Matt Scott, Wildcat offense shines in spring game

Back in December after Rich Rodriguez was assessing his roster for the first time, he called his quarterback situation “scary.” With only one quarterback on the roster that has any game experience in senior Matt Scott, Rodriguez did not shy away from the fact that progress at the position was going to be a steep uphill climb.

After a full spring with Matt Scott and Richard Morrison, who has played wide receiver during his Wildcat tenure to this point, Rodriguez believes the quarterback situation now is “less scary.”

“From where we were at quarterback in December to where we are now and going into fall, I am a lot more comfortable,”Arizona Head Coach Rich Rodriguez said Saturday at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium following the spring game.  “I shouldn’t expect to much with it being the first year in the system but with Matt Scott we’re going to expect a lot and I think Matt can deliver.”

In the game, the offense turned the ball over on three of the first four possessions. One turnover, a interception returned forty yards almost for a touchdown by junior safety Marquis Flowers.

“Early, it was not very good,” Rodriguez mentioned. “We are not going to be good enough to beat ourselves. Those are things that are correctable.”

But then Matt Scott and the Wildcat offense got into a groove. Scott finished passing for 315 yards and four touchdowns on 22 of 35 passing. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Slavin caught three of those touchdown passes and walk-on Johnny Jackson had a team high 90 yards receiving.

“Coming out the first day (of spring practice) we didn’t know what to expect,” explained quarterback Matt Scott. “Its been an experience, we grew a lot from it, we learned a lot and I think we’re getting a lot better.”

“In this offense you have to be confident,” added senior halfback Taimi Tutogi. “If you mess up on one play, you can’t dwell on it. You have to just keep going and go and thats how you win games.”

As for the defense, Jake Fischer and Adam Hall returned to the field in front of the 4,800 fans at Kino Stadium for the first time since season ending knee injuries a year ago. It was a good day for Fischer as he tied for the team lead with five tackles.

However it did not turn out to be as good of a day for Tucson native Adam Hall. A hammer came down after the game stating that Hall has torn his ACL for the second time. Hall was back on the field for the first time in a year after tearing his ACL last spring and now could but out again for a considerable amount of time.

The Wildcats have one more practice before wrapping things up for the spring, then workouts will begin again this summer.

For more on the Wildcats, follow Jared Cohen on Twitter at @JaredPros2Preps.