ALBUQUERQUE — The Arizona Wildcats are elated to have Scooby Wright back … even if it’s for only one game.
The star linebacker is set to return Saturday in the New Mexico Bowl after a lost year. It will be his third appearance of the season and first since Sept. 26, when he suffered a foot injury against UCLA that brought him to tears.
It also might be Wright’s final appearance in an Arizona uniform. There’s a distinct possibility — maybe even a likelihood — that Wright will announce he’s entering the 2016 NFL draft after the game.
While not considered an elite prospect, the junior is expected to have a long professional career. One could argue he has more to lose than gain by playing in the New Mexico Bowl — namely, the possibility of getting hurt again.
So why take that risk?
“Because I’m healthy,” Wright said earlier this week, “and football players play when they’re healthy.”
Wright easily could have skipped this game, and few would have blamed him. UCLA’s Myles Jack, another impact linebacker in the Pac-12, left school entirely to prepare for the draft after injuring his knee in late September.
Wright’s decision has earned him a ton of respect from the coach on the opposite sideline Saturday.
“I’m glad he’s playing in this game,” New Mexico’s Bob Davie said Friday. “I think it’s great for him to get back and play his final game.
“A lot of guys in that situation, they don’t come back and play the last game. He isn’t doing it necessarily for him, he’s doing it for the University of Arizona, and that says a lot about him, what he’s about.”
What Wright means to Arizona can be quantified easily enough. With him last season, Arizona was decent enough defensively to win 10 games for the first time since 1998.
Wright had an All-American season for the ages, including 14 sacks and six forced fumbles.
Without him — and several other injured defenders, including multiple middle linebackers — this season, Arizona’s defense regressed, and its record slipped to 6-6.
Having him back Saturday won’t fix all the Wildcats’ problems, but Wright should make a significant difference.
“He’s going to be everywhere,” senior safety Jamar Allah said. “He’s going to be downhill. He’s going to get sacks. He’s going to be all over the field. We definitely need his energy out there.”
Several UA defensive players said the tenor of practice changed when Wright returned to the field for bowl preparations. His influence, they say, goes beyond those prolific numbers.
“You definitely could tell that things are a little bit different having him out here,” UA linebacker Paul Magloire said. “Everybody’s definitely more locked in.”
“It’s more intensity out on the field,” another linebacker, Sir Thomas Jackson, said. “He takes that leadership role we haven’t had out there. What he’s known for is (being) that fiery guy. He gets things going. Communicating a lot. That’s what Scooby’s here for. We’re pumped up. Our last game with him out there — it’s going to be really fun to see him play.”
Very few players in college football “make their teams go” the way Wright does, according to Pac-12 Networks analyst Yogi Roth.
“You feel his presence on the field,” Roth said. Roth believes Wright’s return will give the Wildcats a jolt of energy and enthusiasm in what could have been a “woe-is-me” game for them.
As far as the biggest injury losses in the Pac-12 this season go, Roth puts Wright and Jack atop the list. NFL scouts don’t necessarily see it the same way. While Jack is viewed as a first-round prospect, Wright is considered a third-rounder “at best,” one pro scout told the Star.
“You’re talking about a guy who hasn’t played,” he said. “We’ll have to look at the footage off a year ago. “But he’s got a knack. He’s probably a better athlete than you think. He takes good angles. He’s got a name and a reputation.”
Of course, Wright has made a career out of beating expectations. They’re as high as can be for the New Mexico Bowl.
While Wright said he spent time while rehabbing studying the moves of several NFL linebackers — including James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons of the Steelers and Sean Lee of the Cowboys — his sole focus for now is on the Lobos and their triple-option offense.
He expects to be “flying around, to say the least” after the ball is kicked off at University Stadium. Roth said he wouldn’t be surprised if Wright overran some plays in the first quarter, a byproduct of adrenaline and rust.
But no matter how he’s feeling or what he’s thinking in what could be his UA finale, Wright has a singular objective in mind: “Just to go out there and do my job.”
