The Star's Michael Lev presents five storylines to look for as the Arizona Wildcats prepare to open the 2020 season Saturday afternoon against USC at Arizona Stadium. The game starts at 1:30 p.m. and will air on Ch. 11, 1290-AM and 107.5-FM.
Arizona Wildcats senior linebacker Anthony Pandy is used to making big moves
Anthony Pandy (8) performs a drill during the first Arizona football practice of the spring season on March 18, 2019.
Anthony Pandy didn’t start playing football until middle school. He was mainly a baseball player growing up in Southern California. But he decided he’d rather hit people than a little white ball, so football it was.
Pandy didn’t get his wish right away, though.
“I was pretty chubby,” the Arizona Wildcats senior said, “so I played left tackle.”
The following year, Pandy shed his baby fat. He played all over — receiver, running back, linebacker. He found that the latter suited him.
“Instead of having to block somebody every play,” Pandy said, “they gotta worry about blocking me.”
Pandy is on the move again this fall. Originally slated to play outside linebacker in new coordinator Paul Rhoads’ 3-4 scheme, Pandy had to move to the inside when longtime teammates Tony Fields II and Colin Schooler transferred.
Pandy is listed as the starting “Will” linebacker for Arizona’s opener against USC on Saturday. His partner at the “Mike” is freshman Derick Mourning, who’s making his college debut. One of the other linebackers, Kwabena Watson, is a redshirt freshman. He’ll be making his first career start if Arizona opens in its base defense.
Pandy isn’t boisterous by nature. As fellow linebacker Jalen Harris said, “We’re both not gonna say much. We’re pretty much about our business.”
But under the current circumstances, Pandy doesn’t have a choice.
“I lead by example,” Pandy said. “I always want to be the best version of me that I could be. The vocal part? The team needs me to be vocal. So I’m gonna do that for the defense.”
Although Pandy’s classmates are no longer Wildcats, their influence endures. Pandy and Schooler were roommates on the road. They talked football a lot.
“Colin is very smart,” Pandy said. “He taught me a lot of stuff, especially on-the-field, in-game situations with audibles, coverages, what they’re reading offensively. He helped me a lot with that aspect.”
Pandy also gets a chance to learn from Rhoads, who is coaching the inside linebackers. Pandy gets a daily breakdown of the entire defense.
Rhoads expected to have a veteran linebacking crew in his first season at Arizona. It didn’t turn out that way. But Pandy, who had 66 tackles as a junior, has been everything he was supposed to be.
“Anthony’s leadership has always been apparent, and that hasn’t gone anywhere,” Rhoads said. “(We) will certainly be more reliant on him as we move forward because of what he’s been through and the credibility he has.”
Pandy isn’t accustomed to being an elder statesman. He’s the second youngest of seven siblings. He developed his competitiveness playing sports with them and his cousins who lived nearby.
As a sign of how much his teammates respect him, Pandy was one of five Wildcats to be named a captain for the 2020 season.
“That’s a pretty big deal,” Pandy said. “It means they have faith in me. They want me to step up, be a good example for the team. And I’m gonna play that role.”
Arizona OC Noel Mazzone breaks down the Wildcats’ backup quarterbacks
Arizona offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone gets pulled back to the bench as he tries organize a two-point conversion attempt in the second quarter of the Wildcats' game against Oregon State last season.
Noel Mazzone had a chance to break some news. He wouldn’t take the bait.
The Arizona offensive coordinator was asked recently who’d be the next man in if starting quarterback Grant Gunnell got hurt.
“Next Tuesday,” Mazzone replied with a smile, alluding to the release of the Wildcats’ depth chart.
Alas, the depth chart brought no answers either. The UA listed redshirt junior Rhett Rodriguez, redshirt sophomore Kevin Doyle and freshman Will Plummer as coequals behind Gunnell.
The Star had a chance to ask Mazzone about all three quarterbacks. Here’s how that conversation went:
Your relationship with Kevin Doyle’s high school coaches led him to come here. He was highly recruited and committed to Michigan at one point. Why hasn’t he developed here?
A: “Kevin’s got real arm talent. He came in as a freshman, and we had Khalil (Tate) here. He went into the next year, and he had a little arm issue and actually missed camp. No fault of his own. Then, once you’re in the fray, it’s hard to change direction. Then we come to this year and spring ball. You know what happens. Which is misfortunate. That was gonna be a big spring for a couple guys. I’m sure every program in the country has guys like that. He’s just working his way up through all those deals.”
Like Grant last year, Will Plummer enrolled early. He didn’t get the full spring either. Where’s his development at this point?
A: “He’s another guy that would have really benefited from the spring. He’s a very bright guy. Because you’re bright, book wise, does not necessarily mean you have a high football IQ. Will has a high football IQ. Has got an older brother (Jack) that plays at Purdue. I actually recruited his older brother at Texas A&M. Will’s got a real passion for the game and really studies it. When you go on the field and you tell him something, the game of football just kind of hits him the right way. He’s done a really good job catching up here. … He gets it.”
Rhett Rodriguez seems like someone you can trust – if something did happen to Grant, you could put Rhett in there and feel pretty good about it. Is that accurate?
