It happened during practice Saturday night. It’s going to happen at some point — maybe the first play from scrimmage — during the Arizona Wildcats’ season opener against Northern Arizona on Sept. 2.
Arizona will deploy two linebackers, side by side, who never have played a down of college football. It’s a predicament but also a promising prospect, as linebackers coach Scott Boone explained.
“Our blessing is we’ve got a bunch of young guys,” Boone said. “Our curse is we’ve got a bunch of young guys.
“We don’t have two established linebackers I can look at and say, ‘Do it the way those guys do it.’ It’s trial by fire.”
The Wildcats will be young at linebacker. Whether that inexperience torpedoes the defense or uplifts it remains to be seen.
The early buzz on most of the young ’backers is positive. Freshman Tony Fields II has continued to impress after enrolling in January and quickly establishing himself as a potential starter at the “Will” spot.
“Tony has a chance to be really good,” Boone said. “Tony’s biggest strength is how hard he plays, and his biggest weakness is how he tries to make every play. He’s gotta learn that his plays will come to him.”
Boone said that Fields’ aggressive tendencies sometimes will lead him to vacate his gap, leaving an opening in the defense. That can be especially problematic against zone-read teams.
But Arizona is willing to live with some growing pains — some, not a ton — if the young linebackers provide increased athleticism and playmaking ability.
Fields teamed at times with fellow freshman Colin Schooler on Saturday. Listed at 6 feet, 224 pounds, Schooler already looks like a Pac-12 linebacker. Getting him up to speed mentally — especially if he stays at the play-calling “Mike” linebacker spot — in about a month’s worth of practices is the hard part.
“But he’s a smart kid,” Boone said. “He has a high football IQ. And he practices really hard. He’s one of those guys that really has adapted to the tempo.”
Arizona signed a bunch of linebackers to improve its depth and replenish a position that lost several seniors to graduation and other factors. The only returnee with any substantial experience is Brandon Rutt, a redshirt junior who suddenly feels like a grizzled vet.
“Sometimes they call me grandpa,” Rutt said with a grin.
Rutt is the only linebacker Boone can call upon in meetings to answer questions about last season. (Boone joined the staff in December.) Everyone else ticketed for substantial playing time — a group that also includes Jacob Colacion and Gavin Robertson Jr. — is a freshman or redshirt freshman.
“Rutt will make sure the Will knows what to do and everybody knows what the situation is,” Boone said. “When you have two young guys in there, you’ve got to hope one of them takes charge.”
Rutt is playing Mike now after playing mostly Will last year, so he understands what both are supposed to do on any given play. He likes what he has seen so far from his youthful teammates.
“I think they’re coming along great,” Rutt said. “A lot of them have a chance to play and contribute to the team. They’re picking it up a lot quicker than the last couple years. I think they’re getting it.”
As good as they look now, it’s impossible to predict how the freshmen will respond in actual game situations. But UA coach Rich Rodriguez put it plainly when asked if they’d be ready to play.
“That’s the expectation,” Rodriguez said.
Fine line
Rodriguez wasn’t pleased during the team period when senior safety Jarvis McCall Jr. drilled receiver Shawn Poindexter just after he caught a pass over the middle.
The officials didn’t throw a flag, but it was the sort of hit that might have been subject to a targeting review during a game. Poindexter went through the concussion protocol afterward.
Rodriguez wants his defenders to be aggressive, but he doesn’t want them to be reckless.
“I expect the young guys (to mess up),” Rodriguez said. “But the upperclassmen should know that. They’re a conscientious group. They’ll get it.”
Extra points
Brandon Dawkins again was the only quarterback to wear a red, no-contact jersey, and he took the majority of the first-team reps.
- Junior-college transfer Dereck Boles rotated with the first unit at defensive tackle. Boles isn’t fully cleared academically, but Rodriguez expects that to happen by next week. He also expects Boles to contribute this season.
- Redshirt-junior tight end Trevor Wood continues to play a significant role in the offense. “This is the best Trevor’s looked in his career,” Rodriguez said.
- Safety Tristan Cooper and tight end Bryce Gilbert did not participate because of undisclosed injuries.
- Arizona practiced in pads for the second day in a row. The team is off Sunday before returning to action Monday.
