Max Harris looked done. At least for the rest of Arizona football's win over Kansas last week.
Arizona's senior linebacker went down with a leg injury and struggled to walk off the field and had to be flanked by trainers. More often than not, a sight like that is a multi-week deal.
Later in the second half, defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea, who's out for Arizona's road matchup with No. 25 Cincinnati on Saturday, suffered a leg injury.
UA defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said it was the first time this season that trainers had to assist Arizona's defensive players off the field due to injury — a stark contrast to the injury-riddled 2024 season that had season-ending injuries to three defensive captains.
"At first, when it happened, the pain was there," Harris said. "After sitting on the sideline and going to see the trainers, I felt better and felt like I could go back in."
While Harris was being evaluated for his leg injury, Arizona installed rising freshman linebacker Myron Robinson, who stepped in and had a career-high seven tackles and a forced fumble. Robinson has appeared in six games this season. He tallied his first sack in Arizona's blowout win over Oklahoma State last month.
Robinson signed with the Wildcats' 2025 recruiting class out of East Central High School in San Antonio, Texas. Robinson played in the Navy All-American Bowl, along with UA freshman long snapper Broden Molen.
Injuries sidelined Robinson during fall training camp. Now the 6-1, 235-pound freshman is helping Arizona's defense in crunch time of a game that went down to the wire.
Robinson
Gonzales admitted he "wasn't 100% positive" about Robinson being ready for that stage this early in his career.
"He was ready," Gonzales added.
In Kansas' second-to-last drive, before the Jayhawks missed a 30-yard field goal, Robinson forced KU quarterback Jalon Daniels to fumble, setting up fourth-and-short at the Arizona 11-yard line. Daniels was forced to miss the next play after quickly being evaluated for injury.
Robinson's forced fumble was the second domino (we'll get to the first) to Arizona's come-from-behind victory last week. After Robinson's fumble, Kansas missed its first field goal of the season, Arizona running back Quincy Craig scored a game-winning 24-yard touchdown and the UA defense — and Daniels launching a 70-yard Hail Mary pass out of bounds — stopped KU from scoring to seal the win.
Houston quarterback Conner Weigman (1) is hit by Arizona linebacker Max Harris (4) during the first half, Oct. 18, 2025, in Houston.
"It was great," Harris said. "I love seeing Myron play and to be honest, I always knew what he could do, so it was fun to see him display it during a critical moment of the game."
Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said Robinson has "an extremely high ceiling."
"For a player to step into that game, that physical of a game, ... he was really effective, was flying around, made some outstanding football plays," Brennan said. "It’s fun to finally see him start to come into his own, because he was hurt early in training camp or wasn’t really as available early on in the season. It’s exciting to see him getting more and more comfortable."
The first domino to Arizona's game-winning sequence in the fourth quarter was Harris making the decision to sit out. Harris returned to the game with a brace on his right leg, "because he's a dog," joked right tackle Tristan Bounds earlier this week.
"The fact that Max came back in the game is unbelievable," Gonzales said. "Maybe he has a little bit of gummy in him, because of how that thing bent. Unbelievable. I thought he was done."
Arizona linebacker Max Harris (4), top, and linebacker Riley Wilson (16) team up to stop BYU wide receiver Parker Kingston (11) during their Big 12 game, Oct. 11, 2025, in Tucson.
In the second half, Arizona's head football trainer Jeronimo Boche approached Gonzales and said, "'Hey, Max is up,'" Gonzales recalled.
Said Gonzales: "I'm like, 'Max who?' He was like, 'Max Harris is fine.' 'Alright, we'll see about that.' I look over at Max and he's giving me a thumbs up."
Harris, who tied for a team-high nine tackles against Kansas, returned to the game, but "it didn't look tremendous," Gonzales said.
Before Arizona's final defensive stop of the game, Gonzales earnestly asked Harris if he was healthy enough to play.
"His initial response was, 'Coach, I'm good,'" Gonzales said. "I stared him right in the eye and he said, 'Coach, put Myron in. I trust him and he knows what to do. It's the best thing for our team right now.' Myron did a great job."
Why did Harris rush to return?
"Because I could," he said. "That's what it was. If I was able to, why not?"
Harris, who has the third-most tackles (60) by a Wildcat this season, is playing this week against Cincinnati — and it appears Arizona has potentially found his successor for 2026 in Robinson.
