Arizona football: De Beer makes most of opportunity
Courtesy Arizona
University of Arizona football
2014 University of Arizona football team. Courtesy Arizona Athletics
2015-11-09T20:15:00Z 2015-11-14T20:35:09Z Arizona football: De Beer makes most of opportunity Arizona Daily Star
November 09, 2015 8:15 pm • By Zack Rosenblatt
It was a confusing moment for Gerhard de Beer. He was in new territory and didn’t exactly know what to do.
Saturday at USC, de Beer made the first start of his career for Arizona at the Coliseum, a historic college football venue, playing at right guard in place of the injured Freddie Tagaloa.
He knew what to do against the Trojans — in simple terms: Block the guy in front of him.
That’s not what confused him.
No, the confusion came three years ago when de Beer stood at his football locker for the first time.
Before his first-ever practice, he picked up his thigh pads and turned to defensive lineman Luca Bruno.
“I asked how to put on my pads the first time,” de Beer said. “He kinda looked at me funny, thought I was joking.”
He wasn’t.
See, de Beer had never played football before. He came to Arizona on a track and field scholarship for his talents with the discus. In high school, in addition to discus, he played rugby. That’s high school in Pretoria, South Africa, quite a ways away from the Old Pueblo.
Back to Saturday — again, de Beer was in somewhat unfamiliar territory. Not only was it his first start, but he was playing a new position. Listed as the backup behind Lene Maiava at right tackle, de Beer only had a week to prepare at guard with both Tagaloa and right guard Jacob Alsadek out with injuries.
“I thought he played pretty well from being first time at guard,” coach Rich Rodriguez said. “He spent a week at guard learning the position, and three years ago not even knowing how to put thigh pads in his practice pants. It’s all new to him, he’s learning every week, but what I’m most proud of with him is, learning a new position is one thing, but learning a new position while you’re still learning the game in one week’s time, going against a pretty good front, I thought he acquitted himself pretty well.”
It’s not his first position switch, either — initially, Arizona had him pegged as a tight end and moved him to defensive end before finally settling on the offensive line, where Rodriguez says he will stay.
De Beer, now on full scholarship for football, has also thrived on Arizona’s track and field team, where he won the outdoor Pac-12 title in discus earlier this year and finished 17th at the NCAA championships.
“You know, I love both sports equally,” said de Beer, a redshirt sophomore. “If I could have a future in either one, it would just be absolutely wonderful. I’ll just do my best and see where the road takes me.”
Last week, the road took him to the Coliseum.
“I’m just very happy and blessed for this opportunity,” de Beer said. “It was crazy. I had a lot of adrenaline running through the veins.”
For the early part of the season, it looked like Salpointe Catholic High product Cam Denson’s job to lose.
As Arizona prepares for Saturday’s game against Utah, it appears he’s lost it. The UA’s weekly depth chart listed freshman Jace Whittaker as the starter, with Denson as Neal’s backup on the right side.
Against USC, Jarvis McCall started and received the bulk of the snaps.
“Well, he’s been a little bit banged up,” Rodriguez said of Denson. “I don’t think he’s been 100 percent. And frankly the other guys have been playing a little bit better.”
McCall, the starter opposite Jonathan McKnight last season, seems to be the most likely one to get playing time there the rest of the way, largely because of his size at 6 feet 3, 182 pounds.
“Jarvis McCall’s been banged up the whole year, so he hasn’t played much, but he’s healthier. He’s a bigger, more physical guy,” Rodriguez said. “It’s been a little bit of a revolving door at corner, but they’re all getting some experience now.”
“I don’t think it cost us the game,” he said.
The situation: Late in the third quarter, it was fourth-and-2 at the 50-yard line, and running back Orlando Bradford was stuffed for a turnover on downs, one play after he had lost a yard.
USC then went right back up the field and scored a touchdown, taking the lead back from Arizona for good, 24-20.
“OK,” Rodriguez said, “would you do it over again if you knew you weren’t going to make it? No. Would I do it again if we would’ve made it? I wish we would’ve made it, I like to be aggressive. But unfortunately, we didn’t do it then.
“That was one of the plays that didn’t help, but it was just one of them.”
Saturday at USC, de Beer made the first start of his career for Arizona at the Coliseum, a historic college football venue, playing at right guard in place of the injured Freddie Tagaloa.
He knew what to do against the Trojans — in simple terms: Block the guy in front of him.
That’s not what confused him.
