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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

    Tuitama OK to play vs. Sun Devils

    Sophomore quarterback Willie Tuitama prepares to air it out in Arizonas 24-20 win over California Nov. 11 at Arizona Stadium. Tuitama threw for 120 yards in the first half of Saturdays win at Oregon before he was taken out for precautionary reasons, but he should be ready to play Saturday against ASU.
    Sophomore quarterback Willie Tuitama prepares to air it out in Arizona’s 24-20 win over California Nov. 11 at Arizona Stadium. Tuitama threw for 120 yards in the first half of Saturday’s win at Oregon before he was taken out for precautionary reasons, but he should be ready to play Saturday against ASU.

    No worries, nothing’s wrong with Willie.

    UA head coach Mike Stoops said yesterday during his weekly press conference that he didn’t anticipate quarterback Willie Tuitama missing any action against ASU Saturday.

    “”He feels fine,”” Stoops said. “”We’re anticipating everyone being available come Saturday.

    The sophomore, who has suffered two concussions this season, missed the second half of Arizona’s 37-10 win over Oregon Saturday after taking a shot to the head midway through the second quarter in Eugene, Ore.

    Though he didn’t suffer a third concussion, he did experience double vision, and Tuitama said the decision to leave the game was partly his.

    “”It was kind of weird; I was trying to get plays (from the sideline), and I couldn’t really see the coach right,”” Tuitama said. “”Basically my vision, it was blurry, and the lower half of his body was gone for some reason.””

    The blurred vision went away after a short time, and Tuitama’s sight checked in at 20-20 in both eyes at the half.

    After the hit itself, Tuitama sat on the field for a few moments – “”I was like, ‘All right, get up. C’mon now, gotta go,'”” he said – and he threw two touchdowns before leaving the game.

    “”Being in the situation that he’s been under, we’re not going to take any chances with him and just didn’t want to,”” Stoops said.

    Stoops also listed strong safety Michael Johnson as “”probable”” to return against the Sun Devils two weeks after injuring his hamstring against then-No. 8 California.

    Defensive lineman Lionel Dotson, who missed Saturday’s game with a leg injury, is listed as questionable for this week.

    Henry, Folk capture conference honors

    It was almost a clean sweep.

    Running back Chris Henry and kicker Nick Folk yesterday were named the Pacific 10 Conference’s Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week, respectively.

    Henry, a junior, finished Arizona’s 37-10 win over Oregon with a career-high 191 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries, and also had a 21-yard reception that went for a score.

    Folk won his second award of the season after hitting three field goals from 29, 28 and 45 yards out during the game to bring his streak of consecutive attempts made to nine and also connected on all four of his extra points.

    “”I mean, it’s nice,”” Folk said. “”I just helped the team win. That’s all that’s important right now, winning this last one against the Devils and playing well and getting to a bowl game.””

    Folk also punted six times – downing four of them inside the 20 – for an average of 40.7 yards, including a long of 52.

    “”It’s just kind of funny how stuff comes around when we start winning,”” Folk said. “”During the middle of the season, we weren’t doing too well, and I don’t think we had any Pac-10 players of the week. …When you start winning, it’s funny how things start happening for everybody.””

    Folk also won the award following his game-winning kick over Brigham Young to open the season Sept. 2, a contest in which he booted three field goals.

    Arizona’s defensive nominee, linebacker Spencer Larsen, wasn’t selected despite his 10-tackle performance that also included his first career interception and a fumble recovery. UCLA safety Chris Horton, who had 12 tackles, was selected instead.

    Henry becomes the third Wildcat to win the award this year, following Folk and cornerback Antoine Cason, who had won back-to-back defensive honors the previous two weeks.

    Phillip might apply for extra year

    After an injury-riddled career, redshirt senior defensive tackle Paul Phillip said yesterday that he might try to apply for a sixth year of eligibility.

    “”I’m going to leave that up to the coaches. I don’t know if my body can handle it,”” he said. “”I’ve been thinking about it, but, yeah, I would love to play next year.””

    Phillip has played in only eight games the past two seasons, and an MCL tear against then-No. 3 USC Sept. 23 has limited him to parts of seven so far this season.

    He had two tackles against Oregon Saturday starting in place of Dotson.

    Quoteable

    Stoops, on how his team is approaching Saturday’s game with in-state rival ASU: “”7-5’s better than 6-6. That’s how we look at it. It’s the last game on the schedule, and it happens to be a rivalry game.””

    Stoops, on the possibility of a bowl: “”We have nothing guaranteed to us. Nothing’s going to be given to you. You’ve got to go out and take it. That’s going to be our approach this week.””

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