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White-Blue scrimmage highlighted by defense, kicking

UA's spring session came to an end last Saturday with the annual "White-Blue Scrimmage" held at Arizona Stadium.

In a game dominated by defense, Arizona's defensive starters hammered the offense for the majority of the game.

"I thought there were a lot of good things out there," UA head coach Dick Tomey said. "Any time the number one offense goes up against the top defense in spring, the defense should win. If not, there's something wrong."

On offense, sophomore wide receiver Bobby Wade had three catches for 41 yards.

The big surprise of the day came when Wade, playing as a defensive back, intercepted a pass by sophomore quarterback Erik Garcia and recovered a fumble for a touchdown.

Sophomore linebacker Lance Briggs led all defenders with four tackles in the scrimmage.

"Lance Briggs is outstanding out there," Tomey said. "We're fortunate as a team to have someone like him on the field."

According to Tomey, the spring practices were a success.

"There were no major injuries," he said. "There was a lot of evidence of hard work out there all spring long."

Tomey said players such as Wade will have a chance to improve between the end of spring practice and the start of summer workouts.

"Every individual has their own mountains to climb," he said. "There's an abundance of things we need to work on, both individually and as a team, before we come together in August."

Senior quarterback Ortege Jenkins agreed.

"I'm really excited about the year," he said. "It all puts pressure on me, which is good."

When junior kicker Tommy Kirovsky returned home to San Diego, Calif., two weeks ago to battle an illness, Arizona coaches were optimistic that he would return to the team quickly.

It now appears that Kirovsky may not return to Tucson at all.

"He's at home," Tomey said. "We're not sure if he'll return or not."

Kirovsky was expected to challenge sophomore Sean Keel for the starting kicker position.

Keel was successful in four of his five attempts in Saturday's scrimmage.

"Sean has done a good job this spring," Tomey said. "He did a solid job at the end of last year, too. (The kickers are) going to be much better."

As for Kirovsky, it appears that the team has resigned itself to finding a new backup kicker.

"If Tommy doesn't return, we're going to try to recruit someone else to compete with Sean," Tomey said. "We wish Tommy well and are just concerned with him getting a full recovery."