Arizona wide receiver Gino Crump has established himself this season as one of Nick Foles’ go-to guys in the talented Wildcat receiving corps, but it didn’t happen overnight for the senior who transferred from West Virginia his freshman year.
“Gino’s an interesting dude, me and him laugh about it,” Arizona wide receivers coach Dave Nichol said. “He’s been through a lot and I appreciate that, he’s been in my doghouse, he’s been in other coaches’ doghouses, nothing major, but different things, and it’s just taken him awhile to just be really good and consistent and focused, he’s a proud guy.”
This season Crump has accrued 606 yards and two touchdowns on 62 catches. Crump’s athleticism was evident on Saturday against ASU as his 33-yard touchdown catch and run brought the Wildcats within a field goal of the Sun Devils.
“He’s finally just worked himself into being a pretty good player,” Nichol said. “He practices about as hard as anyone in my group.”
Foles likely OK for Saturday
After Wildcat quarterback Nick Foles went down with a rib contusion on Saturday against the Sun Devils in Tempe, there was speculation he wouldn’t be able to return this week for his senior day contest against Louisiana-Lafayette.
According to Arizona interim head coach Tim Kish, Foles should be in the starting position this week and the coaching staff and trainers will continue to keep him on watch throughout the week in case anything changes.
Kish also mentioned that backup senior quarterback Bryson Beirne, who came in to relieve Foles against ASU and threw the game winning touchdown pass, should see some action on Saturday to close out his Arizona career.
Coaches reflect on their final week
Unless something changes dramatically over the course of the next few weeks, this weekend will be the last time that the current Arizona coaching staff will lead the Wildcats onto the field, and while the coaches knew that this would be coming, it is still hard to face this week.
“I understand that everything comes to an end,” Kish said in his Monday press conference. “That’s fine, for us having this opportunity to be in front of these guys and lead them, and go through everything that we’ve been through, I’m tickled pink to have that opportunity.”
Arizona quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo mentioned that the staff has always been aware of the end of the season implications to this year, but that’s not what their focus has been.
“From the beginning you finish this out for the kids,” Scelfo said. “For what they were able to do (last Saturday) night, and looking forward to senior day, the guys on this team that are going to walk across that field with their parents have made some really good plays while they were here, and you can’t overlook that.”
An emotional Kish said that whatever happens after the season will happen for a reason.
“At the end of the day,” said Kish, holding back tears. “It’s all good.”
