Observations from warmups before the 蜜柚直播 Wildcats鈥� game against Washington on Saturday night at 蜜柚直播 Stadium (8 p.m., FS1):
* 蜜柚直播 is down two running backs. Gary Brightwell and Bam Smith are not in uniform. Kevin Sumlin said after last week鈥檚 game at Colorado that Smith had gotten 鈥渘icked up.鈥� Sumlin did not mention Brightwell being injured this past week, but he hasn鈥檛 had a heavy workload since the Texas Tech game. Smith was spotted sitting on the bench during warmups.
* Fortunately for the Wildcats, running back is their deepest position. J.J. Taylor, who played sparingly at Colorado, is expected to start. He鈥檒l be backed up by Nathan Tilford and Michael Wiley.
* Paiton Fears lined up at left guard with the first-team offensive line. Fears started the past two games at right tackle and has been alternating at that spot all season.
People are also reading…
* Usual starting right guard Robert Congel is dressed but did not participate in 11-on-11 work. He came up limping a time or two at Colorado.
* Safety Troy Young also appears to be out. He didn't play against Colorado either. The second-team safeties are Chacho Ulloa, Xavier Bell and Jarrius Wallace.
* Washington media reported that veteran center Nick Harris is out. Redshirt freshman Matteo Mele, who attended Salpointe Catholic High School, is expected to start.
Be sure to check and the Wildcaster app for updates during and after the game. You can also follow me on Twitter at .