TUCSON, Ariz. – University of Arizona football head coach Rich Rodriguez, wide receivers David Richards, Cayleb Jones, and safety Will Parks spoke to the media at a weekly press conference on Monday. Below is a brief transcript.
Head Coach Rich Rodriguez
Opening Statement:
"As I mentioned after the game, I thought our guys played hard as did UTSA’s, and they competed well. We didn't play particularly well at times and you have to give them some of the credit for that. Defensively we gave up way too many yards, first downs, and points. There were a lot of guys playing because of injuries or substitution situations, but there's a lot we can learn from, we know we have to get better with a tough game on the road this weekend."
On watching some of the young guys:
"I thought they handled everything well. They didn't seem real big eyed. We had some true-freshmen playing and I thought they handled the moment okay and I think every game that we play, every coach will tell you that the guys who are inexperienced get experience will settle in a little bit and be able to hone in on their assignments. I didn't think we have a lot of missed assignments particularly for a first game. Fundamentally we can get a little bit better, particularly tackling and getting off blocks."
On the status of Scooby Wright III…
“Scooby is out three or four weeks after his scope, which went well. Hopefully we'll get him back in a few weeks.”
“Based on what we knew Saturday night, three to four weeks is a best case scenario for Scooby. I'm not a doctor, I'm just telling you what they’ve told me is that he has a meniscus lateral tear. He got scoped on Saturday. It’ll be three to four weeks for recovery and whatever limits they give him as far as recovery and treatment, he'll stretch them to their limits. That’s just Scooby's personality. We'll probably still take him on the road so he can get treatment with the trainers.”
On Haden Gregory filling in for Scooby:
"He's a big kid, pretty athletic. It's hard to compare a guy with Scooby because he's one of the best defensive players in the country in my opinion. But Haden came in, filled in, made some plays, and was pretty active. But again it was his first extended action. I think he'll get better from there and he's going to have to as will the rest of the linebackers with Scooby and Cody out and some other guys banged up there is some opportunity for some other guys."
On DaVonte’ Neal’s first game playing on the defensive side of the ball:
"He played pretty solid and he can still play better. It was his first game and he obviously made a big play on special teams with the blocked kick. He had been doing a really good job of that in practice and had come close earlier in the game with that. But at corner there are some things that he has to get cleaned up. I think he'll get better every game, but again that’s his first game playing at that position. He's not a freshmen, but it was really a rookie performance and I thought he competed really well and there are things that he could do better as well."
On Layth Friekh filling in for Freddie Tagaloa on the offensive line:
"I thought he played pretty well for his first time playing. He competed, got beat a few times they all will on occasion. He battled in there. He's really worked hard, he's gotten bigger and he's a tough competitive guy and he got thrown in. We didn't know until kickoff whether Freddie could go or not. Layth stepped in there and held his own."
On the depth of the offensive line:
"It helped Layth with being able to do that. T.D. Gross has been banged up so hopefully he's healthy and can give us another guy in there. I thought Cayman Bundage was the offensive player of the game and he handled himself with a new position, center, pretty well. Most of the snaps were okay and he had a pretty solid ball game so I was proud of the way Cayman stepped up too."
Thoughts on Nevada:
"They're a really talented team and played hard. Their coaches do a great job. We know their staff really well, in fact we partnered with them in some satellite summer camps this summer. We have a lot of similar philosophies and their kids play extremely hard. We've had a few tough games with them, last year and a few years ago in the bowl game so we have a lot of respect for them."
On Anthony Fotu:
He'll give us another guy who we can throw in there. He's not a starter but he a guy that has some ability. We've done so much situational stuff anyway that we need more guys who can play in certain situations, gives us the right guys on the field. With Nevada and what they do, some of their stuff is similar to what we saw last week, which we struggled with and struggled with last year. We've got to get some things cleaned up defensively.
On getting turnovers:
"I would like to hope that there’s always an emphasis on getting turnovers, but in this day and age to completely stop someone, I don't know, it’s hard. Offenses are so much more diverse and there is so much talent there. We also don't win that game without those two defensive turnovers and the blocked kick which you can consider as one. Those were key for us and not just getting a turnover but doing something with it. We had another opportunity which also looked like it could have been a pick six for us. It looks like we are going to have to do that this year and be able to create some things defensively. We still have to get better on first down. We can't let teams control the tempo like UTSA did in the last game."
On Anu Solomon’s accuracy on his passes down in the red zone and at the goal line:
"We do a lot of work in the red zone and he does a lot on his own too post practice and during practice on our red zone throws. You know we missed a couple ones though out in the field that he normally would hit; some deep balls that were open. And those are some that we need to get better at. But he's a pretty accurate guy. His eyes are usually in the right spot. He didn't play his cleanest game, there are some things that he'll tell you he can get better at. But I know the two touchdown throws that were kind of out or corner routes in the end zone were really good balls because they weren't great routes. I think we can run those routes better, but Anu made perfect throws so that was big."
