Emotions will be running high vs. ASU; Wildcats need to keep theirs under control

Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura struggled at times to keep his emotions in check while facing his former school, Washington State, last week.

Now multiply that by 100, or however many players suit up for the Wildcats in their rivalry game Friday.

The Territorial Cup is always the most intense game of the season. Smack talk sometimes escalates into scuffling sometimes even before the game starts.

Arizona can’t afford to get caught up in the extracurriculars when it takes on Arizona State in the season finale at Arizona Stadium.

“This one’s pretty chippy,” UA offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll said. “I only got to see it one time this past year, but it was ... spirited.

“There’s going to be emotion, there’s going to be excitement, there’s going to be trash talk. It’s just not going past that to where you’re now taking yourself out of the game for something stupid, which happened to us last year.”

Carroll was referring to receiver Dorian Singer being ejected after receiving an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty early in the third quarter of last year’s matchup. Arizona had just scored to cut ASU’s lead to 21-15. Singer had two catches for 80 yards at the time.

Singer has declined to comment when asked about that incident. He’s had a breakout season, catching 63 passes and scoring six touchdowns. He leads a star-studded crew of Pac-12 receivers, including teammate Jacob Cowing, with 1,014 receiving yards.

Singer was involved in a sideline scuffle with de Laura in the second quarter of last week’s game. The two miscommunicated on a pass into the end zone and exchanged words as they walked off the field. De Laura pushed Singer, who shoved him back.

Three days later, de Laura spoke about the altercation and how he handled his emotions overall against the Cougars.

“I feel like it could have been way better,” de Laura said. “Obviously, there was something that me and Dorian didn’t agree about. Then, like two minutes after, we’re fine.”

Singer had four receptions for 47 yards at the time. He would finish with nine catches for a career-high 176 yards and one touchdown.

“When two competitors get in a situation where they’re frustrated, that’s when tempers can flare,” Carroll said. “Those guys have such a great rapport off the field. That situation was remedied within minutes.

“They were fine. They were back at it. They both want to win. They just want to be great. Obviously, you don’t want to see it. But those guys bounced right back.”

De Laura said he and Singer sat down on the bench, talked about what they had seen on the field and how they could work their way through it.

“Again, we’re cool,” de Laura said.

The goal this week, he emphasized, is “keeping everybody cool, making sure everybody does their job — especially me.”

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De Laura had his worst game of the season against the opponent he wanted to defeat the most, throwing a career-high four interceptions. Every time he’s had multiple turnovers this season, he has played a clean game the following week.

“Everyone has seen our offense when we’re clicking. Sadly, that wasn’t one of those games,” de Laura said. “We know what to do. We know how we should play on offense, especially with our defense playing amazingly and holding their ground. We’re gonna have to come back and help them out this game.”

“He’s a resilient kid,” Carroll said. “He can go to the next play — sometimes go to the next game. He needs to do that this week. We expect a great performance out of him.”

Better Barrs

Veteran defensive tackle Kyon Barrs might have had his best game of the season vs. Washington State.

Barrs had a season-best four solo tackles and matched his season high with five total stops. He recorded his first tackle for loss since Week 3. Pro Football Focus gave Barrs his highest grade (75.7) of 2022.

Barrs hasn’t been quite as impactful as last year, when he led Arizona with five sacks and earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors. His offseason training was limited because of foot surgery just before spring practice. Barrs missed all of spring ball and was on a snap count during training camp.

“Just getting more comfortable, back into the game, getting back in the groove,” Barrs said. “I was pretty comfortable in the beginning of the season, but obviously I got my groove back as the season went on.”

Barrs is in his second season playing for defensive line coach Ricky Hunley. But the scheme has changed under first-year coordinator Johnny Nansen, and Barrs has been asked to do different things. That adjustment has taken time.

“He started to trust the technique and all the stuff that we’re coaching,” Nansen said. “And understanding his assignments. He’s showing up more and more.”

Extra points

Nansen on Marana High School product Trenton Bourguet, who has taken over as ASU’s starting quarterback: “Consistent. Pretty smart. Ball’s coming out early. He knows where to go with the football. He knows how to check it when he sees pressure.” Bourguet has a 58.1% completion rate (25 of 43) when under pressure, per PFF. The player he replaced, Emory Jones, is 25 of 57 under pressure (43.9%).

Nansen on the defense’s newfound aggressiveness, which led to a season-high eight TFLs vs. Washington State: “Guys are making plays. They’re getting off blocks. Guys are running through the gaps like they’re supposed to. I think the kids are starting to be more comfortable with the system, understanding what their responsibilities are. They’re just playing ball.”

Carroll on Sam Langi‘s performance in his first start in place of injured left tackle Jordan Morgan: “He was up and down. He had a couple of issues in protection (that) we need to get cleaned up. He’s well aware of what he needs to do. He just had a couple instances where he lost focus a little bit. He’s on it this week. He’s ready for the challenge. He knows what’s up.”

Nansen said DB Gunner Maldonado was hurt, not demoted, when he sat out vs. Washington on Oct. 15. Maldonado didn’t start the following week against USC either. He’s had 18 tackles, two forced fumbles, 1.5 TFLs and one pass breakup in the past three games. “He’s really becoming one of our leaders,” Nansen said. “Very smart football player. Student of the game. You saw it last game. We’re really lucky to have him.”

The most intense Wildcat in the building this week? It has to be safeties coach Chuck Cecil, a UA alum who despises all things ASU. The coordinators were asked how Cecil is doing. “We’re trying to calm him down,” Nansen said. “I just told him to make sure he doesn’t get in a fight Friday.”