Big Red: Canyon del Oro alum Kayden Luke turning dreams into reality with Arizona Wildcats

Growing up as a football player in Tucson, it’s easy to find yourself under the lights at Arizona Stadium on a Saturday night, hoping one day to run out of the tunnel with the hometown Wildcats.

Kayden Luke attended several Arizona football games in Tucson. His favorite one: Arizona’s upset win over the Marcus Mariota-led and fifth-ranked Oregon in 2013, when the Wildcats were led by fellow Canyon del Oro High School alumnus and All-American running back Ka’Deem Carey.

“That was probably my fondest memory as a fan,” Luke said.

Not even a year removed from his last high school football snap at the Class 4A state championship with CDO, Luke is a true freshman fullback for the Wildcats — and is playing a significant role this season, mostly in the UA’s jumbo package with extra linemen and tight ends for short-yardage situations. In Arizona’s last two road games against Utah and BYU, Luke had three carries.

“I always grew up looking to come here and it was always my dream and goal (to play for Arizona),” he said. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve been grateful to get this opportunity and show these people what I can do.”

Around Lowell-Stevens Football Facility, Luke doesn’t go by Kayden or Luke. He’s only known as “Big Red.” Luke, along with his grandmother, has red hair and was nicknamed Red growing up, “so that just kind of started at home,” he said.

In training camp, Arizona running backs coach Alonzo Carter called Luke, Big Red, “and then everyone just took it on and here it is. I love it,” Luke said.

Luke signed with Arizona as a preferred walk-on after leading the state in rushing with 2,307 yards and 29 touchdowns, and helping CDO to a state title and perfect 14-0 record.

Although Arizona’s previous coaching regime kept tabs on Luke, the CDO star was overlooked. Former CDO head coach Dustin Peace said Luke’s physicality and skillset isn’t best showcased in 7-on-7 camps at colleges.

“Going to a camp is great and all, but he’s a pad guy,” Peace said of Luke. “You can’t show everything at camps. Coaches can’t see that physicality. ... People just didn’t get eyes on him.”

Once the UA coaches saw Luke play in the state championship, they raved about Big Red.

“’Holy cow, we finally got to see him and he looks good,’” the UA coaches told Peace. “I think if there were more opportunities for coaches to see him, I think we would’ve gotten more of the wow factor, but at that point for the U of A, they were out of scholarships in December.”

Brennan said Luke’s “high school tape is so fun to watch, because he’s so physical and he’s one of those guys who loves playing football.”

“That’s one of the things you try to identify in today’s day in age in football is, ‘Does this player love football?’ Because a lot of young men love getting recruited, but they don’t really love football,” Brennan said. “You’re trying to identify that in the recruiting process. There’s no question that Big Red loves playing football.”

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Luke “didn’t expect to play one snap” this season, he said. But he continued to build his body into a robust 5-11, 239-pound frame, and “during the summer, I was up until — I couldn’t even tell you what time, studying plays and doing all of my stuff,” Luke said.

“Sometimes you have a freshman that can’t absorb the playbook and can’t learn it fast enough, but that wasn’t a problem for him,” Brennan said. “He was super diligent. Then he combines that athleticism and physicality on a big body.”

UA passing game coordinator Matt Adkins admitted, “I don’t think we were 100% sure of what we were getting when he came, and he just keeps showing us new things that he’s capable of.”

“He’s not a guy you can necessarily fit into a box. He’s able to do more than we thought at the beginning of the season,” Adkins said of Luke. “He’s a freshman playing in big-time situations, so sometimes that shows up. But the thing that’s great, is that he gets another opportunity, another rep and he’s learning as he goes.”

Luke’s “role is so different than what it was before,” said Peace. While Luke was at CDO, he was the bell-cow running back and shouldered the rushing responsibilities; now he’s primarily a run-blocker. But the transition was “super easy” for Luke, the state championship-winning wrestler, who said, “Wrestling probably relates to (fullback) more than anything I’ve done.”

“Just because wrestling is a lot of hands, feet position, leverage and that’s exactly what blocking is,” Luke said. “You block with your feet, not your head.”

With senior transfer Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s eligibility in question, along with junior Rayshon “Speedy” Luke redshirting for the remainder of the season, Arizona’s running back rotation has been trimmed to senior Quali Conley, redshirt freshman Kedrick Reescano, Luke and redshirt freshman Brandon Johnson.

“We just gotta come together as a whole (unit),” Luke said. “Some of the guys are out and not playing, but they’re still there, we’re still coming together and they’re still helping us out on the field and the film room. I think we just attack every day like every other day, even if some of those guys are out.”

Luke taking on the fullback and run-blocking role “says a lot about not only Kayden and his ability to be resilient, but it also says a lot about Coach Brennan and their staff,” said Peace.

“They look at all the pieces that make everything work,” Peace said. “A lot of coaches over the years want their scholarship guys to play, because they went out of their way to give that guy a scholarship and they want that to pay off. It’s just cool to see him get that opportunity.”

Arizona has brought in several tough-guy walk-ons over the years, including Chuck Cecil and the late Heath Bray. Luke still has at least a few more years left of his UA career, but the hometown kid — Big Red — is on the path to becoming a household name with some of the other notable walk-ons to come through the Arizona football program.

“What’s unique about him is he’s a very likable guy right away. You see that from the coaches and players,” Peace said. “I mean, who has a freshman that they already have a nickname for?

“He’s a positive teammate and a kid that you like to coach. That’s the difference you’re seeing initially, along with his skill and other things. When you like a person, you want to root for them, and I think that’s what you’re seeing with the team, too.”

Extra points

• Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said during his weekly news conference on Tuesday that two-way star Travis Hunter, a Heisman Trophy hopeful, and wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. and Will Sheppard “should play” on Saturday, after suffering injuries last week against Kansas State. Sanders revealed CU wide receivers Omarion Miller and Terrell Timmons Jr. will be out on Saturday.
• The Arizona-Colorado game is a “red out,” so fans attending are encouraged to wear red.