Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Barry joins experienced offensive line

Eric M. Jukelevics Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior offensive lineman Kevin Barry signs autographs at Wednesday's Meet the Team. Barry is a transfer from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College and could earn some playing time this season.

UA offensive coordinator Dino Babers came out of Camp Cochise feeling the best about one position on the team.

And no, it wasn't quarterback.

"I'm most comfortable with the center position right now," he said. "Bruce Wiggins is playing great. Steven Grace, too."

On the whole, the Wildcats' offensive line is seen as the key, especially going up against Penn State's voracious defense.

With only one newcomer, transfer Kevin Barry of Hutchinson (Kan.) Junior College, the Wildcats return their line almost completely intact.

Barry replaces current Arizona Cardinal Yusuf Scott on the roster. He even took Scott's No. 72 jersey, but he said that was just a coincidence.

"I'm not really too worried about it, it's the same number I've had since high school and my JUCO," Barry said. "It just happens to be the same one he wore."

At 6-foot-4, 336 pounds, Barry can certainly fill Scott's uniform, but he is listed as the backup to sophomore left guard Steven Grace on the depth chart.

"Hopefully just helping out the team as much as I can," Barry said of his goal for the season. "I came from a JUCO and that's different from D-I, and I'm just trying to get through. You saw all the different things (they had us) doing today."

Right tackle Manuia Savea, the lone senior on the line, called Barry a "good communicator" who will be a bonus for the team.

"He's a big helper for us," Savea said, though he noted Barry wasn't able to go through spring practice with his fellow Wildcats and that's left him behind on the learning curve.

"It was too late for him last season, but he has really picked up (the offense) and helped us pick up our game and he is doing really well this year."

Babers said Barry has a ways to go before he can steal the job from Grace.

"He's a tough kid, but he's got a long way to go," Babers said. "He's still got a lot of work to do but we really like what we've seen so far.

"It's (a matter of) learning the system. This is not a simple offense, it's a complex offense. It takes time to learn it and until you learn it, it looks like slop, then all of a sudden when everyone gets it, it turns into a fine-tuned thing."

Barry said the entire offensive line is looking solid to him.

"I think we've got a really good offense this year," he said. "We lost Yusuf and Edwin (Mulitalo) but we've got a lot of good guys back and a lot of veterans. It should be a good team."

Babers said right now the line just needs "to gel."

"I feel like these guys have worked really hard," line coach Charlie Dickey said. "I feel like they know the offense and like anything else they've constantly got to prove themselves. We've got to prove ourselves all over again this year."

The starters are set for Arizona, with sophomore Makoa Freitas at left tackle, Grace at left guard, Wiggins at center, junior Marques McFadden taking over at right guard and Savea at right tackle.

Dickey called all of them tough individuals, singling out Wiggins for his leadership, Grace for his consistency, Savea for his aggressiveness, Freitas for his pass-blocking ability and McFadden for his "explosiveness."

As for the reserves, Dickey sees redshirt freshman Aaron Higginbotham and Barry as the key guys off the bench.

"We're looking for him to contribute and hopefully if he can get in there and if he can learn the offense and earn a starting spot," Dickey said of Barry.

What Barry and the other offensive linemen know is all that senior running back Trung Canidate wants from them is just a slight opening.

"I have to give credit to the offensive line because they have done such a great job up front," Canidate said. "All I ask them is for 14 inches of daylight, and they get the job done."