On the biggest thing Samajie Grant will bring to the offense this week against Nevada:
"He's an experienced player. He's like Nate Phillips he can play all four positions. He can play inside, outside and he's an explosive guy. And Samajie brings a certain energy too. He's so competitive that you know it was hurting him to sit out. That was the idea. I know having him come back and being able to have another guy that play all four positions -- thankfully Johnny Jackson filled in and played pretty well. And Johnny will continue to play more, but Samajie is a veteran like Nate, like Cayleb and like David. They can play all four and give us another play-maker out there.
On Johnny Jackson’s perseverance, working his way up the depth chart
"Yeah, no question. I made a point of it a couple times particularly last week. You know he won one of the nacho award things from the team. And he did persevere, he was buried on the depth chart in the spring. Frankly I had a pretty straight talk with him, like I do with all the guys at the end of spring. I was disappointed that he was almost accepting being buried on the depth chart and not competing for better playing time and being on special teams and that kind of stuff. Whether that had an effect on him or not -- but from that meeting at the end of spring until now, he’s busted his tail this summer getting in shape. He came in with a great attitude during camp. We put him on special teams and he was doing a great job. So the past four or five months since spring practice, I think he's kind of been like, 'well geez this is my senior year, I've got to make something happen,' and he is a great example of a senior doing all that he's supposed to do to have a great final year. I'm really proud of Johnny."
On the last significant player that has gone down due to injury this early in the season:
"Oh gosh, I don't know. I like to forget bad things. I can remember, this is years ago, back at West Virginia on a Wednesday before our first game -- Tim Brown was our best offensive lineman and he went down on a freak play -- I think he tore his Achilles on a Wednesday practice, non-contact. So we had to put a freshman in his place and I remember I was just sick over that. I thought to myself 'this is what I got in this profession for? Are you kidding me?'.We were getting ready to play I think Wisconsin or somebody in three days. So I can remember that because he was a captain or going to be our captain and a great player and it happened on a freak thing. But Scooby's situation fortunately, again it's something that he can get fixed, or got fixed and can come back and I actually think he can come back even stronger than before. Knowing Scooby he'll be chomping at the bit and we'll make sure -- the trainers will make sure that when he does come back, he's coming back 100 percent ready to go."
If he breathed a sigh of relief when he found out Scooby Wright’s injury wasn't season ending:
"On the sidelines the trainers can give you a pretty good assessment beforehand on whether it's an ACL or an MCL and there was no indication towards that. You know on the meniscus thing, again I'm not a doctor -- I took a kinesiology class in college and I can't remember one darn thing about the class, I passed it, but I don't remember the class. But again after the game I was hoping it wasn't something that would keep him out four weeks, but I'm glad we got it fixed right away. Obviously I think we have a great medical staff, great trainers, and great team doctors. I also appreciate how quickly we are able to get our guys MRIs and get their surgeries done. It's a holiday weekend and we had two guys that had to have procedures on Saturdays and we got MRI's and procedures done right away. Of any place I've ever been this is the quickest we get those things done: MRIs and surgeries and getting guys fixed up. Our medical treatment is second to none in my opinion so kudos to our staff and the people with the talent who get that done for us."
If the opener looked too big for Sammy Morrison:
"No, and I was concerned with him and some others that were in there for the first time. And he was probably nervous, I would think if he's not nervous than there's something wrong with him. But I thought for his first game he got in there and competed, but I didn't think you know that the situation was too big for him at all."
Senior Wide Receiver David Richards
On Anu Solomon’s ability to throw a tight ball:
“I think it is good for us. Being that we are both 6-foot-4, we use our size and usually things end up to our advantage.”
On if he was surprised on how effective Johnny Jackson was:
“For me no it wasn’t surprising at all. Johnny and I both came in together so we both knew what we could do. I think this first game just comes back full circle. Everything happens for a reason and I think Johnny is really going to be able to help us this year.”
Senior Safety Will Parks
On responding to adversity following Scooby Wright’s injury:
“We rallied pretty well. It was sad to see him go down, but other guys stepped up and the young guys made a couple of key plays”
On evaluating the defensive performance after giving up 500 yards but also having a couple of big plays:
“That’s fine, it was our first game and we did not really know what we were going to get from UTSA. They changed their schemes around a little bit, but we focused and got the win, which was the main thing.
On some of the biggest things the defense needs to clean up before Nevada:
“The biggest thing is to get the guys that are filling in for injuries prepared. For us veterans, it means taking our leadership role to another level to try to get these guys ready. Nevada is a great team with a good run game, so we just have to get everyone prepared for them.
Redshirt Junior Wide Receiver Cayleb Jones
On Arizona’s success in the red zone against UTSA:
"I think just being able to score in the red zone in general is important, so that was pretty great to see. I think we had three scores in the red zone by our receivers alone."
On practicing drawing pass interferences in practice:
"As a receiver we have to have a confident attitude and a level head as far as what we're supposed to do. When a pass interference happens I know I helped the team out.
On Johnny Jackson’s performance on Thursday:
"When I first got here Johnny was playing receiver, and then the following year he moved to defensive back. A lot of respect goes to Johnny to come back to the offensive side of the ball when we were down a few guys and really just excel in the last couple weeks of camp. He had a great game and caught pretty much everything that came his way. That's only a little bit of Johnny. There is so much more that he can do.
On playing on the road this week
"For us I think it’s less distraction because you’re not really worried about the home crowd. You come to just play football."
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