Arizona scrimmage highlights include Tetairoa McMillan's nifty grabs, Jayden de Laura's TD run

Under the lights of Arizona Stadium on Saturday, the Arizona Wildcats held a scrimmage two weeks before the UA spring game.

The Wildcats ran 98 plays total — 58 passes and 40 rushing attempts — during their two-hour workout.

Among the highlights: Star receiver Tetairoa McMillan hauled in a nifty, one-handed, Odell Beckham-style catch down the sideline for a 50-yard gain, then replicated his catch the next play in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown; quarterback Jayden de Laura showed off his mobility with a 13-yard first-down run, then ended the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run; and freshman safety Genesis Smith intercepted de Laura to end the scrimmage.

“We were able to get some good balance in there, do some drills and see if we can keep getting better. First time out in a full scrimmage atmosphere, so that was good to see,” UA coach Jedd Fisch said. “A couple of the young guys popped, couple of the older guys played good.”

Although defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen continues to experiment and tinker with lineups, “I love it in terms of how many guys we’re able to evaluate,” Fisch said.

“Spring football is for evaluation. ... So many linebackers are going through, so many (defensive backs) are going through. ... Just to see all these guys making plays around the field is great,” Fisch said. “We don’t need to make a decision on a starting 11 anytime soon. Our goal is to see how many guys we get ready to play.”

Arizona now enters its fourth week of spring ball, which begins Tuesday. With a sizable amount of players still competing for starting roles, Fisch said Saturday that “we’re behind schedule, because I just want us to get better.”

“I don’t know how you judge that, because you want the offense to do everything right and the defense to do everything right, so how do you know what’s happening when you’re sitting there playing each other?” Fisch asked. “The biggest thing for us is we’re more connected as a team, we do more things together as a team ... so us being great teammates is something we’re ahead of schedule on, and I hope that parlays into some more wins.”

Savaiinaea at RT ‘a legitimate look’

Lately, Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona’s Freshman All-American right guard who started all 12 games last season, has started at right tackle.

During Saturday’s scrimmage, Savaiinaea starting next to right guard Sam Langi, center Josh Baker, left guard Wendell Moe and left tackle Joseph Borjon.

“That’s a legitimate look for us to see how he does there,” Fisch said. “We’re trying to figure out the offensive line. Not having (left tackle) Jordan (Morgan) all spring, we kind of know where Jordan is going to play, so we want to see what it looks like at replacing Paiton (Fears) at right tackle.

“We’ve got some young guys coming in, but they’re not here yet other than Rhino (Tapa’atoutai). ... Right now with the numbers, we got to see what Jonah can do, and Jonah is playing really well at tackle. He’s a gifted offensive lineman.”

Playing tackle is new for the 6-5, 335-pound Savaiinaea, who always was an interior offensive lineman, even when he and de Laura were teammates at St. Louis High School in Honolulu. It’s common for a team’s best offensive lineman to play tackle at the high school level, but Savaiinaea was the right guard.

“In high school, he was still young. He was a sophomore, so his body really wasn’t developed,” de Laura said of Savaiinaea. “Now he looks fit, really solid and can move. He’s athletic and got good feet under him.”

The Wildcats still need to add a pair of freshman tackles — 6-6, 345-pound four-star Raymond Pulido and 6-7, 285-pound Elijha Payne — during preseason training camp. But Fisch said “we’ve got some flexibility” on the offensive line with Savaiinaea at right tackle.

“As we’re going through it, we just want to evaluate the players. It’s not Year 1 anymore; (even) Year 2, everyone was new,” Fisch said. “Now we’re looking at Year 3 of trying to figure out where are we in this build to be able to understand where does everyone fit in and can we figure out the best combination to go with.”

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Analysts ruling ‘a shame’

A proposal to allow analysts and other staffers to coach players will likely not pass, American Football Coaches Association executive director Todd Berry told On3.com last week. Analysts are considered off-field coaches and limited to having contact with coaches instead of players on the field.

Arizona hired “Desert Swarm” assistant coach Duane Akina in December hoping the rule change would allow the longtime coach to have an on-field role on the Wildcats’ staff, working as a secondary coach with Chuck Cecil and first-year cornerbacks coach John Richardson.

Fisch said he “was very surprised at” the rule not changing before the 2023 season.

“I think it’s a shame,” Fisch said. “There’s so many great opportunities for coaches — young and old — to be able to continue to help the players develop. The fact that it didn’t pass is both surprising and disappointing at the same time. They’ll still have their roles in the building.

“They’ll obviously be coaches-to-coaches and work with the coaches and be very involved on the field as a cheerleader and motivator. ... You go look at some of the NFL staffs I’ve been on, we had 30-35 coaches at a lot of places, and we had a 53-man roster. They limit you to 11 coaches and four (graduate assistants) on a 115-man roster. It’s disappointing.

“It is what it is. Hopefully they’ll change that rule soon. I know all of the head coaches feel the same way I do that I’ve talked to. Maybe one of these days, we’ll allow these kids to continue to get coached by as many (coaches) as we can.”

New threads coming soon?

Arizona is wearing its game uniforms from the past two seasons on the practice field for spring ball.

“Nike cooperated with us this year and let us wear the game jerseys from last year and the year before, so I like them to look good in practice, look sharp,” Fisch said.

When asked if this forecasts new uniforms for the fall, Fisch said: “No one talked to me about that. Maybe. But that hasn’t hit my desk yet.”

Extra points

Fisch on de Laura’s development this spring compared to his first spring practices last season: “He’s so much more comfortable in the system. He understands what we’re trying to get done, and he’s continuing to try and improve. He’s really committed to getting better. His commitment and the quarterbacks’ commitment has been something unique from a year ago until now.”

Tight end Tanner McLachlan was sidelined for the fifth straight practice with a hamstring injury Saturday but is expected to return Tuesday. “We’ve been holding him off for some soft-tissue stuff,” Fisch said. “Those hamstrings, you don’t want them to linger.”

Starting “Will” linebacker Jacob Manu didn’t practice Saturday because of a hand injury but is expected to return on Tuesday.

Arizona defensive line coach Ricky Hunley sat in the press box during the Wildcats’ scrimmage. Hunley is recovering from knee surgery, and “we hope to get him back for camp,” Fisch said.

According to Fisch, roughly 12,000 spots have been secured for the spring game, “not including the students.” Fisch’s original goal for spectators at Arizona’s spring game was 15,000. “But I think I’m setting the goal at 20,000 for the spring game this year,” he said.