Quick hitters from the Arizona Wildcats’ weekly news conference Monday afternoon at the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility:
* UA coach Rich Rodriguez said his injury report listed about 28 players from Saturday's loss to UCLA, 18 of them starters. It's unclear if he's joking, but he probably wasn't — between last week's injury report and the UCLA game, among the UA players whose status is in question for this week's game at Utah: quarterbacks Brandon Dawkins and Anu Solomon; running back Nick Wilson, offensive linemen Jacob Alsadek, Freddie Tagaloa and Gerhard de Beer; defensive lineman Parker Zellers and linebacker DeAndre' Miller.
* Dawkins suffered a rib injury against the Bruins. Rodriguez said he got hit in the ribs at some point during the game and said that it was hard for Dawkins to breath. His status for the Utah game is unclear. "If you're a quarterback and you're trying to throw and run and it's hard to breathe because your ribs are sore, it's a tough deal."
* Rodriguez said this about Arizona's kick return game: "Our kick return unit is the worst in the country. It’s just very frustrating, we’ve worked hard on the schemes, we’ve got good enough guys to do it, it’s bad it’s almost as if if they kick it in the end zone, (at least) we’ll be able to get it to the 25."
* Rodriguez said Tyrell Johnson won't return kicks anymore as he focuses on playing running back. With Wilson hurt, it's possible the converted receiver will start at running back against the Utes. Ideally, Rodriguez said, at his size (5-7, 164 pounds) he wouldn't have to carry the ball 20 times. But he's happy with the progress Johnson has made at running back after rushing 16 times for 77 yards against UCLA.
* With Johnson focused on running back, receiver Cam Denson is listed as Arizona's starter at kick returner.
* Rodriguez said offensive lineman Freddie Tagaloa didn't travel with the team for the UCLA game and is "day to day" with an undisclosed injury. Christian Boettcher started in his place at left guard.
* Rodriguez on Utah: "They’re big up front, and they’re very big at the corner. That’s the Utah thing, they’re athletic, tough, they play hard, they’re well coached. It’s a tough environment. We’ve played well against them for whatever reason it’s been as well as we’ve played in any games the last 3-4 years."
* Freshman safety Isaiah Hayes started in place of Jarvis McCall at free safety against UCLA. Rodriguez said of Hayes: "He's an aggressive guy, and we need his aggressive mentality."
* Arizona's Oct. 15 home game against USC will be at 12:30 p.m., news that made Rodriguez happy, of course. "That's the best news I've heard all day," he said.