No, the confusion came three years ago when de Beer stood at his football locker for the first time.
Before his first-ever practice, he picked up his thigh pads and turned to defensive lineman Luca Bruno.
“I asked how to put on my pads the first time,” de Beer said. “He kinda looked at me funny, thought I was joking.”
He wasn’t.
See, de Beer had never played football before. He came to Arizona on a track and field scholarship for his talents with the discus. In high school, in addition to discus, he played rugby. That’s high school in Pretoria, South Africa, quite a ways away from the Old Pueblo.
Back to Saturday — again, de Beer was in somewhat unfamiliar territory. Not only was it his first start, but he was playing a new position. Listed as the backup behind Lene Maiava at right tackle, de Beer only had a week to prepare at guard with both Tagaloa and right guard Jacob Alsadek out with injuries.
“I thought he played pretty well from being first time at guard,” coach Rich Rodriguez said. “He spent a week at guard learning the position, and three years ago not even knowing how to put thigh pads in his practice pants. It’s all new to him, he’s learning every week, but what I’m most proud of with him is, learning a new position is one thing, but learning a new position while you’re still learning the game in one week’s time, going against a pretty good front, I thought he acquitted himself pretty well.”
It’s not his first position switch, either — initially, Arizona had him pegged as a tight end and moved him to defensive end before finally settling on the offensive line, where Rodriguez says he will stay.
De Beer, now on full scholarship for football, has also thrived on Arizona’s track and field team, where he won the outdoor Pac-12 title in discus earlier this year and finished 17th at the NCAA championships.
“You know, I love both sports equally,” said de Beer, a redshirt sophomore. “If I could have a future in either one, it would just be absolutely wonderful. I’ll just do my best and see where the road takes me.”
Last week, the road took him to the Coliseum.
“I’m just very happy and blessed for this opportunity,” de Beer said. “It was crazy. I had a lot of adrenaline running through the veins.”
Denson moving down
The cornerback position has been a revolving door of players so far this season. DaVonte’ Neal has been locked in at the right corner slot, but on the other side, Arizona has done a little bit of shuffling.For the early part of the season, it looked like Salpointe Catholic High product Cam Denson’s job to lose.
As Arizona prepares for Saturday’s game against Utah, it appears he’s lost it. The UA’s weekly depth chart listed freshman Jace Whittaker as the starter, with Denson as Neal’s backup on the right side.
Against USC, Jarvis McCall started and received the bulk of the snaps.
“Well, he’s been a little bit banged up,” Rodriguez said of Denson. “I don’t think he’s been 100 percent. And frankly the other guys have been playing a little bit better.”
McCall, the starter opposite Jonathan McKnight last season, seems to be the most likely one to get playing time there the rest of the way, largely because of his size at 6 feet 3, 182 pounds.
“Jarvis McCall’s been banged up the whole year, so he hasn’t played much, but he’s healthier. He’s a bigger, more physical guy,” Rodriguez said. “It’s been a little bit of a revolving door at corner, but they’re all getting some experience now.”
RichRod defends call
There’s been some criticism for a decision Rodriguez made to go for it on fourth down in the second half of the loss to USC, but Arizona’s coach stands behind his decision.
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The situation: Late in the third quarter, it was fourth-and-2 at the 50-yard line, and running back Orlando Bradford was stuffed for a turnover on downs, one play after he had lost a yard.
USC then went right back up the field and scored a touchdown, taking the lead back from Arizona for good, 24-20.
“OK,” Rodriguez said, “would you do it over again if you knew you weren’t going to make it? No. Would I do it again if we would’ve made it? I wish we would’ve made it, I like to be aggressive. But unfortunately, we didn’t do it then.
“That was one of the plays that didn’t help, but it was just one of them.”
Extra points
- Arizona will kick off its game at Arizona State on Nov. 21 at 1:30 p.m, the Pac-12 announced Monday.
- Rodriguez didn’t provide any specific updates on player injuries, but said there’s “no status change” from when Arizona left Friday for USC to now. The Wildcats were without running back Nick Wilson, offensive linemen Alsadek and Tagaloa, and linebackers Scooby Wright and Derrick Turituri, all of whom missed the loss to the Trojans and didn’t travel with the team.
- Utah is ranked No. 10 in the latest AP poll. Arizona is 0-2 against ranked teams this season, but has defeated a ranked foe in 10 of the last 11 seasons. The Utes certainly won’t be easily upset, though.
