Arizona football returned to the practice field on Tuesday to begin its third week of spring ball.Â
Here are notes and observations from the Wildcats' seventh practice of the spring.Â
* Arizona wide receiver Tre Spivey had arguably his best practice of the spring. In a one-on-one drill against Charlotte transfer cornerback Dwight Bootle, Spivey had the advantage on a slant route and fade route for a touchdowns. Spivey caught three straight targets in a team period.Â
* Arizona's cornerbacks wore boxing gloves in a one-on-one drill, a tactic that trains cornerbacks to refrain from grabbing jerseys. Colorado State transfer Jordan Ross beat Wyoming transfer cornerback Tyrese Boss on a post route. Second-year wide receiver Isaiah Mizell hauled in a deep pass from quarterback Noah Fifita over Boss.Â
* Freshman wide receiver and early enrollee Caleb Smith had a nifty over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone with safety Quinn Olson in coverage.Â
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* Cal Poly defensive end transfer Victory Johnson, who's wearing No. 45 this season, had a sack in a team period.Â
* Linebacker Nela Taliauli, a 6-foot, 221-pound redshirt sophomore from Puna, Hawaii native, had a pass breakup covering wide receiver Scotty Brennan. Taliauli played defensive back his first two seasons at Arizona.Â
* Arizona's punting competition between Australia native Chase Ridley and Louisville transfer Carter Schwartz was on display. Most of Ridley's punts had a hang time of four-plus seconds, including a 60-yarder with a hang time of 4.46 seconds. Schwartz had two punts with hang times of four-plus seconds; his best was 4.53 seconds, which was the best time of the practice. The consistent leg power and hang time currently favors Ridley.Â
* The final team period was capped by three field goals by junior kicker Michael Salgado-Medina; his makes were two 34-yard field goals down the middle, a 36-yarder and a 46-yarder from the left hashmark. Salgado-Medina is the only kicker taking reps this spring. The Wildcats are adding freshman kicker and Austin, Texas-area native Ian French this summer.Â
Contact Justin Spears, the Star's Arizona football beat reporter, at jspears@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @JustinESports
Justin Spears
Sports Reporter
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