Arizona linebacker Jacob Manu, tackle Rhino Tapa'atoutai out for season with leg injuries

The injury-riddled Arizona football team added two more names to its list of season-ending injuries.

Arizona junior linebacker Jacob Manu and redshirt freshman left tackle Rhino Tapa’atoutai will miss the remainder of the season after suffering leg injuries in the Wildcats’ 34-7 loss to Colorado on Saturday, UA head coach Brent Brennan announced during his news conference on Monday.

Manu suffered the injury while celebrating a third-down stop less than two minutes into the second quarter. Tapa’atoutai, who suffered a leg injury earlier in the season, also exited the game in the second quarter with a leg injury.

“It’s unfortunate how those things happened,” Brennan said Monday. “This is a situation where you always say, ‘Next guy up,’ but somebody has to pick up the flag, and somebody has to get ready to go. We’re counting on each other in what we do collectively and how we play and give us a chance to play clean football on Saturday in terms of what we choose to do schematically.”

With Manu out for the season, the Wildcats could potentially have one defensive starter — strong safety Dalton Johnson — from last year’s squad for their upcoming home game on Saturday against the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Senior defensive back Treydan Stukes, who suffered an ACL injury in the Wildcats’ win over Utah, is out for the season and plans to medically redshirt and return next season.

Free safety Gunner Maldonado’s status for the remainder of the season is questionable, after the senior left the loss to Texas Tech with a leg injury. Maldonado is “waiting for the swelling to go down” and will undergo surgery, Brennan said on Monday. With Maldonado only appearing in four games, with five contests left in the regular season, it’s likely Maldonado will redshirt this season to preserve another year of eligibility.

Arizona cornerback Tacario Davis missed the entire second half of the Colorado game with a groin injury, after missing a majority of the UA’s loss to BYU with the same injury; his status is unknown for Saturday. The Wildcats are also without cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew and defensive tackles Chubba Ma’ae and Isaiah Johnson, who left pregame warmups on Saturday with a leg injury.

Dealing with injuries in Arizona’s defense, “it’s tough,” Johnson said on Saturday.

“That special connection I have with Stukes and (Maldonado). But all I can do is do my part and lead, it’s a next-man-up mentality and try to build that connection with the rest of the guys on the field with me,” Johnson said. “We’ll be all right, we’ve just got to keep building.”

Last season, Manu led the Pac-12 in tackles (116) and was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and Associated Press All-Pac-12 First Team. Manu became the first Wildcat to lead the Pac-12 in tackles since Scooby Wright in 2014 and entered this season with preseason All-Big 12 honors.

Manu currently leads the Wildcats with 47 tackles this season, along with three stops for loss and a forced fumble.

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Second-year linebacker Kamuela Ka’aihue, who also left Saturday with an injury, is expected to start alongside sophomore Taye Brown in place of Manu against West Virginia. The Wildcats also have redshirt junior linebacker Justin Flowe and eighth-year linebacker Jared Small, who transferred to the UA in the spring following stints at Tulane and LSU. Small and Flowe have only played on Arizona’s special teams units this season.

With Tapa’atoutai, who was the successor to first-round draft pick Jordan Morgan, out for the season, redshirt sophomore and Oregon transfer Michael Wooten is expected to start at either left tackle or right tackle. Wooten played his first snaps of the season against Colorado on Saturday and had two false-start penalties and a holding penalty. In 16 passing snaps, Wooten allowed four quarterback pressures and two sacks, according to Pro Football Focus; he received a 0.0 pass-blocking grade on PFF.

“One of the things that was unfortunate for him, is he got rolled up in training camp, so he missed a few weeks of practice,” Brennan said of Wooten. “We’re excited that he’s here and he’s a young player. When you look at that group ... there’s a lot of youth there. That speaks to the idea that we have to be smart as a coaching staff in terms of what we ask our people to do.”

Brennan said one possibility for Arizona’s offensive line on Saturday will be Wooten at right tackle and Jonah Savaiinaea at left tackle. When Tapa’atoutai rehabbed his first leg injury, Savaiinaea started the Northern Arizona game at left tackle, with San Jose State transfer Ryan Stewart at right tackle.

Nevada transfer Joey Capra, who started 13 games at guard for the Wolfpack, is another option for Arizona’s offensive line against West Virginia, said Brennan.

UA announces kickoff time for ‘Space Game’

Arizona’s daytime kickoff streak has extended to four games after the Wildcats announced their game against Central Florida at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando on Nov. 2 will begin at 12:30 p.m. Tucson time on FS1, the Big 12 announced Monday.

Including the upcoming game on Saturday against West Virginia, the Wildcats have four straight games that kick off in the afternoon. Arizona also kicked off its loss to Kansas State at 5 p.m. Tucson time.

Arizona’s trip to Orlando is also the “Space Game” for UCF, which will wear space-themed uniforms to honor the school’s astronomy program and connection to NASA. The Knights are 7-0 in “Space Games” with an average margin of victory of 28.9 points. UCF (3-4) faces 11th-ranked BYU (7-0) on Saturday for homecoming.

When Arizona faces UCF in Orlando, it will be the first game in Florida for the Wildcats since their 8-7 loss to top-ranked Miami in 1992. The UA and UCF have never played each other prior to this season.

Extra points

• Brennan, on the possibility of midseason changes to Arizona’s coaching staff: “Whenever you’re in a window like we’re in right now, where you’ve struggled, you’re evaluating every part of the program from top to bottom. ... That’s an ongoing process. Always is.”
• The Arizona-West Virginia game for family weekend will also have a breast cancer awareness theme, Brennan said. The Wildcats will have pink accessories (tape, gloves and towels) available to wear on Saturday. Arizona running back Quali Conley’s mother, Runisha, “is in her second bout with breast cancer,” Brennan said. Said Brennan: “His mom’s amazing. She comes out every week and braids his hair before every game. It’s a cool ritual that they have. I get to see her every Saturday morning. They have a great relationship, they have a great family and they’re leaning on each other. ... We’re checking in on them quite frequently, because I know that’s a challenging thing for anybody.”
• Former Arizona wide receiver Jacob Cowing made his first-career NFL reception on Sunday in the San Francisco 49ers’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Cowing, a fourth-round choice by the Niners in the NFL Draft, had two catches for 50 yards. With Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk injured, Cowing is expected to have a larger role moving forward.