Saturday will unveil Commonwealth Stadium upgrades. On the new artificial playing surface, several Wildcats will be making their initial run in game action. From a player’s perspective, there is very little more exciting than their initial game week experience. Throughout the hours leading up to kickoff, newcomers will be facing the uptick of seriousness as the high stakes game of college football translates from a dream to reality.
Below is a by position breakdown of Wildcats that will play in their first college football snap against Louisiana-Lafayette. (True freshmen/first-year guys in bold)
OFFENSE
Coordinator- Coach Shannon Dawson
TE- CJ Conrad and Darryl Long
RT- George Asafo-Adjei
LG- Bunchy Stallings
RG- Jarrett LaRubbio
WR- Thaddeus Snodgrass
QB- Drew Barker
FB- Will Tom Collins and Tanner Fink
RB/KR- Sihiem King
DEFENSE
DE- Courtney Miggins and Alvonte Bell
DT- Adrian Middleton
DE/OLB- Denzil Ware and Kengera Daniel
Sam LB- Josh Allen
Mike LB- Nico Firios
Will LB- Eli Brown
CB- Chris Westry and Derrick Baity
Safety- Mike Edwards and Darius West
By my count, that’s 22 Wildcats.