All-RichRod Team: Best players at Arizona, West Virginia under Rich Rodriguez

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — The RichRod Bowl is officially here.

When the Arizona Wildcats face the West Virginia Mountaineers Saturday morning in Morgantown, it’ll be the first matchup between the Wildcats and WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez, who coached the UA from 2012-17, leading the Wildcats to five bowl appearances in six seasons.

Rodriguez went 43-35 at Arizona and has a 67-36 record between his two stints at West Virginia.

It’s common for Arizona to face former assistant coaches. The Wildcats are doing it later this season when they host TCU and head coach Sonny Dykes, who was a Mike Stoops-era offensive coordinator, for a Friday night game at Casino Del Sol Stadium.

Coaching against a former head coach who has the same title? That hasn’t been done since 1992, when Arizona lost to USC and head coach Larry Smith.

Arizona and West Virginia were both successful under Rodriguez’s tutelage. So, we created the All-RichRod Team between Arizona and West Virginia.

OFFENSE

Quarterback: Pat White, West Virginia

Considered arguably the greatest quarterback in West Virginia history, White was a two-time Big East Player of the Year and three-time first-team All-Big East quarterback. White, who’s now an assistant coach on Rodriguez’s staff, recently had his jersey number (5) retired by WVU. White had a 35-8 record as West Virginia’s quarterback and is the first quarterback in NCAA history to win four consecutive bowl games.

Running back: Ka'Deem Carey, Arizona

The Tucson native owns Arizona records for career rushing yards (4,239), single-season rushing yards (1,929) and single-game rushing yards (366). The two-time All-American and Doak Walker Award finalist also owns records for career rushing touchdowns (48), single-season rushing touchdowns (23) and single-game rushing touchdowns (5).

Running back: Steve Slaton, West Virginia

Slaton and White were a dynamic quarterback-running back tandem from 2005-07. Slaton has the most-ever rushing yards (204) in the Sugar Bowl, which he set in 2006. Slaton is tops in West Virginia history in rushing touchdowns (50) and all-time touchdowns (55). Slaton — a Big East Rookie of the Year, unanimous All-American and Sugar Bowl MVP — was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last year.

Wide receiver: Chris Henry, West Virginia

Henry’s 1,878 career receiving yards is the eighth-most in WVU history, while his 22 touchdown receptions are the second-most in school history. After a troubled NFL career, Henry died in 2009. His son, Chris Henry Jr., is a wide receiver at Ohio State.

Wide receiver: Austin Hill, Arizona

Hill was a Stoops-era recruit, but the wide receiver was involved in two memorable wins under Rodriguez. Hill helped Arizona rally from a three-possession deficit in the fourth quarter of the 2012 New Mexico Bowl. Hill also caught the game-winning walk-off touchdown to beat Cal in 2014 — a play known as the “Hill Mary.”

Wide receiver: Cayleb Jones, Arizona

After transferring from Texas, Jones had 1,926 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on 129 catches. Jones had 73 receptions for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns his first season at Arizona in 2014.

Offensive line: Mickey Baucus, Arizona

Baucus, a 6-8, 293-pound left tackle, started a school-record 52 consecutive games at offensive tackle.

Offensive line: Dan Mozes, West Virginia

The center and guard was a three-time first-team All-Big East selection, a unanimous All-American in 2006 and was the recipient of the Rimington Trophy, which is given to college football’s top center.

Offensive line: Nathan Eldridge, Arizona

Eldridge commanded Arizona’s offensive line at center as a true freshman and helped the Wildcats have the top rushing offense in the Pac-12 in 2016 despite a 3-9 record. Eldridge was a second-team Associated Press All-Pac-12 selection.

Offensive line: Jacob Alsadek, Arizona

Alsadek started 46 games during his career at Arizona and only missed four games. At right guard, Alsadek was named a Freshman All-American by USA Today.

Offensive line: Garin Justice, West Virginia

Justice was a three-year starter for the Mountaineers at right tackle — and a team captain in 2005. Justice is currently the associate head coach at SMU.

DEFENSE

Defensive line: Scooter Berry, West Virginia

The second-team All-Big East choice in 2010 had 35 tackles, 4.5 for a loss, and four sacks as a senior. Berry was recruited to play fullback, but converted to defensive end.

Defensive line: Keilen Dykes, West Virginia

The two-time first-team All-Big East defensive tackle had 92 tackles and 10.5 sacks in 38 games.

Defensive line: Johnny Dingle, West Virginia

Dingle, who led West Virginia to a Fiesta Bowl victory in 2008, received All-American honorable mention honors from Sports Illustrated.

Linebacker: Scooby Wright III, Arizona

As a sophomore in 2014, the unanimous All-American registered 163 tackles, 29 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. Wright was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and the recipient of the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award, Chuck Bednarik Award and the Jack Lambert Trophy. Wright’s 2014 season is arguably the all-time best by a UA defensive player.

Linebacker: Grant Wiley, West Virginia

Wiley had 494 tackles, 47.5 stops for loss, 15 forced fumbles and eight interceptions over four seasons in Morgantown. Wiley, a consensus All-American in 2003, was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Linebacker: Marquis Flowers, Arizona

The former Army All-American had 273 tackles, 27.5 TFL, 7.5 sacks and five interceptions under Stoops and Rodriguez.

Defensive back: Pacman Jones, West Virginia

Jones had 205 tackles and eight interceptions. His two defensive touchdowns were a pick-six and a fumble return. Jones is Rodriguez’s highest-drafted NFL player at any school.

Defensive back: Will Parks, Arizona

The Philadelphia native had 197 tackles, 21 tackles for loss and four interceptions.

Defensive back: Jahmile Addae, West Virginia

The former NFL safety had three straight seasons with multiple interceptions and finished with eight career picks at WVU. Addae was Arizona’s defensive backs coach in 2016 and ‘17.

Defensive back: Jared Tevis, Arizona

The former walk-on and Tucson native had 285 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, five sacks and five interceptions in his career.

Defensive back: Tra'Mayne Bondurant, Arizona

Bondurant’s 271 career tackles, 28.5 tackles for loss, nine interceptions, seven sacks and seven forced fumbles. Bondurant was one of Arizona’s top defensive players the year the Wildcats won the Pac-12 South in 2014.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Kicker: Pat McAfee, West Virginia

Before he became an NFL punter and a wildly popular media figure on ESPN, McAfee was an All-American punter and kicker for the Mountaineers. McAfee made a 65-yard field goal and had 23 punts land inside the 20-yard line as a senior.

Punter: Drew Riggleman, Arizona

The Sahuaro High School product had 184 punts for 8,101 yards (44 yards per kick) for the hometown Wildcats.

Long snapper: Nick Reinhardt, Arizona

The Scottsdale native snapped in 38 games from 2014-18.

Returner: Pacman Jones, West Virginia

Jones returned 59 career kickoffs for 1,475 yards and a touchdown. He also had 37 punt returns for 404 yards and a touchdown and was named the Big East Special Teams Player of the Year in 2004.