Fast forward: Arizona
There was a time when the Texas coaches thought Connor Brewer could carry the Longhorn's weighty legacy. That the high school All-American had the talent and poise to start at quarterback for one of the country's most prestigious programs. So too, the LSU coaches once thought Jerrard Randall could steer the Tigers in their ongoing quest for national championships, or at least contribute as a wide receiver.
As a fresh-faced high school graduate Jesse Scroggins took his quarterbacking talents to USC, dreaming of ruling the west coast at a school where seemingly every starter is an automatic NFL draftee.
Rocky starts deferred those dreams of glory for all three signal callers, and each made their way to the University of Arizona to play for Rich Rodriguez. One of the talent quarterbacks will emerge as the starter, unless of course redshirt freshman Anu Solomon wins the job as the only quarterback on the Wildcats roster who signed with UA out of high school.
At media days Rodriguez refused to hint who was ahead in the quarterback competition, which he said could continue even past the first game of the season.
We'll take a look at the rest of the Wildcats after the jump.
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Last season: The Wildcats predictably won their first three games against three cream puffs. Then, the predictably lost tough contests on the road at Washington and USC. After that, Arizona's season got a little funky. Led by star running back Ka'Deem Carey (consensus All-American, nation's third-leading rusher with 1,885 yards) won three straight games, including a closer-than-it-should-have-been 33-28 win over California. Arizona then lost a closer-than-it-should-have-been game against UCLA.
In fact, the Wildcats won just one of their next four games. But, that win was over No.5 Oregon. And they blew the Ducks out, 42-16. They ended the season on a good note, beating Boston College 42-19 in the AdvoCare V100 Bowl and giving Karey the victory over Andre Williams in the matchup between the nation's top two running backs.
Players to watch:
-- Jared Hill, WR, 6-3, 210: The 2012 Biletnikoff Award semifinalist did not play a snap last season after tearing his ACL in spring ball. But the Wildcats brought the former second team All-Pac-12 selection to media day and think he's ready to resume his dominant play on the field.
-- Austin Tevis, Safety, 5-10, 195: The defensive back was third on the team in total tackles despite missing a pair of games. He'll lead a deep, experienced secondary.
-- Mickey Baucus, OL, 6-8, 305: The Wildcast should be able to protect whichever quarterback is behind the center with Baucus and Fabbians Ebbele at tackle. The pair of bookends have started 75 total games in their careers.
Strength: Receivers. The already deep sophomore class adds an electric playmaker in DaVonte' Neil, who transferred after one season at Notre Dame. They also add Hill, who had over 1,300 receiving yards in 2012. Throw in emerging receiver Trey Griffey (son of Ken) and established veterans like Nate Phillips and Samajie Grant and the Wildcats could have the deepest group of receivers in the league.
Weakness: Punting. Drew Riggleman returns after a season as one of the worst punters in the conference last season. While Arizona added Josh Pollack as a punter/kicker this offseason, it doesn't appear as if he'll challenge Riggleman for his spot.