Moments after Arizona finished its “mock game” last Saturday at Arizona Stadium, head coach Jedd Fisch declared the end of training camp.The Wildcats are now narrowing their focus to the season-opening showdown at San Diego State, a game that’s just a week away.
The first three weeks of Arizona’s preparation was centered around sharpening their skills and assembling a depth chart of sorts as they prepare to embrace Year 2 of the Fisch era.
“It’s been a blast,” said Arizona offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Brennan Carroll. “We get to finally stop hitting each other and start focusing on a really good opponent. It’s going to give us a great challenge, and we’re fired up for the opportunity.”
Motivation won’t be hard to come by. SDSU beat Arizona 38-14 in last year’s home opener, out-rushing the Wildcats 271 yards to 51 and putting up 4.9 yards per carry to Arizona’s 2.6. The Aztecs ran for 14 first downs, while the Wildcats accomplished that only twice.
It doesn’t take someone from the mirror laboratory next door to understand the offensive line’s incentive to turn things around.
“That attitude changed in the early part of this year,” said Carroll. “These guys are ready to make their own mark, rewrite their story, and we really can’t ask for anything more than what these guys have given us. They’ve been great, they’ve had great attitudes, and there’s a big line (motions an imaginary wall in front of him) between this year and last year.
“Nobody needs to talk about last year.”
Arizona spent the offseason reconstructing its roster with arguably the top recruiting class in program history, adding standout skill players from powerhouse high school football programs and the transfer portal. One such freshman, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, will contribute at right guard. Savaiinaea, who has accepted the role of Arizona’s pregame “Haka” dance leader, will operate between first-year starter in center Josh Baker and right tackle Paiton Fears. Redshirt senior guard Josh Donovan and junior tackle Jordan Morgan occupy the left side of the line.
Fisch said earlier this week “he could see great improvement at all the spots” on the offensive line.
“It’s a process of getting better. It feels to me that the communication has certainly improved. The biggest thing with offensive line is they’ve got to be able to echo calls all the way down,” Fisch said. “So, one guy makes a call, the guard has to tell the tackle, the center has to tell the guard, so there’s communication and the ability for them to talk.
“They feel a lot more comfortable this year, which I think leads to less mental mistakes and an ability to really be more fundamentally sound because you could focus in on just the physical side of it.”
Fisch said he expects the flow of Arizona’s offensive linemen to consist of “seven, eight guys … Maybe even nine depending on how guys are doing right now.”
“They’ve all gotten stronger. We have more depth at the positions this year,” he said. “You can see different guys rotating in at different positions. Obviously, Jordan Morgan’s healthy this year where last year he was not for the first four weeks of the season. Having big Jonah arrive gave us a nice little boost as well. Josh Donovan has had a much better camp. Josh Baker, now that he’s back being healthy with JT Hand having those extra reps has now added depth there. And then old reliable at right tackle: Paiton Fears has started every game since we’ve been here and has gotten his body weight down and is continuing to play at a good level.”
Other linemen on standby include second-year interior lineman JT Hand and tackle Sam Langi, a 6-foot-5-inch, 325-pound redshirt junior from San Francisco who played at San Mateo College prior to joining the Wildcats in 2020. Langi played tackle in Arizona’s losses to USC and Oregon last season.
“He’s been in the program and he’s done a great job getting his body right, his mind right,” Carroll said of Langi. “He’s a junior-college guy who didn’t get to play much early on here, and he’s just stayed the course. He’s done a great job of doing everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s done a wonderful job.”
Front and center
The ringleader of Arizona’s offensive line is Baker, who’s “really taken control of everything we’ve asked him,” at center, Carroll said. The 6-3, 310-pound Eureka, Missouri native has a command and understanding of the offense.
It’s just one skill that makes a good center.
“Intelligence is the number one in my opinion, ability to be able to communicate, so they have to be able to see the defense, communicate the defense. They’re truly the quarterback of those five, and they’re really a lot of times what makes it go,” Fisch said. “They have to be twitchy with strong hands, because they’re not just snapping the ball but they’re immediately trying to get their hands on what potentially is that nose tackle right over them.
“And then finally, I would say they have to be durable. There’s a comfort level between a quarterback and a center. They like to get the snap from the same guy every play. If you look at some of the best center quarterback combinations, they’ve been together for a long time.”
Wildcats scout ex-commit Burmeister
In scouting San Diego State, UA first-year defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen couldn’t help but notice the Aztecs’ new starting quarterback, Braxton Burmeister.
The 6-foot dual-threat quarterback verbally committed to the Wildcats — twice — out of La Jolla Country Day. He enrolled at Oregon instead, and played five combined seasons with both the Ducks and Virginia Tech, passing for 3,020 yards, 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Now the sixth-year graduate transfer will have one last season with his hometown college.
“We’re trying to find out some good information on the quarterback,” Nansen said. “I know he was a good athlete coming out of high school. There’s a little bit of information that’s causing a little bit of concern when we’re game planning, and he’s going to be a main target for them. … He’s a pretty good quarterback, and he can play ball wherever he wants to.”
