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Each week one Watch-Lister sits down with us for something we like to call the "Two-Minute Drill". This week, Arizona's Colin Baxter talks about this weekend's game against No.9 Iowa, never missing a single practice, and how to fix separated ribs.



After dominating victories against Toledo and The Citadel, No. 9 Iowa pays you a visit this weekend. How much will this game serve as a measuring stick for your team?

I think it definitely will serve as a measuring stick for our. Last year, the game at Iowa left a bad taste in our mouths. It served as motivation for us the rest of the year. This year, they are a great team once again, so we want to see where we stand at this point of the season. It’s not a live or die game, but we’ll know a lot more about our team after this week and we’re looking forward to the game.


What about Iowa’s defense concerns you the most?

I wouldn’t say anything specifically is concerning. Like any good team, they have a great team defense. They have a great defensive line that will challenge us. We see a lot of great defensive lines in our own league. We saw these guys last year, so we know how they play. We’ll have to play at a high level to make our offense work. We expect to do that.


What, in your eyes, constitutes a successful season?

For us, playing for the conference championship and getting to the Rose Bowl would be the highest level of success. We can have success without reaching that, but it will be a big disappointment for us not to reach that ultimate goal. If we reach that goal, it will be the ultimate success for us.


In four years at Arizona, you’ve never missed a practice. What’s the closest you’ve come to missing one?

In 2008, I sprained my ankle pretty bad and then a couple weeks later I separated two ribs. It was hard to breathe and I could barely get out of bed. I would say those were the hardest days. It was before the Arizona State game that season and I knew I couldn’t miss that game. I don’t even remember how I injured my ribs. It was just something that I started noticing and it kept getting worse and worse. The doctors finally took an X-ray and saw that two of the ribs were separated. They basically just popped them back into place.


Give me one thing the average fan probably doesn’t know about the center position.

I would say most people probably don’t understand how much responsibility we have. We make all the calls for pass protection and for who we are blocking. We set all those protections and calls at the line of scrimmage. A lot of people probably think it’s the quarterback, but mostly it’s all on us. We have to see and understand what defenses are doing just as much as the quarterback.