “ANY DAY OF THE WEEK, LITTLE MAN.”

Connolly’s response? “Bryson, you don’t want to take this L.”

Think you can out-eat 6-foot-5, 301-pound defensive tackle Finton Connolly? pic.twitter.com/pabzOCeeVG

— The Wildcaster (@TheWildcaster) September 19, 2018

Connolly conceded that he’d have a battle against 323-pound offensive lineman Michael Eletise, who once said: “If there was a McDonald’s on the way to my house, I’d probably stop there more often than not.

“He always talks about food,” Connolly said. “That’s like his favorite subject.”

Eletise couldn’t resist joining the fray on Twitter.

“I know you joking, Fintisimo,” Eletise tweeted to Connolly. “I mean, I am Michael Eletise. I got you by a mile.”

“LOL,” Connolly replied. “That means nothing.”

Entering Week 4, the leading rusher in the Pac-12 wasn’t Bryce Love. Or Khalil Tate. Or Myles Gaskin.

It was an Oregon State running back — but not the returning veteran who began the season atop the depth chart.

The top rusher through three weeks was Beavers freshman Jermar Jefferson, who’s averaging 130.2 yards per game entering OSU’s Pac-12 opener against Arizona.

Junior Artavis Pierce started the first two games and was performing exceptionally well — 22 carries for 259 yards and three touchdowns — before getting hurt in the second quarter against Southern Utah on Sept. 8. Pierce is expected to miss about a month because of an elbow injury.

When he comes back, it’s pretty likely Pierce will share the workload with Jefferson. The product of Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California, rushed for 238 yards and four touchdowns against the Thunderbirds. He followed that up with 106 yards and two TDs against Nevada.

Jefferson was rated as a three-star prospect coming out of Narbonne, the same school that produced Arizona’s Devaughn Cooper and Anthony Pandy. Former UA tight end Brandon Manumaleuna is the Gauchos’ offensive coordinator.

Jefferson held three Pac-12 offers, from Oregon State, Colorado and Utah. His only other offer from a Power Five school came from Rutgers.

OSU coach Jonathan Smith, who won the recruiting derby, could tell early on that he had something special in Jefferson.

“It was in fall camp, in August,” Smith said. “We got into some live scrimmages, even some of the team reps. He had some flashes.

“You never totally know. Games are different. (But) even in camp, I can remember the second or third week thinking, ‘Dude, this guy, he’s close to being ready.’ ”

As Jefferson continued to impress, the message became: “We gotta play this guy.”

Jefferson is slated to make his second career start Saturday afternoon.

The way Clarence McKinney told it back in April, Anthony Mariscal just kind of showed up in McKinney’s meeting room.

“I had no idea he was a safety,” McKinney said. “When I got here, he was in the running backs room.”

That’s not exactly how it went down. Mariscal, entering his fourth season at Arizona, approached UA coach Kevin Sumlin about changing positions. Marsical had come to Tucson to play safety. But he hadn’t played very much, and he never lost his love for running back. Marsical was a two-way standout for Liberty High School in Bakersfield, California.

Sumlin, who had minimal background information on the players he inherited, agreed to the switch.

“He just said, ‘Yeah, be in the room when Coach (McKinney) gets here,’” Mariscal said. “That’s when you’ll meet him.”

Mariscal made a strong first impression. He excelled in the spring game, unofficially running for 71 yards on 10 carries. He couldn’t crack the two-deep coming out of training camp, but Mariscal made a cameo in the season opener (one catch, three yards) and helped Arizona put away Southern Utah last week.

After entering the game early in the fourth quarter, Mariscal rushed for 60 yards on nine carries. On his second touch, he broke into the secondary for a 33-yard touchdown.

“It was well worth the wait,” Mariscal said. “My opportunity came, and I’m glad I seized it.”

After redshirting in 2015, Mariscal appeared in eight games in ’16. He finished the season with 19 tackles, including one for a loss.

Mariscal played in only one game last season, struggling to find a role at a deep position. But he said the change was mostly about missing running back.

“I enjoy defense, but I knew that I loved running the ball,” Mariscal said. “Being in control. Being able to have the ball in your hands. Running people over.”

Mariscal describes himself as a one-cut, downhill runner. He grew up admiring the game of former NFL and Fresno State running back Ryan Mathews, who also played high school ball in Bakersfield.

If he lacks the shiftiness of teammates J.J. Taylor and Gary Brightwell, Mariscal makes up for it with his knowledge of defenses. Less than a year ago, he played for the other side.

“Back in the spring, when the safeties were rolling, I knew exactly what they were doing,” Mariscal said. “Because I used to be back there.”

Arizona will be fighting recent history when it opens Pac-12 play at Oregon State on Saturday.

The Wildcats’ last four trips to the Pacific Northwest have not gone well. Arizona is 0-4 and has been outscored 208-55. Here are those results:

Oct. 31, 2015: L, 49-3, at Washington

Nov. 5, 2016: L, 69-7, at Washington State

Nov. 19, 2016: L, 42-17, at Oregon State

Nov. 18, 2017: L, 48-28, at Oregon

The Wildcats also have lost six of their last seven conference openers. The lone exception: the 49-45 “Hill Mary” game against Cal on Sept. 20, 2014.