By
Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Arizona football opens up spring practice
Bobby Wade watched closely Saturday as his teammates were getting their first taste of new UA head football coach John Mackovic and the rest of the new coaching staff.
During practice he saw hits.
He saw passes intercepted.
And he even watched as the assistant coaches got in the faces of the players for not hustling.
All this, and it was only the first day of practice.
Wade, a sophomore wide receiver, was unable to participate in the contact drills because of shoulder surgery in January, but liked what he saw.
"Competition was real high today, and everyone was trying to go out and impress the coaches," Wade said.
Only three months recovered from surgery, Wade wore a yellow jersey and was limited to working with a medicine ball for most of Arizona's first spring practice.
"I personally feel that I can do the contact," Wade said. "(The doctors) don't want me to come out here and have a (defensive back) run through my shoulder. I feel my shoulder is about 90 to 95 percent. I feel good."
The Phoenix native, who might get into some contact drills during the last week of spring practice, injured his shoulder after he fumbled a punt during last year's loss to Ohio State.
An MRI in the off-season showed that he had a torn muscle in his shoulder and would have to take four months off to recover.
"I did a lot of things today that I didn't feel I was able to do," Wade said. "Now it's all up to the doctors."
The Wildcats' suited up 104 total players during the first weekend of spring practice.
One of those players, junior quarterback Jason Johnson, is one of many competing for a starting job come fall.
It has been more than 10 years since the Wildcats have entered a season with so many question marks at the quarterback position, and Johnson is trying to capitalize on his opportunity.
Johnson looked sharp in practice, throwing both the deep pass and out patterns with accuracy.
Entering the spring as the No. 1 quarterback on the depth chart, Johnson rotated snaps with junior transfer Erik Garcia, freshman Steve Fleming, freshman transfer John Rattay, sophomore Kyle Slager and sophomore Cliff Watkins during practice. Each quarterback, who has little or no collegiate experience, is fighting for the starting job come opening day, an August 30 matchup against San Diego State at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.
"We are all good friends, and we want what is best for the team," Johnson said. "Through competition, we all have to step up our own games because you can't take one day off or even one play off. I think it's going to make us all better."
Johnson, who was the backup last year to departed Ortege Jenkins, likes being the quarterback with the most experience, despite only throwing a total of six passes and completing three.
"I think I need to play within myself and make smart plays (to become the starting quarterback)," Johnson said. "I think if I can be consistent with my throws and consistent with my decisions, I will do a good job."
Mackovic will have the challenge of teaching the offense to six different quarterbacks.
"It is difficult to evaluate all six of them, and we will have to make some decisions before long about how many players we can work with," he said. "They have a great deal of work to do."
Even though it was the first weekend of practice, a couple players were able to stand out from the rest.
"I think Clarence Farmer looked like he was ready to go," Mackovic said. "I thought Gary Love had a particularly good day."
Farmer, who led the team in rushing last season with 666 total yards, had a great time working with the new coaching staff.
"The new coaches expect for you to live up to your potential," Farmer said. "I really don't think they are looking for a superstar right now. They are looking for a player who can just make plays."
