The Arizona Wildcats are playing their best defensive football of the season at just the right time.
After allowing four consecutive opponents to score between 45 and 49 points, Arizona has allowed 28 and 31 the past two games. The latter is misleading in that 10 Washington State points were a direct result of turnovers, including an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
“I thought our defense probably had their best performance of the year,” UA coach Jedd Fisch said Monday amid preparations for Friday’s Territorial Cup matchup against Arizona State.
“Although I would argue that the performance against UCLA was pretty good as well. I think they’ve had 10 very good quarters of football in a row now.”
Fisch took it back to the second half of the Utah game on Nov. 5. The Wildcats yielded 17 points over the final 30 minutes. Counting only scores surrendered by the defense, Arizona has allowed 69 points over those 10 quarters. That translates to just under 28 per game. For the season, the Wildcats are allowing 36.6 points per contest, second most in the Pac-12.
Asked after the WSU game — a 31-20 loss — about the defense’s recent improvement, Fisch said:
“The growth has come from the amount of young players we’re playing. Early on in the season, I would say we were probably playing somewhere in the range of 13-14 players on defense. Now I think we’re playing up to about 19-20 players, so they’re fresher. They’re coming in with more pass rush. That’s a huge part of a pass rush.
Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado goes high and safety Christian Young goes low to drop Washington State running back Dylan Paine in the fourth quarter Saturday.
“Some of our pressures have begun to hit home as Jacob Manu has been able to really impact a lot of the pass rush by just adding himself into some of the pressures. We’ve been a little bit more aggressive with our safeties in the blitz scheme. Gunner Maldonado showed up today a lot in the backfield.
“I also believe that they’ve just gotten better. It’s a true progression of a team with a first-year coordinator (Johnny Nansen), first year that they’ve all been together, just continuing to get better.”
The defense’s growth is also evident in the yards per play it has allowed. Each of the past three opponents — Utah, UCLA and WSU — averaged 6.1 or fewer yards against Arizona. Four of the previous five opponents averaged 8.1 or more.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, their offense took a step backward against the Cougars. Arizona’s 20 points tied its second-lowest output of the season. The Wildcats’ four turnovers equaled their season high.
Several times, UA quarterback Jayden de Laura and his receivers weren’t in lockstep with one another. One such instance led to de Laura and receiver Dorian Singer shoving each other on the sideline. Another led to an interception. A missed protection resulted in the aforementioned pick-six.
“Two of our interceptions came from us making mistakes that we haven’t made all year,” Fisch said. “All in all, we weren’t good enough. We weren’t in sync, and we need to be better.”
‘Anything that I can use’
ASU interim coach Shaun Aguano is pulling out all the stops to motivate his team, which is 3-8 and has lost three in a row. He made sure the Sun Devils were aware of pranksters painting the “A” on Tempe’s version of A Mountain blue and red over the weekend, among other things.
“I made sure that our kids saw that,” Aguano told reporters Monday. “I also made sure that our kids saw their little scuffle on the sideline. Anything that I can use.
“We played the Arizona fight song today during stretch. They weren’t happy about (it), and that’s good.”
Bypassed for Biletnikoff
Singer and Jacob Cowing both surpassed 1,000 receiving yards last week. It’s the first time that two Wildcats have had 1,000-plus yards in the same season. Singer (1,014) and Cowing (1,001) rank ninth and 10th, respectively, in the nation.
“It’s pretty cool to have two 1,000-yard receivers with still another game to play,” Fisch said.
However, neither Singer nor Cowing were among the 12 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award announced Monday.
That group includes the national leaders in receptions (Iowa’s Xavier Hutchinson, 105), yards (SMU’s Rashee Rice, 1,208) and touchdowns (Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt, 15). It also includes USC’s Jordan Addison, who has missed two games and hasn’t come close to matching his production from 2021, when he won the Biletnikoff Award at Pittsburgh.
Addison ranks 10th in the Pac-12 in receptions (51) and eighth in yards (765). Singer ranks fourth in catches (64) and leads the league in yards. Cowing paces the league in catches (80) and ranks second in yards. Addison is tied for first in receiving touchdowns (eight) with UA freshman Tetairoa McMillan.
D-linemen set to return?
Fisch said he was hopeful that at least two of three defensive linemen who were out vs. Washington State will be available Friday.
The Wildcats were missing veteran tackles Paris Shand and Dion Wilson Jr., as well as freshman end Sterling Lane II. Shand missed his second straight game. Fisch said all three were out because of “medical reasons.”
“We’re waiting to find out where we are exactly medically, if they’re cleared,” Fisch said. “There are certain protocols that we have to go through before they get full clearance. We’ll know better after we have a day of exertion, practice to get a feel for where that’s at. But assuming that everything goes according to plan, they would be certainly ready to roll.”
Shand has appeared in nine games, including seven starts. He has 23 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Wilson has appeared 10 games. He has 19 tackles, one sack and one pass breakup.
Lane has appeared in five games. He has eight tackles, with seven coming vs. Utah and UCLA.
Extra points
Fisch said Friday’s game will be a “Red Out” for UA fans. The team will wear blue or white jerseys.
The Wildcats will have a different schedule this week. They will treat Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday as they normally would Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. On Thanksgiving morning, players, coaches and their families will have breakfast together. The team will have its typical Friday practice on Thursday afternoon. The players will have the weekend off before reconvening for meetings Monday.
Fisch wasn’t sure Monday exactly how many players would participate in the Senior Day ceremony. Six Wildcats will be out of eligibility after the game: offensive linemen Josh Donovan and Paiton Fears; defensive linemen Jalen Harris and Hunter Echols; linebacker Jerry Roberts; and safety Christian Young. Fisch said Arizona has 14-15 “academic seniors” who also could participate. Those players are in either their fourth or fifth year of college.
With students back at UA for the fall semester, here's a look at the Tucson campus over the years compared to now.
