Arizona’s Depth Chart Released, It is Officially Game Week

Today, Coach RichRod announced his depth chart (an even more detailed one here) and subsequently his starters for this Saturday against Toledo.  So, without further ado, here we go:

1st Team Offense:

QB: Matt Scott

RB: Ka’Deem Carey

FB: Taimi Tutogi

TE: Drew Riggleman

WR: Dan Buckner, Terrence Miller

Slot Receiver: Austin Hill, Richard Morrison

Left Tackle: Mickey Baucus

Left Guard: Chris Putton

Center: Kyle Quinn

Right Guard: Trace Biskin

Right Tackle: Fabbians Ebbele

If you are like me, I am really excited to see this new offense live.  Personally, I loved playing with West Virginia in NCAA Football when they had Pat White and Steve Slaton because they could almost score at will.  Hopefully, Matt Scott will be able to lead this team and avoid the injury bug which has plagued this team for the past 12 months.  However, Arizona has never had a great running game because of their offensive line, which will be the key to watch from the ‘get go.’  As the game plans go, I am also interested to see how much we throw the ball against running it, especially with a weapon like Buckner on the field.

1st Team Defense:

Defensive Ends: Domonique Austin, Chris Merrill

Nose Tackle: Sione Tuihalmaka

Strong LB: Hank Hobson

Middle LB: Jake Fischer

Weak LB: Marquis Flowers

Spur: Tra’Mayne Bodnurant

Bandit: Jared Tevis

CB: Shaquille Richardson

CB: Derrick Rainey

FS: Jourdan Grandon

If you don’t recognize many of the players on defense, do not be ashamed because I have no idea either.  Okay, I lied, there are only a few players on the starting ‘D’ who I do not recognize.  But that is going to be the theme for this year. Arizona is coming in with a retooled defense, one that will need to show up every drive or else this year will turn into a mirror image of last year.  It is good to see local talent Fischer has returned from an ACL tear (who didn’t tear a knee ligament last year?) and UA will need his presence on the field to hold tough on third downs.  The full extent of this defense will not be seen until we play teams that actually have a legit offense.  Against Toledo, our funky 3-3-5 defense should hold the Rockets in check and maybe even drive them up the wall.  The main goal of this game is to get out of it with out any serious injuries. If we do that, plus get a win, it’ll be a huge success.

Special Teams

Kicker: John Bonano

Punter: Kyle Dugandzic

Punt Returner: Richard Morrison

Kickoff Returner: Ka’Deem Carey

For the sake of all Arizona fans, I hope beyond hope that Bonano can make field goals and extra points.  Taking it even further, I hope the special teams offensive line can block well enough so Bonano has a chance to actually kick a clean ball.  Other than that, special teams just needs to play solid and not turn the ball over as well as get stupid penalties.

Overall, I cannot wait for Saturday.  Being able to see a completely redone team, with hopefully a new attitude, will be a sigh of relief.  Hope to see all of you out there on Saturday wearing your Wildcat Colors.