TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona concluded its first week of Spring Practices last Saturday with a two-hour workout inside Arizona Stadium, including a 40-play scrimmage to close things out.

The scrimmage pitted the Wildcats' offense vs. defense with reps divided up across the roster, though a significant portion of the action went to younger players, especially at the skill positions.

"We ramped it up today," head coach Kevin Sumlin said after the scrimmage. "The intensity level is not going to change now. They [the players] understand that."

Coaches were pleased with the intensity level not just in the scrimmage, but throughout each of the four practices to open spring ball. The shorter Monday and Tuesday workouts were in helmets only, while full pads were donned Thursday and Saturday.

The Wildcats will continue their spring drills with practices on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings this week.
 

Mid-Year Madness

Arizona welcomed a handful of mid-year enrollees to the spring roster, including early high school graduates Boobie Curry, Maurice Gaines, Grant Gunnell, Jaden Mitchell and Christian Roland-Wallace.

The live scrimmage action Saturday was an opportunity for the group to get a better feel of the speed the collegiate game is played it. But that's not the first adjustment many have had to make since enrolling in January.

"The hardest part for these early graduates is [they] come in and have a full [class] load in college," Sumlin said. "[They] have the workouts – the hardest workouts – because we're in the offseason. [They] don't have any transition time. [They're] in the toughest part – indoor, outdoor, offseason workouts – and then you have a class schedule. All these guys have come in and handled it very well."

Arizona's veteran players have also been impressed with how the mid-year enrollees have adjusted in short time.

"They're coming in ready to work and that's all you can ask," tight end Bryce Wolma said. "It's a lot to throw at those guys early on when they should still be in high school. But those guys are coming in and working. If they continue to do that, they'll be impactful in the fall."
 

Quarterbacks Gaining Experience

Arizona's quarterback room has grown significantly in size and talent since last spring. A year ago, only Khalil Tate had significant game experience, while Rhett Rodriguez was the only other player with a solid grasp of the offensive concepts.

Last summer, Jamarye Joiner and Kevin Doyle arrived, with the former seeing limited game action last fall while preserving a redshirt. In January, Grant Gunnell arrived after graduating high school early, giving the Wildcats even more depth at the position.

While it's a deeper unit, it's still highly inexperienced behind Tate and Rodriguez. Joiner, Doyle and Gunnell are all freshmen, meaning the reps they receive this spring are imperative to their development.

"The decision-making, not losing yardage and not giving the ball to the other team, I think they've done a better job of that and keeping us on schedule" Sumlin said. "We still have three weeks of spring to go [to keep developing]."

Wolma's Role Increasing

Junior tight end Bryce Wolma saw his receiving numbers decrease last year, but he felt he improved significantly as a blocker. That was essential to UA's offense with the Wildcats thin along the offensive line.

"I think I struggled a little bit [with blocking] at the beginning of the year," Wolma said. "But as the year progressed, I got a lot better. My physicality and footwork improved a lot throughout the year."

This spring, Wolma is working more with UA's inside receivers.

"I've been working them [receivers] a little more," Wolma said. "Sometimes I'm with the line during practice and individual where I'll go down with them and do some footwork drills, then I'll go over with the slots and work on some route-running."

Wolma, like his teammates earlier in the week, spoke of the incentives the team has when it takes the field this spring.

"We were all disappointed with how last year went." Wolma admitted. "That was unacceptable. We have to have leaders step up, be more vocal, hold guys accountable and bring new guys along because they're going to be on the field with us too."
 

Follow Spring Football

Fans can follow the Wildcats throughout spring practices online at www.arizonawildcats.com and via social media on Twitter (@ArizonaFBall), Instagram (@ArizonaFootball) and Facebook (@ArizonaFootball).
 

2019 Arizona Football Tickets & Wildcat Club Renewals

Football season tickets and Wildcat Club membership (including men's basketball priority seating) renewals are underway. The deadline to renew is May 1st. New season tickets are also now available. To renew or purchase your season tickets you visit arizonawildcats.com/FB or call 520-621-CATS (2287) and secure your seats today.