A: “Things are going to run smoothly. He’s going to know exactly what to do. I kid the guys – he’s the only guy in the room that’s smarter than me. Not only is he getting ready to graduate, he’s an A student, a very intelligent guy, and obviously, growing up in his family, he’s got a high football IQ.
“He’s been here. You would trust him with the keys to the car and not bring it back with dents and scratches.”
UA tight end Bryce Wolma seeks slice of passing-game pie — and finally might get it
Tight end Bryce Wolma is one of five Wildcats named team captains for the season, as voted on by their teammates. Coach Kevin Sumlin called it a “mandate” to lead.
USC tight end Erik Krommenhoek can relate to his Arizona counterpart, Bryce Wolma.
Krommenhoek, a senior, has appeared in 39 games for the Trojans. He has 15 career catches. He wasn’t targeted last week vs. Arizona State. Backup Jude Wolfe was targeted three times and had two receptions.
Wolma, also a senior, had only five catches last season, matching his total from 2018. He was targeted just seven times.
Wolma’s lack of involvement in the passing game isn’t something he foresaw after totaling 28 receptions as a freshman. He learned to adjust to a new scheme and a new role, but he isn’t giving up hope.
“Obviously, I do want the ball,” Wolma said. “I know it’s a joke, we say it all the time, but I do think the tight end’s going to be a lot more involved this year. … It’s definitely trending in a better direction.”
Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone echoed that sentiment and reiterated a point he made in spring: Having two viable tight ends makes it more worthwhile to invest time in the position. The staff is bullish on Wolma’s new backup, junior-college transfer Stacey Marshall. If the game plan featured the tight end — and Wolma were to go down early — Mazzone wouldn’t have to scrap it.
“Bryce Wolma is one of my favorite guys. He deserves it,” Mazzone said. “The quarterbacks are real comfortable with Bryce in the game. In fact, the whole offense is more comfortable when Bryce is in the game because he’s kind of our old guy out there.”
Arizona has only three seniors who are projected to start on offense: Wolma, tailback Gary Brightwell and center Josh McCauley (who might not play Saturday because of injury).
Special teams could play especially influential role in USC-UA game
Michael Wiley bobbles the ball while fielding a punt with a towel pinned under his arms as the Wildcats special teams work on their skills and continue preparations for the upcoming season, Tucson, Ariz., October 23, 2020.
Arizona coach Kevin Sumlin has had a chance to observe plenty of college football while waiting for the Wildcats’ first game. Across the country, Sumlin noted, special teams have been an adventure.
“I haven’t seen this many blocks, this many missed field goals, in years,” Sumlin said.
Entering Friday night, 4.2% of all field-goal attempts had been blocked, up from 2.9% last season. Kickers were making 72.1%, down from 74.9%.
Stanford kicker Jet Toner — who had an 82.5% career success rate entering this season — went 0 for 4 against Oregon on Saturday. Boise State blocked two punts and a field goal — returning all three for touchdowns — in its demolition of Colorado State on Thursday.
Sumlin believes the erratic offseason schedule many teams endured has led to the issues in the kicking game.
“A lot of these things are being exposed,” Sumlin said.
Special teams is one area where Arizona should be able to hold serve against USC.
“Everybody was pretty much the best guy in high school,” UA special-teamer Dante Smith said. “It’s about technique, knowing your craft and building your confidence (by) studying the game.”
Securing the ball helps too. Arizona’s Stanley Berryhill III muffed a punt in last year’s matchup, leading to a USC field goal. The Trojans nearly turned a muffed punt into a touchdown against Arizona State last week, only to fumble at the 1-yard line.
New UA punt returner Michael Wiley is mindful of that.
“They want you to make plays,” Wiley said. “But they also want you to be careful.”
Robert Congel, UA offensive line know they’ll be under pressure vs. USC
Arizona offensive linemen Tyson Gardner, left, and Robert Congel clash on the second day of practice for the upcoming season, Tucson, Ariz., July 26, 2019.
Robert Congel and his Arizona linemates watched the USC-Arizona State game last Saturday after the Wildcats’ game was canceled. But the way they watch isn’t the way most of us do.
“I’m more watching the box,” said Congel, the Cats’ starting right guard. “I’m seeing what they’re doing, what fronts they’re in, what pressures they bring. Really just watching the personnel on the D-line and the linebackers.”
Congel had a lot to decipher when the Trojans were on defense. First-year coordinator Todd Orlando presented a lot of looks and a variety of pressures. USC blitzed ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels on 25 of his 32 dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. Although they sacked him only once, the Trojans clearly affected Daniels. He was 4 of 4 when USC didn’t blitz, 7 of 19 when it did.
So Congel and his fellow linemen know what’s coming, even if they don’t know exactly when or from where. They also know they can’t let pass rushers flow into the backfield unimpeded. That happened far too frequently in last year’s matchup, resulting in seven sacks of Khalil Tate and Grant Gunnell. A hit on Gunnell also led to an interception.
How does the line keep that from happening again?
“Just working it in practice a bunch this week,” Congel said. “That quick-twitch mentality, where you’re moving off stunts and different games.
“All our guys are really focused ... getting ready to keep Grant safe.”
