TUCSON, Ariz. - The Arizona offense ended up with a 53-10 win over the defense in a 60-play scrimmage Saturday, a product of what is expected with next year's football team; strong quarterback play to a strong set of wide receivers.
Soon-to-be senior Nick Foles went 11-for-16 in the passing game in amassing 133 yards, Matt Scott went 11-for-14 and 134 yards going into a redshirt year and next year back-up Bryson Beirne passed 8-for-9 for 115 yards on the day.
"We moved the ball, threw the ball well," head coach Mike Stoops said. "The strength of this team lies in our offense, in our quarterbacks and in our receivers
""Defensively, we weren't very good today but we were good all spring. We didn't play well today but I feel good about that group. Our injuries could be significant and that's concerning," Stoops added, whose team lost linebacker Jake Fischer to a right leg injury during the scrimmage. "That's probably the most disappointing part of our whole spring."
Receiver Richard Morrison went for two touchdowns and 63 total yards on four catches while David Roberts was third in yardage with 50.
Transfer Dan Buckner, who is expected to start, hauled in three passes for 57 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats' offense. Starters Juron Criner and Keola Antolin didn't see a whole lot of touches on the day at their receiving and runningback positions, but it was their back-ups that led everyone in attendance to believe the Wildcats have the depth to continue their successful offensive attack.Here's a couple other key things we saw at the scrimmage:
Whirl of a Wharton
Easily the fastest player on the team, return-man Garic Wharton showed off his speed on the first two kick returns, bringing the ball past the 40-yard-line from inside the end zone then inside the 5-yard-line. Stoops praised Wharton's speed, and the redshirt freshman looks like a lock for the starting return jobs.
On offense, he also played well in the same position as Bug Wright, who left the team in the offseason. Wharton caught three passes for 30 yards as receiver.
A third option turned second at RB
With back-up bruiser Greg Nwoko injured and on crutches Saturday, Daniel Jenkins proved he could be ready for a breakout season as Antolin's back-up.
Jenkins had eight carries for 35 yards, but showed great lateral quickness to avoid tackles. He also showed the strength to get yards after contact despite being on the small side. While he's not as quick of a straight-ahead runner as Antolin, Jenkins has the spin moves and change-of-direction to be an asset for Arizona.
Kicking game inconsistent
In an interesting move, John Bonano saw the first attempt of a field goal in the scrimmage. He missed wide (and by wide I mean not even close) right.
Alex Zendejas replaced Bonano for the rest of the outing, hitting on 3-of-4 field goals. He hit two from 32 yards out, also nailed a 50-yarder, but missed a 40-yarder.
On the other hand, the most exciting play of the day came with a single punt. JC transfer Kyle Dugandzic punted a 72 yarder that fell on the 2-yard-line before bouncing into the end zone.
"The field goals were very inconsistent and Kyle (Dugandzic) had one nice punt today," Stoops said. "I thought our kick offs were good and our field goal kicking needs to improve. The inconsistencies are really bothering us."
Injury update
Both safety Adam Hall and runningback Greg Nwoko sat on the sidelines Saturday. But adding to the carnage was what appeared to be an ankle sprain or knee injury to linebacker Jake Fischer.
Stoops didn't know the extend of the injury afterward.