Game week finally has arrived for the Arizona Wildcats, albeit with a twist. They began their Utah-specific preparations for the long-awaited 2020 opener Sunday and will have the day off Tuesday because of the election. Otherwise, it’s go time, and Kevin Sumlin’s team couldn’t be more pumped about it.
“We’re excited to play,” Sumlin said Monday. “No matter what, where, when … these guys want to play football.
“These guys have watched other players play for like the last four or five weeks, their friends. Don’t discount this. They can’t wait to play this weekend.”
The opener is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday in Salt Lake City, a little over two months after the original “Week Zero” matchup against Hawaii that got scrubbed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The matchup is as notable for who’s going to be involved in it as who won’t.
The Wildcats will be down at least two skill-position players after receiver Jaden Mitchell and running back Frank Brown Jr. recently suffered knee injuries.
Mitchell, a redshirt freshman, will be out for the season, Sumlin said. The injury is to his right knee. Mitchell missed his senior season at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas because of a torn ACL in his left knee. That led to him delaying his enrollment. Although he hadn’t recruited him, Sumlin honored Mitchell’s scholarship.
This summer, Mitchell contracted COVID-19, causing him to be quarantined for four weeks and to lose 14 pounds.
Running back Frank Brown Jr. suffered an MCL sprain in his knee, giving him a chance to return in a few weeks.
Now Mitchell faces another difficult rehab. It’s unclear how this second knee injury will impact his career.
“We’re talking on a daily basis,” Sumlin said. “I can’t give you a definitive answer right now. To me, the personal side of things is, ‘Hey, look, where are you right now? Let’s get you healthy, let’s get the surgery.’ Then we’ll figure it out after that.”
Like Mitchell, Brown posted a picture of himself on Instagram in which he had crutches and a wrap and brace around his leg. Brown’s knee injury is an MCL sprain, so he has a chance to return in a few weeks. Still, quarterback Grant Gunnell couldn’t help but feel for his fallen teammates.
“You have to put yourself in their shoes,” Gunnell said. “We’ve been working for I don’t know how many months now. We’re already here for the season, and you get injured. You just have to be there for them and (try to) understand how they’re feeling.”
Mitchell and Brown weren’t projected as top-of-the-depth-chart players to start the season, but they were expected to contribute. Their losses add to the cumulative effect of the hits Arizona has taken this offseason.
Since spring, the Wildcats have lost four projected starters to transfer — three on defense, plus receiver Brenden Schooler. Another receiver, Jalen Johnson, was suspended at the start of training camp. Meanwhile, receiver Jamarye Joiner’s status for Saturday seems uncertain for undisclosed reasons.
“We’ll see,” Sumlin said. “Health-wise, he’s fine.”
Gunnell has touted the depth at receiver, and it’ll be put to the test against the Utes. Although Brown likely would have been used in the slot at times, Arizona has other backs who can split out wide. The Wildcats also will use two tight ends at times.
“They’re two great players,” Gunnell said of Mitchell and Brown. “But everyone’s been stepping up.”
Gunnell shouldn’t have much trouble communicating with whoever’s out there with him. Fans aren’t allowed to attend Pac-12 games this season for safety reasons, so the stands at Rice-Eccles Stadium will be all but empty.
The Wildcats have practiced with music blaring, not unlike they would for a standard road game. Gunnell believes the lack of crowd noise – aside from the ambient version being piped in at each stadium – could be advantageous for the offense.
Either way, it will be strange.
“We want fans,” Sumlin said. “It’s hard for people not to come to the game, for people not to be there, for all that stuff. But the fact that we’re actually playing football and have a chance to play football, I think that outweighs the other piece.”
Captaining the ship
For the past two seasons, Arizona has had rotating captains for each game picked by Sumlin and his staff. He decided to change that this year.
The Wildcats have five season-long captains: Gunnell, tight end Bryce Wolma, cornerback Lorenzo Burns, and linebackers Jalen Harris and Anthony Pandy.
“They’re picked by their peers,” Sumlin said. “As I met with them last week, I said, ‘Listen, some of you guys might think you’re leaders. Some of you guys don’t think you are. But they picked you. That’s a mandate.’
Tight end Bryce Wolma is one of five Wildcats named team captains for the season, as voted on by their teammates. Coach Kevin Sumlin called it a “mandate” to lead.
“Those guys are our guys as picked by the team through this whole pandemic, this whole different season … That’s important.”
Players voted for captains via email. Sumlin announced the selections after practice last week.
“It was humbling, and it was a great experience,” said Burns, a fifth-year senior. “I appreciate all my teammates nominating me for that. It means a lot to me. I’ve been here for a while now, just grinding. To get their vote … it means that they respect me and must think something about me.”
Said Wolma, a fourth-year senior: “It’s definitely a really high honor, coming from those guys. So I was really excited. But that also comes with a big responsibility. As captains, we have to lead our team … in good times, but also in bad times. Football is a game with a lot of adversity. We’re obviously going to encounter that at some point this year.”
Utah QB is TBA
Utah released its depth chart Monday. The Utes did not list a starting quarterback — which doesn’t mean they haven’t named one.
The team was informed of the decision last week, and practice reps have been divvied up accordingly. Coach Kyle Whittingham is keeping the starter’s identity under wraps until kickoff to preserve a competitive advantage.
The three candidates to succeed Tyler Huntley are Jake Bentley, a graduate transfer from South Carolina who started 33 games for the Gamecocks; senior Drew Lisk, a former walk-on who has appeared in six games; and sophomore Cameron Rising, a transfer from Texas who has yet to appear in a game.
UA defensive players said they were preparing for every possibility.
Utah listed co-starters at running back — Devin Brumfield and Jordan Wilmore — but Whittingham said up to four backs could play.
The Utes’ entire secondary will be new. None of the five starters has started a college game. Only one, senior safety Vonte Davis, is an upperclassman.
Arizona is one of four Pac-12 schools that has yet to release a depth chart. Sumlin said it “probably” will arrive Tuesday.
Extra points
- The Pac-12’s TV partners exercised one of their six-day pick windows for a portion of the Nov. 14 schedule, including Arizona’s home opener against USC. The kickoff time should be announced Sunday.
- The forecast for Saturday in Salt Lake City calls for a high of 42 degrees — a 28-degree drop from Friday’s projected high temperature of 70. There’s a 60% chance of precipitation.
