TUCSON, Ariz. -- The Arizona Wildcats returned to Arizona Stadium on Saturday morning for their first full scrimmage of fall camp. The team ran 90 plays in the desert heat, putting together a highlight-packed dress rehearsal for the season opener at Hawai'i.


Numerous highlights were had on both sides of the ball across the 90-play scrimmage, including a 75-yard touchdown run by true freshman Michael Wiley and an end zone interception in traffic made by senior safety Chacho Ulloa.

The Cats top three quarterbacks out of the gates — Khalil Tate, Rhett Rodriguez, and Grant Gunnell — all got into the end zone through the air, with Rodriguez leading the way with a pair of passing touchdowns. Tate engineered a handful of productive drives while on the field and avoided being intercepted by the Arizona defense. Near the end of the scrimmage session, freshman signal caller Gunnell put together a long scoring drive that involved a long third-down conversion completion to fellow freshman Jalen Johnson and was capped by a touchdown catch reeled in by Tre Adams.

Redshirt sophomore Jalen Harris, who occupies the STUD position and has impressed throughout camp thus far, notched a highlight play of his own midway through the scrimmage. The frequent backfield disruptor quickly broke through the offensive line and secured a quick strip sack, which would have set up the offense just outside the red zone.

After completing the scrimmage, Sumlin and offensive lineman Cody Creason both addressed the media to discuss the progress of the team after their first big test of fall camp. Complete interviews for both can be found here: Sumlin  |  Creason

For more highlights from Saturday morning, continue reading below.

Quote of the Night

Coach Sumlin, on who impressed during the scrimmage: "I thought our D-line was [improved]. We've got to be able to rush the passer, and it's hard to judge with your own team but I thought our O-line was equally up to the challenge — there was some big plays on both sides ... J.J. [Taylor] got loose early and we got him out quick, we know what he can do ... he's proved it."

Photo of the Night

 

Number of the Night — 67

Since 2016, the Wildcats have allowed just 67 sacks over three seasons, the fewest in the Pac-12 over that stretch. Offensive lineman Cody Creason has been a member of the unit charged with protecting the Cats quarterback throughout that stretch, and has helped the team finished third in the conference in fewest sacks allowed in each of the last two seasons.

Featured Returner — RS Senior Cody Creason

Creason enters the season with 37 games of experience on the offensive line under his belt. The redshirt senior from Folsom, Calif. started all 12 games for the Cats in 2018 and has played a significant role on the O-line in each of the last three years, a stretch during which Arizona has led the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game every season. Creason has excelled off the field as well, having earned Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention acclaim twice during his Arizona career. Consistency has been one of the hallmarks of Creason's college play, and also one of the key points driven home by head coach Kevin Sumlin and his coaching staff during fall camp.

"[On the] offensive line you're going to have good plays and bad plays all the time," Creason said. "So I think, and I know it's a cliche, but everyone says 'just erase the play before, look at the next play,' but I think especially on the offensive line if you get a holding penalty or give up a sack you've got to just wipe that out of your head. [Offensive line coach Kyle DeVan] always says, 'the rearview mirror is smaller than the front windshield because you can't look behind you, you've gotta look ahead.'" 

Featured Newcomer — Freshman Kyle Ostendorp

Ostendorp is one of two freshmen new to the Wildcats who lines up in the punter position. Across two seasons of varsity ball at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, he averaged 42.0 yards per punt and landed 35-of-71 career punts within the 20 yard line. Ostendorp was a two-time All-City Selection in Tempe while also earning All-Region honors once.

"We are extremely excited about Kyle on special teams because he brings a strong work ethic, a winner's mentality and one of the most explosive legs in this year's class," special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer said of Ostendorp on signing day.

Tweet of the Night

After a great week of work, the food trucks are ready and waiting for meetings to break!
??? #BuildingTheA pic.twitter.com/sVeI2i9WPj

— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) August 4, 2019

Following the Cats 90-play scrimmage that capped off the first week of camp, the team was treated to lunch from some fantastic local food trucks. Not many better ways to celebrate the Wildcats hard work.

Continued Coverage...

Day 5 Report  |  Day 6 Report  |  Day 7 Report

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