After a practice-free day on Saturday, the Arizona Wildcats returned to the field on Sunday to begin the second block of fall training camp. The defense, which struggled on Friday at times, bounced back in a nice way after the day of rest. Here are some of the notable observations and takeaways from Arizona fall training camp action on Sunday, August 9 at the Davis Sports Center & Tomey Practice Fields.
Offense:
- While Tre Spivey and Chris Hunter will be household names by the end of the season, a number of lesser-know wideouts flashed during practice:
- Jordan McCord scored a pretty touchdown over Johno Price on a beautiful ball from Noah Fifita
- Isaiah Mizell, who struggled at times today after a hot start to camp, made an impress touchdown grab over Tyrese Boss
- Rodney Gallagher III hauled in a deep ball from Luke Haugo for a touchdown, beating Price
- Brandon Phelps completed a tough catch through traffic on a perfectly threaded pass from Fifita
- Ball security will absolutely be a focus heading into remainder of fall camp after tight ends Henry Gabalis and Cole Rusk put the ball on the turf today.
Defense:
- During position drills, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales had the defense work on a barrel roll drill where three players rolled and jumped over one another before spiriting 15 yards to a bag and back to the huddle.
- After getting a number of reps with the first-team on Friday, safety Quinn Olson primarily worked with the second-unit today. Lee Molette took a majority of the first-team reps in his place today.
- The defense forced two fumbles today, both during 11-on-11 drills in the back half of practice:
- Linebacker Dominic Hanger punched the ball out from Gabalis
- Cornerback Zuri Watson knocked the ball out from Rusk
- Linebacker Everett Roussaw Jr., who Brent Brennan announced who be limited in camp last week, broke free for a “sack” on quarterback Haugo
- Fifita was flushed out of the pocket during 11-on-11 drills, where he was “sacked” by Matai Tagoa’i
- Noah threw an interception to none other than his younger brother Dash Fifita near the end of practice
Special Teams:
- After team stretching, practice began with field goal drills, including three straight 40-plus-yard field goal makes by Michael Salgado-Medina
- Freshman kicker Ian French also connected on his field goal attempts to open practice. His kicks didn’t have the same height and accuracy as Salgado-Medina’s, but were struck with noticeable power.