Saturday storylines: Arizona needs 'Legion of Boom' secondary against Washington

Arizona football storylines for the Wildcats' Pac-12 home opener against No. 7 Washington: UA models defensive secondary after "Legion of Boom," the importance of scoring early and keeping up with the Huskies' high-powered offense, the hurdling Tanner McLachlan, and more.

Wildcats take 'Legion of Boom' approach in secondary 

Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch didn't mince his words when evaluating Washington's "special offense" that is No. 1 in the nation in total offense, averaging 593.3 yards and 49.8 points per game. 

The Huskies have three wide receivers — Rome Odunze, Ja'Lynn Polk and Jalen McMillan — who average over 100 receiving yards per game and Heisman Trophy-hopeful quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who has 1,636 yards, 16 touchdowns and two interceptions in four games. The Huskies have scored 27 offensive touchdowns this season. 

"This is a fantastic passing offense with an amazing group of players, so you have to be able to cover them," Fisch said. "We have to be able to run with these guys."

Later added Fisch: "I'm very confident in our defense on the way they're playing right now, but this is certainly the biggest challenge we've had all year. ... We certainly feel like we can match up with anybody on offense, but these guys are elite when it comes to how they pass the ball, how they get their guys open, how they compete for the ball in the air, and our defense is going to have a great challenge one-on-one."

Arizona defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen said he knows "how explosive their offense is" and the Wildcats "just gotta make sure we're handling our assignments and communicating very well this week." 

"They score a lot of points," Nansen said. "A lot of yardage, so we're just trying to do our job and make sure we don't give up explosive plays, which is most of their offense. When you look at their touchdowns, they're airing it out."

Similar to the current rendition of the Miami Dolphins, which is averaging 550.3 yards and 43.3 points per game, the Huskies "motion and they shift" wide receivers before the snap, Nansen said. In four games, six of Penix's 16 touchdown passes were 20 yards or longer. The Huskies are averaging just over 9 yards per play this season. 

"Those things, we worry more than anything else," Nansen said. "How are we going to adjust to it and make sure we don't blow our assignments?"

Arizona's passing defense, which ranks fifth in the Pac-12, will have its toughest feat of the season trying to slow down the statistically top offense in college football. That especially includes second-year cornerbacks Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis, also known as "the twin towers, because we operate the same," Prysock said during training camp.

And the nickname is linked to their 6-4 frames, which is a part of the Wildcats' "Legion of Boom" inspired by the Seattle Seahawks defense that had lengthy defensive backs like Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas among others.   

"Those bodies allowed you to play a lot of single-high defense, meaning you can match them up with another corner and feel that their length allows you to protect against the go-ball, because it's challenging to complete deep throws down the field with high arc to it, when your 6-foot-4 defender is on top of the receiver," Fisch said. "Just the ability to play through the ball and the ability to high-point the ball is something that Tacario and Ephesians — even (nickelback Treydan) Stukes has great length. I know he plays a lot inside for us, but he can go outside as well.

"If we can continue to be physical, which Tacario and Ephesians are showing more and more of, then you're able to play with that type of length and be physical on the outside and it becomes a far greater challenge if you're coaching on the offensive side of the ball," Fisch said

Arizona offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll, son of Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, was on Seattle's staff in the latter years of the "Legion of Boom." 

"When you've got length at corner and size in the secondary, it's tough to take those go-balls lightly," Carroll said. "You've gotta understand that not only do these guys press coverage, but they can run. ... Great group of kids, those guys are competing like crazy, and the development is really cool to see." 

With Washington's elite passing attack, the Wildcats are likely to counter it with their "dollar" package, a defensive back-heavy 3-1-7 scheme Arizona utilized in the second half of last season against passing-centric teams. In a potential every-possession-matters type of game, generating interceptions could be crucial — and the Wildcats are one of two teams in the Pac-12 to not have an interception so far this season. 

"Just make the play," Nansen said. "The ball is right there, catch it. I told them, 'I'm kind of tired of throwing the ball at you, if you're not going to catch it at practice. Shoot, man, catch the damn ball. That's the bottom line.' We do it every practice. We have ball drills and things like that, but they have to go make plays." 

Fisch said the Huskies have "had a lot of possessions. We haven't had the same amount of possessions, so we need to take the ball away to make sure we can get some extra points."

Pass coverage and rushing the passer, "how they work together is what makes a great football team." Penix has only been sacked once this season. Arizona's bolstered defensive line could help out the back end on Saturday.  

"We need to get a lead, play from a lead, and let (Taylor) Upshaw, (Russell) Davis and Isaiah Ward put pressure on quarterbacks and then have Prysock, Tacario or Stukes fall into a play, a pick, etc," Fisch said. "So it's one of those that works together. The longer the quarterback has to hold the ball, because of the coverage, the better chance of pressure. The more pressure, the better chance the ball lands in the corners' hands."

Fast start crucial against Huskies offense

Speaking of playing from a lead, the Wildcats have struggled in that department in the first quarter this season.

