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Coach Rich Rodriguez and his nine assistants will spend most of the next few days recruiting at locales near and far. Their overarching task: secure commitments from big men in a relatively small amount of time.

Rodriguez said Thursday that beefing up the offensive and defensive lines remains ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s top priority for the Class of 2018. He also noted that those are “probably the hardest positions to get.â€�

Making it even more challenging: the NCAA’s new early signing period for football. Prospects can sign with schools from Dec. 20-22 — about six weeks earlier than the traditional early February date.

Rodriguez estimated that 70 percent of recruits across the nation will sign in December. With ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ only about halfway to a full class, “there is a sense of urgency,â€� Rodriguez said.

“But at the same time,� he added, “the most important thing is to take the right guy. You don’t want to panic and take a guy that you don’t think is the right fit for your program.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ has 11 current verbal commitments. Of that group, only two are linemen: offensive tackle David Watson of Amphitheater High School and defensive tackle Mykee Irving of Calabasas, California. Some recruiting websites consider Irving a “softâ€� commit.

The Wildcats added two scholarship linemen on each side of the ball in their 2017 recruiting class: Edgar Burrola and Masen Knight on offense, and Kurtis Brown and Sione Taufahema on defense. Knight and Taufehema were junior-college transfers. Another transfer, offensive tackle Thiyo Lukusa, joined the team in August.

(ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ also signed several defensive end-linebacker hybrids. For the purpose of this story, they are not being categorized as interior linemen.)

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ stands to lose three linemen on each side of the ball after this season, including rotation regulars Jacob Alsadek, Gerhard de Beer, Luca Bruno and Parker Zellers. Senior left tackle Layth Friekh could apply for a fifth year after appearing in only one game in 2014.

Linemen can be among the most difficult players to evaluate. They often require several years to develop. The biggest ones don’t always turn out to be the best ones.

“I’m a motor guy,� said UA defensive line coach Vince Amey, whose recruiting trips will take him to the Phoenix area and Northern California. “Sometimes the motor guys aren’t the biggest guys. So you’re kind of looking at them like, ‘He’s got a great motor, he’s a football player, but can he hold up in the Pac-12 against the big boys?’

“Sometimes the guys have size, and you see a little bit of motor. So you’re like, ‘I could coach this guy to get what I want out of him.’ It’s a whole process.�

ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s offensive and defensive line targets include Joey Ramos (Glendale Deer Valley), Jacob Isaia (Las Vegas), Tyler Manoa (Mountain View St. Francis) and Jackson Cravens (Provo, Utah).

Upon further review...

The Pac-12 responded to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s requests for officiating clarifications on several plays during last week’s game against Utah. The league would not disclose what the plays were or what the reviews revealed.

At least three are known to have been submitted: Utah’s blocked field goal at the end of the first half, quarterback Brandon Dawkins’ fumble in the fourth quarter and a targeting review of a hit on Dawkins later in the quarter.

Without divulging specifics, Rodriguez said the Pac-12 agreed with some of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s contentions and disagreed with others.

“The hardest ones for us to digest that aren’t correct are instant replay,� Rodriguez said. “I know sometimes it’s inconclusive. (It) seemed like an abnormal amount of questions on some of that stuff. We always turn something in. There was a little bit more in this game.�

Coaches can submit up to 10 plays for clarification. The best they can hope for is a public acknowledgment of an officiating error, which happened after the UCLA-Hawaii game on Sept. 9.

‘He has to be smart’

Amey wasn’t sure defensive tackle Dereck Boles deserved an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty in the fourth quarter against Utah. Boles got flagged for giving an extra shove to Devonta’e Henry-Cole after tackling him and landing on top of him.

“Personally, I didn’t think it was (a penalty),� said Amey, who watched the play on film about 10 times. “He didn’t do anything vicious.�

Boles got flagged nonetheless. Rodriguez admonished on the sideline. Amey talked to Boles as well.

“He shouldn’t have done it,� Amey said. “I love his aggression. I love what he did (before the penalty). But he has to be smart.�

Extra points

• Rodriguez said he’s “hopefulâ€� that Zellers (ankle) and “Studâ€� DeAndre’ Miller (foot) will return in time for the Colorado game. Both were limited practice participants this week “by design,â€� Rodriguez said. Miller has yet to play this season. Zellers missed the past two games but was available for emergency duty last week.
• Amey on Lukusa: “He’s going to be good. I wish he was playing for us now. He’s legit.â€� Lukusa has to sit out this season after playing as a true freshman for Michigan State in 2016.
• Amey smiled when asked about defensive tackle Finton Connolly, who has 2Æ’ tackles for losses and a fumble recovery. Amey said Connolly has matured a great deal. He’s now able to get past mistakes and bounce back.
• Rodriguez said he was disappointed in the intensity of Wednesday’s practice. Thursday’s was better, even though the team didn’t work in full pads.
• ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ didn’t end up doing as much live scrimmaging with young players as Rodriguez had planned because so many of them are part of the first and second units.
• ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s next two opponents, Colorado and UCLA, play each other Saturday night. Rodriguez said he plans to watch the game before diving into deeper film work Sunday.