By
Ryan Finley
Arizona Daily Wildcat
For the first time in three years, the Arizona quarterbacking situation appears to be without controversy. Senior Ortege Jenkins, who had spent the past three seasons platooning with Keith Smith, finally has the job entirely to himself.
Jenkins' resume as a UA quarterback is long.
Although he began 1997 as a wide receiver, Jenkins emerged as the team's starting quarterback after injuries to starter Keith Smith and backup Brady Batten left few UA head coach Dick Tomey with few other options.
Jenkins finished the 1997 season with 19 touchdown passes, setting a Pacific 10 Conference freshman record. Jenkins finished the 1997 season with 114 completions for 1,669 yards and 21 touchdowns.
In 1998, the year the Wildcats finished with a school-record 12 wins, Jenkins returned to platoon with a healthy Smith. Despite starting the season as the team's No. 1 option behind center, Jenkins was demoted in favor of Smith and attempted just four passes in the Wildcats' 23-20 victory against Nebraska.
UA coaches continued to favor Smith, a senior, in the 1999 season. What started as a platoon situation clearly became Smith's job to lose as the Wildcats finished a disappointing 6-6. Jenkins, who played in all 12 games, finished the season with a 60.3 completion percentage, good for third in Wildcat history.
In an interview last spring, Jenkins talked about the importance of his role on this year's team.
"I think what those guys did was irreplaceable," he said of the departure of Smith, Trung Canidate and Dennis Northcutt. "If anything, it puts pressure on me."
Jenkins' backup this season will be either freshman Cliff Watkins or sophomore Jason Johnson. Watkins, a native of Breckenridge, Texas, impressed UA coaches during spring practice with his strong arm and mobility.
The 6-foot-3 Watkins was named Texas Football Magazine's 1999 Class 3A Player of the Year and earned four letters in track and field.
Johnson, who was 2-of-5 for 52 yards in a backup role last season, finished 1999 with a pass efficiency rating of 127.36.
A Prepstar All-American while at Rogers High School in Puyallup, Wash., Johnson worked as a drop-back passer, different than Watkins' experience as an option quarterback.
While at Camp Cochise, Tomey spoke at length about the backup situation.
"We'll keep giving both Cliff and Jason work but we need to have one of them begin to get more time," he told Arizona Sports Information. "It won't do us any good to give them both equal work once we get going."
Tomey is quick to point out the advantages of both quarterbacks.
"I like that Cliff has come so far without as much time back there," he said. "I like Jason because he knows our offense so much better. There's promise, either way we go."
With redshirt freshman John Rattay, a transfer from Tennessee, waiting in the wings, the UA quarterbacking situation should be solid for the next four years.
For now, however, the quarterback job is Jenkins' to lose.
"I can't expect guys to make great catches and and runs," he said. "I just try to make the easiest catchable ball I can throw. I've got to throw a pass that is catchable. If they drop a pass, it means I didn't put it in there."
Seemingly the one constant for UA throughout the team's problems in 1999 was the play of the team's kick-blocking defense.
When junior tight end/kick blocker Peter Hansen opened the 2000 Sports Illustrated football preview, he never thought that he would see his name featured as UA's notable player.
"That was crazy," Hansen said of his appearance in the national magazine.
The UA special teams deserved their notoriety - in 1999, the Wildcats lead the country in both blocked kicks and punt returns.
UA enters 2000 without place kicker Mark McDonald, who finished his Arizona career by going 1-of-10 from field goal range in his senior season.
Junior punter Chris Palic believes McDonald should be remembered in a good light.
"Mark's a great guy," Palic said.
Replacing the departed kicker will likely be sophomore Shawn Keel.
Keel, a Littleton, Colo., native, was 5-of-8 from the field and 12-of-13 on extra points as a fill-in for the star-crossed McDonald, making kicks against Oregon, Oregon State, and Arizona State.
Keel's main competition appears to be freshman Doug Jones. Jones, who spurned offers from Florida State to attend Arizona, missed all four attempted kicks in last Friday's scrimmage.
Palic, a walk-on who didn't even have a name on the back of his jersey when he took over for Ryan Springston as a freshman, enters his third season as Arizona's punter. In 1999, Palic averaged more than 39 yards-per-punt throughout a season that saw the 6-foot-3 junior attempt 60 kicks.
Palic's successful 1999 season earned him a scholarship for the 2000 season.
He was told the news after a practice at Camp Cochise.
"It was a really good feeling," Palic said. "As a punter, I'm a defensive player. A good (kick) puts us in good shape."
Replacing kick returner Dennis Northcutt still remains UA special teams' major hurdle. Sophomore Bobby Wade, who switched his jersey number to No. 1 for the season, is set to have a breakout year.
The Phoenix-native returned 10 kicks for 190 yards in 1999, good for second on the team. The Arizona Republic's State Player of the Year in 1999, Wade could see action on both sides of the ball as well as on special teams.
According to Hansen, UA's special teams will have to be more consistent than in 1999.
"I definitely need to start (blocking) early," he said. "I didn't block a kick until the ninth game last year."
All told, the Wildcats' special teams players are ready to put last season's memories, good and bad, behind them.
"They're ready," Hansen said. "There's a lot of pressure out there, though. People want to see the ball go through the uprights."