Since Arizona scored a touchdown on the opening drive against Northern Arizona, the Wildcats have not scored on eight complete drives in the first quarter (possessions that start and end in the period). In that span, Arizona has four giveaways (three interceptions and one fumble), two turnovers on downs, two punts and no points scored. 

Arizona has been out-scored 17-7 in the first quarter, but has out-scored opponents 35-9 in the second. Washington is out-scoring teams 52-15 in the first quarter this season. Is that a concern for the slow-starting Wildcats?

"Losing is the worry," Carroll said. 

"We'd like to score points early and score on every drive," he said. "That's kind of our philosophy: we'd like to score whenever we can.

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Carroll said he doesn't think "10 points is going to win" the game for Arizona.

"So we're going to do our best to match whatever they got and find a way to win this battle in the end," Carroll said. "We don't feel like this is, in any way, gonna be an old AFC-NFC 1967 ground-and-pound game. So this is exciting. We're up for the task and kind of fired up to go up against this opponent."

Arizona tight end Tanner McLachlan said, "We know we're going to come out swinging against Washington. So we just gotta keep working at it and keep getting better." 

McLachlan hurdling up tight end rankings

McLachlan's 619 receiving yards in two seasons is the second-most ever by an Arizona tight end. You can probably guess who No. 1 is (cough, Gronk).

One of McLachlan's hallmark attributes as a tight end is his ability to hurdle defenders, which he started last season and used the maneuver last week at Stanford. The hurdle is "spur-of-the-moment thing," he said. 

"It just happens," said McLachlan, a senior from Alberta, Canada. "There's no rhyme or reason to it. I don't go into the game thinking I'm going to do it. You've got a split-second to make a decision and it just happens I guess. ... I don't know what I see. It's just kind of natural and I live with the decision."

While McLachlan's hurdles are exciting, "the most important thing, knowing that he's going to do it — we don't really have a stop light for that, is making sure he's protecting the ball when he's in the air," said Carroll.

"Normally, you don't practice being up there very often, so we do harp on that quite a bit just to make sure when those aero— what do we call them? He's up in the air. We try to make sure he brings the ball down with him."

The Wildcats "drill ball security every day," McLachlan said.

"It's always a constant reminder, whether we're in meetings, film, whatever," said Arizona's tight end. "Obviously any time you catch the ball, one of your main points is ball security, so going into a situation like that, leaving your feet, you gotta have great awareness." 

Not every hurdle has been successful. McLachlan experienced a failed attempt in last season's win over North Dakota State in Tucson. 

"He clipped my legs, so I ended up flipping and landing on my back. Whatever happens, happens," McLachlan said. "Whenever I leave my feet, (tight ends coach Jordan Paopao) says I'm on my own. So I gotta live with the consequences if I get hit." 

Getting to know potential starting QB Fifita

Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura, who suffered an ankle injury at Stanford, is questionable, if not doubtful, to play on Saturday. Redshirt freshman Noah Fifita, who steered the Wildcats to a go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter last week, will start on Saturday, if de Laura is unable to play. 

Who is Fifita? Here are three quick facts about Arizona's likely Saturday starter: 

1. Fifita is one of four standouts from Arizona's 2022 recruiting class that starred at Anaheim Servite High School (wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, linebacker Jacob Manu and tight end Keyan Burnett are the others). Fifita, who had offers from Cal, Fresno State and Hawaii, among others, was the first commit of the Servite quartet. Other prospects from the loaded Trinity League division in Los Angeles to sign with Arizona in '22 include running back Rayshon Luke (St. John Bosco) and defensive linemen Ta'i'ta'i Uiagalelei and Jacob Kongaika (both from Mater Dei). 

2. In 32 games over four seasons at Servite, Fifita threw for 7,273 yards and 83 touchdowns and holds school records for career passing touchdowns, yards, and completions. 

3. In partnership with YouTube platform "Generation Athlete," Fifita and McMillan hosted a podcast, "Island Time in the Desert," last season and interviewed members of the UA football program and talked about their time settling in as college freshmen. 

Different perspective for Tucson's Mele

In symbolic fashion, Washington center and Tucson native Matteo Mele made his first start for the Huskies at Arizona Stadium in 2019. 

Four years later, the former Salpointe Catholic star — and grandson of ex-Wildcat and former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Bill Lueck — will watch the game from a different angle. Earlier this month, Mele suffered a season-ending upper-body injury that required surgery, according to head coach Kalen DeBoer. 

The 2019 contest was Mele's only win at Arizona Stadium. Two years prior, Mele and Salpointe Catholic lost the Class 4A state championship to Scottsdale Saguaro. Besides Mele, the Lancers had Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson, former Chicago Bears cornerback Derick Bush, UCLA left tackle Bruno Fina, Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom and New Mexico tight end Connor Witthoft. Fina, son of ex-Wildcat John Fina, will make his homecoming when the Bruins visit Tucson Nov. 4.