Isaiah Hayes was a true freshman when he wrestled away the starting free safety job away from Jarvis McCall a few games into the 2016 season.
Hayes showed flashes of talent, and then injured his shoulder before this season and was lost for the year.
Freshman Scottie Young took his place, and through the first few weeks, was one of Arizona’s best performers.
A couple weeks ago, Young injured his knee. He’s out indefinitely.
So that led to some safety shuffling — UA safeties coach Jahmile Addae moved junior Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles over to free safety from “bandit” and started freshman Troy Young in his place.
Then, early in Arizona’s game at California, Young was ejected for targeting.
That brought Arizona down to Jarrius Wallace, a redshirt freshman from Louisiana with limited experience in game action outside of special teams.
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“Right now we’re pretty deep in the depth chart,” Addae said. “Losing Scottie, losing Isaiah, losing Troy the second play of the game. I thought the young guy, Jarrius, came in and did well for himself… he wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t seamless, but he stepped up to the plate for us at a time when we needed him.”
Young will return this week, but Wallace has likely earned more playing time. Wallace finished with nine tackles, two pass breakups and an important late-game interception against the Golden Bears. The pick, in the end zone, was the first of his young career.
“I had fun. It was an experience for me,” Wallace said. “I was kinda nervous at first but exciting once I finally got the grip of everything.”
Wallace spent all of last season and the early parts of 2017 on the sideline, taking what coaches call “mental reps.”
The result?
“To be honest, I was ready,” Wallace said. “I was ready to go out there and make a play and I was just thinking in my mind, just make a play. Just do what you are coached to do, do what’s right. We work on this in practice all the time and coached right so I felt like I was ready for it.”
It had been a couple years since Wallace’s last interception, the last coming back at John Ehret High School in Marrero, Louisianaa That one, he said it came in a state playoff game.
It still didn’t hold a candle to his first-career collegiate pick.
“It was exciting one too, I came from the other side of the field. It was nothing like this one, this one means much more to me,” Wallace said. “That was most exciting and the best thing I’ve felt from playing football, especially in college, because this is the next level.”
