Friday Storylines: Arizona vows to 'elevate the physicality,' Josh Baker 'is a total warrior,' broadcasting milestone

Five storylines ahead of Arizona football's matchup with Houston on Friday night at Arizona Stadium.

Usually, Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina is in a chipper mood, but the leader of the UA defense, even with a bye week in between games, couldn't help but feel perturbed by the 56-12 thumping the Wildcats took from UCF in Orlando.  

Arizona's defense surrendered a season-high 602 total yards and 308 rushing yards; the Wildcats haven't given up that many yards in both categories in two seasons. UCF averaged 7 yards per carry and had five rushing touchdowns. 

"I've never been in a game like that in 44 years of coaching," Akina said. "I'm not happy with it. We get another chance to line up again this week."

Due to season-ending injuries to defensive captains in linebacker Jacob Manu, safety Gunner Maldonado and nickel back Treydan Stukes, the Wildcats have recently shifted their 4-2-5 base defense into a dime package, which has six defensive backs, strong safety Dalton Johnson lined up as a linebacker and defensive end Chase Kennedy roaming the defensive line as a linebacker and stand-up edge rusher.

In the last two games, Arizona has 36 missed tackles, including 23 against UCF, according to Pro Football Focus. 

"We're getting a lot of push up front," Kennedy said. "Just gotta finish plays."

After allowing 511 combined rushing yards in the last two games against West Virginia and UCF, Akina said the Wildcats "gotta play more four-down (linemen)" against run-heavy teams and "elevate the physicality," Brennan added.  

"I need to do a better job of preparing this football team," said Akina. "Everything on that tape falls on my lap. I know that's coach speak in a lot of ways, but I live this game. That's how I'm wired. ... The one that continues to have to make right decisions falls on this chair right here."

'Population at the football' 

Since tackling has recently regressed for Arizona, "that was a point of emphasis last week" during the bye, Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said.

"That stuff you can't do at full speed in practice and certainly not with where our numbers are at right now, but we can still work on the technique and attacking the space and that type of stuff, closing the air," Brennan said. 

Once again, the Wildcats will face a mobile quarterback — and potentially the fastest one for the entire season. Last month, Houston moved sophomore Zeon Chriss to starter over senior Donovan Smith. Chriss has 351 passing yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions this season, but has 294 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead touchdown in the Cougars' upset win over 17th-ranked Kansas State. Chriss has runs of 71 yards and 41 yards this season. 

"Those are — in my opinion — the toughest quarterbacks to defend," said  Akina. 

The Cougars' "very patient offense" is statistically the worst in the Big 12, but they've discovered a dynamic athlete in Chriss, a style of quarterback the Wildcats have struggled with this season, a list that includes Devon Dampier (New Mexico) and Avery Johnson (Kansas State). Even UCF pocket-passer Dylan Rizk broke off for a 33-yard run against the Wildcats.  

To limit quarterback runs by Chriss, transfer from Louisiana, the Wildcats need "population at the football," said Brennan. 

"So if we do miss a tackle, there's someone there to clean it up," said the Arizona coach.  

Baker 'a total warrior' on UA O-Line

The last time Arizona faced Houston in 2018, UA center Josh Baker's predecessor, Josh McCauley, went viral for thumping Houston star and NFL defensive tackle Ed Oliver on the helmet for jumping offsides. 

McCauley was Arizona's center through the 2021 season before passing the baton to Baker, who has logged nearly 3,000 snaps in his five-year career at Arizona. Baker said he "learned plenty of things from Josh," including "poise and his calmness and his ability to understand what he was getting."

Baker has inherited McCauley's demeanor during Arizona's five-game losing skid, which includes "musical chairs" on the UA offensive line, said Brennan. Baker is the only starter who hasn't moved this season. Right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea is now at left tackle following Rhino Tapa'atoutai's season-ending injury, and guards Wendell Moe Jr. and Alexander Doost flipped sides so Moe could help out developing right tackle Michael Wooten, who started the season at left tackle. 

"It's been interesting," Baker said. "I'm doing my best to be the solid rock in the middle and be the best communicator that I can be. Being a guy that's dependable in times of chaos. ... My role is the communicator and making sure everyone knows what the play is and what the call is and where they're going. That's my role."

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Arizona offensive line coach Josh Oglesby added, "We have a great luxury in Josh Baker out there."

"He's played a lot of football," Oglesby said. "He has seen a lot of things. Because of that, it allows a higher level of coaching."

