Barring a last-minute setback, it appears that quarterback Grant Gunnell will be returning to the lineup for Arizona's Territorial Cup matchup against Arizona State on Friday evening.
Gunnell, who missed most of the past two games because of a shoulder injury suffered Nov. 28 at UCLA, fully participated in warmups. He threw passes to various receivers and showed no ill effects from the injury.
Grant Gunnell warming up and wearing cleats with an hour until kickoff pic.twitter.com/aUSuZ5mLdN
— Alec White (@AlecWhite_UA) December 11, 2020
If he's able to start, Gunnell will be making his first career appearance against the Sun Devils. The sophomore has completed 52 of 76 passes for 547 yards with six touchdowns and one interception in two-plus games.
The Wildcats and Sun Devils are scheduled to kick off a little after 5 p.m. on ESPN. Here are some additional observations from pregame warmups:
* Left tackle Jordan Morgan remains out. He still has a boot on his right foot. The Wildcats will go with the same configuration as last week (from left to right): Donovan Laie, Josh Donovan, Josh McCauley, Robert Congel and Paiton Fears.
* Linebacker Jalen Harris, who missed last week's game against Colorado (groin), is suited up and participated in warmups.
* Safety Jaxen Turner, who got banged up during the Colorado game, fully participated in warmups.
* Receiver Tayvian Cunningham participated in early warmups. He was out last week because of an upper-body injury.
* Overall, Arizona was expected to have between 55 and 58 scholarship players available for the game.
* The UA is down two analysts and two graduate assistants because of COVID-19-related precautions.
* A small group of parents of UA seniors is sitting in the stands in the northeast corner of Arizona Stadium. The school sought to get parents into the building for senior-night ceremonies and apparently succeeded.
