Arizona Wildcats vow to clean up rushing defense, 'selfish penalties'

Arizona defensive line coach Joe Seumalo said during training camp that the Wildcats’ goal this season is to find a dozen linemen to rotate in games.

Hyperbolic? Not in Arizona’s season-opening win over New Mexico on Saturday. Arizona exceeded Seumalo’s expectations and used 13 defensive linemen.

Here’s who played the most defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus: San Jose State transfer Tre Smith (59), junior Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei (56), UC Davis transfer defensive tackle Chubba Ma’ae (38), redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Isaiah Johnson (27), USC transfer Stanley Ta’ufo’ou (24), Syracuse transfer Kevon Darton (24), former Utah edge rusher Chase Kennedy (23), redshirt junior tackle Keanu Mailoto (21), Stanford transfer Lance Keneley (17), redshirt sophomore Sterling Lane II (16), junior-college transfer edge rusher Cyrus Durham (11), second-year edge rusher Dominic Lolesio (11) and redshirt freshman Julian Savaiinaea (9), brother of UA star right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea.

Arizona made “hockey substitutions” against New Mexico and platooned lineups to keep defensive linemen fresh; plus, the defensive linemen rotated in the early portion of the season allows the UA coaches to see who’s prepared for Big 12 play and the postseason.

Arizona’s defensive line was responsible for 17 of Arizona’s 72 tackles and had just 0.5 tackles for loss on Saturday. The Wildcats also didn’t have any sacks for the first time since their loss to USC in 2022.

Stopping the run was a critical component to Arizona’s defense last season, which improved from one of the worst in FBS to top 30 in one year. New Mexico, led by dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier, who rushed for 130 yards against the Wildcats, had 211 rushing yards after rushing for 152 against Montana State the week before. Arizona only gave up 200-plus rushing yards twice last season, the regular-season finale against rival Arizona State and Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

The last time Arizona surrendered more than 200 rushing yards in nonconference play was against North Dakota State in 2022. Arizona’s edge rushers struggled to contain Dampier on Saturday, and the UA’s downhill and aggressive approach, a contrast to its gap-filling and big run-preventing duties last season, on the defensive line created lanes for the New Mexico quarterback to use his legs. While Arizona head coach Brent Brennan gave “New Mexico and (Dampier) a lot of credit, I also think there are some things we can be a little more clean on in terms of our contain and some of those rush lanes,” he said on Monday.

“That’s something the defensive staff is hard at work cleaning up,” Brennan said. “We’ve been cleaning up (Sunday) and (Monday) and we’ll be ready to go this weekend.”

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Wildcats working on ‘selfish penalties’

Arizona had nine penalties for 100 yards against New Mexico, including two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on defensive backs Tacario Davis and Genesis Smith, who got flagged for taking off his helmet in celebration immediately after intercepting Dampier in the second quarter.

After a first-half personal foul penalty during a kickoff, cornerback Tacario Davis was ejected after swiping at New Mexico receiver Luke Wysong’s helmet after a catch in the fourth quarter.

Brennan said the Wildcats had too many “selfish penalties” that “extended two or three drives” on Saturday, which they addressed after the game.

“You can’t do that and win consistently,” Brennan said Monday. “We can’t be so emotional that we fall off the cliff. We want to play with an edge and we want to walk up to the edge of the cliff, but we just can’t fall off it; a couple of times the other night, we did.

“We have to know that as we continue play throughout the season and the stakes get bigger and intensify, we can’t do things that hurt our chances to win. Educating them on that is really important. ... We gotta do a great job in keeping our emotions in check and worrying about what’s best for the football team.”

Extra points:

• After missing most of training camp with injury, redshirt junior right guard Leif Magnuson played 35 offensive snaps on Saturday. Brennan “thought Leif did a great job.” Added Brennan: “He’s a really conscious kid. It’s really important to him and he got in there and did a good job. I was encouraged by that.”

Brennan wore a lei around his neck in Arizona’s season opener, as did several other UA assistant coaches, which was a gift from the families of a few UA Polynesian players. Brennan also donned a lei during Big 12 Media Days in Las Vegas. Said Brennan, when asked if the lei will be a signature look for the Arizona coaches this season: “It’s a signature look when Noah Fifita’s grandmother gives you one, and Tetairoa McMillan’s mother gives you the other. It’s an incredible gesture by them and we’re going to lean into everybody’s culture on the team. It’s what makes us unique — makes us special.”