Baker, a Eureka, Missouri, native, signed with Arizona in 2020 to play for former Arizona (and Houston) head coach Kevin Sumlin and stayed through the rise of the Jedd Fisch era, then remained through a second coaching change with Brennan and became a team captain. Through trying times and moments of triumph, Baker "is a total warrior," Brennan said.

"I love that kid. What an awesome leader he is for our team," said Brennan. "That guy practices every day — and practices hard. It's so important to him. He's a great voice in the offensive line room, trying to settle down the young guys that have been playing next to him all season.

"He's a really awesome human being and a really, really good football player."

Houston culture underwent 'complete makeover' under Fritz 

Houston started the season 1-4, a stretch that had back-to-back shutout losses to Cincinnati and Iowa State, but the Cougars have won three out of the last four games and are two wins away from clinching bowl eligibility in head coach Willie Fritz's first year at the helm.

Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle joined ESPN Tucson's "Spears and Ali" to analyze the Cougars' season and make a prediction for the game. 

How would you summarize Houston's turnaround?

A: "The way they started, there was no way to go but up. This was the worst offense in the country and it's still towards the bottom. They got shutout in back-to-back games. They went over 130 minutes of playing time without scoring this season. Then they made some changes. They went from Donovan Smith to Zeon Chriss at quarterback, and that's helped a little bit. That's been the jolt they needed." 

How is the culture at Houston under Fritz, who was previously a head coach at Tulane, Georgia Southern and Sam Houston State?

A: "Complete makeover and complete change. You'd expect that for what he came in and did so quickly. He's like the cleaning service that you hire that cleans after the big party. He completely scrubbed this program internally and how they did operations, the discipline aspect of things and the culture. I know that's a word you always hear, but he really lives by that stuff. He came and recruiting wasn't up to standards. This past year's class, there wasn't much to it; there wasn't meat on the bone. He came in, made some strides in that regard and added some pieces in the transfer portal. You gotta give them credit. ... Four wins, I saw as the max. People thought it would be under four wins. They have a chance to be 6-6 and go to a bowl game. That's a huge accomplishment for Willie Fritz in Year 1."

How do you think Friday night will shake out?

A: "I think Houston is on a roll. It's going to be another low-scoring game. I would probably say somewhere in the neighborhood of 24-20, Houston." 

Like father, like son 

Several sports broadcasters over the course of history were inspired to pursue their career because they grew up around it with a parent in the field. 

Cris Colinsworth and his son, Jac, share NFL broadcasts on NBC. Other notable father-son broadcasting tandems include Ian Eagle and Noah Eagle, Jack Buck and Joe Buck and Marv Albert and Kenny Albert.

The UA flagship stations on Friday night will have a father-son play-by-play broadcasting tag team. While Brian Jeffries, the voice of the Wildcats since 1986, manages play-by-play broadcasting duties on 107.5-FM for the Arizona-Wisconsin men's basketball game in Madison, Wisconsin, his son, Brody Dryden, will broadcast his first UA football game on 1290-AM alongside Jeffries' longtime broadcasting partner and ex-Wildcat Lamont Lovett (analyst) and Mackenzie Hamilton (sideline reporter).  

"I'm super-pumped," said Dryden, a UA alumnus and Mountain View High School graduate. "I couldn't be more excited for anything in my professional life up until this moment. ... I've been in the bullpen warming up, practicing, sharpening my skills and it's going to be awesome to be on the call with Lamont." 

Dryden "grew up in the booth" as a spotter for Jeffries during UA football games, helping out with statistics, identifying players and observing the game for injuries. 

"Sitting in between my dad and Lamont, growing up in the booth, and now being able to put on the headset and call a game this Friday, it's going to be really fun," said Dryden.

Dryden started his broadcasting career as a student at "KAMP Student Radio" at the UA, then became a play-by-play announcer for the Tucson Saguaros baseball club of the Pecos League and UA women's basketball games. This year, in addition to hosting the pregame and postgame shows on 1290-AM for Arizona football, Dryden was a play-by-by broadcaster for UA home soccer matches on ESPN+.

As Dryden steps into play-by-play duties for the Arizona-Houston football game, Jeffries' advice to his son is "to be confident, approach it the same way with my pregame show and all of the broadcasts I've done over the years," Dryden said. 

"They key is to let everyone know what's happening. People are listening, so I have to paint the picture for them," he said. "It's not about me. It's about the team, the product on the field and communicating that to the Wildcats fans out there, so that's what I'm going to focus on."