Arizona's Defensive Keys to Success (Hawaii Week)
The Arizona Wildcats take the field against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in just two days and are preparing them to come in with the utmost confidence after beating the Stanford Cardinal last Saturday in walk-off fashion with kicker Kansei Matsuzawa splitting the uprights just as time expired, solidifying the 23-20 victory at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics complex.
Down 10-0 in the first half of the game, Hawaii stormed back to tie it up in the latter part of the game and eventually found themselves tied up late in the fourth quarter.
Hawaii's redshirt freshman quarterback Micah Alejado gave a stellar performance in the game despite an ankle injury in the third quarter, throwing 27 for 39 with 210 yards and two touchdowns in the week 0 victory.
Wide receivers Pofele Ashlock and Jackson Harris were also impressive against Stanford. Pofele had nine catches for 69 yards and a touchdown while Harris had six catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.
“I think the biggest thing for me was how they responded,” Head coach Brent Brennan said. “The start of that game was not great for them. And I thought they responded incredibly, and then found a way to win it.”
Here are three keys for the Arizona Wildcats' defense to be successful in this week's matchup with Hawaii.
Aggressive pass rushing attack
Alejado was successful in exploiting the holes in the Stanford secondary after settling in the second half of the football game when he had time to do so. The Cardinal was able to get to him four times throughout the entirety of the game. Defensive lineman Clay Patterson alone had two sacks and won 22.7% of his pass rush battles. Arizona has enough weapons on the line to wreak havoc on the Hawaii offensive line and create problems for Alejado.
Stopping the run
Hawaii was able to muster only 96 rushing yards against Stanford in the narrow victory. Arizona has added key players to the front seven over the offseason that could potentially make it more successful in stopping that particular area of the offense, in defensive tackle Tia Savea and Deshawn McKnight. Returning edges Tre Smith and Dominic Lolesio are primed to protect the edge as well when Hawaii bounces it out.
Disrupting the run & shoot
The highly improvisational run & shoot offense was limited due to Stanford's heavy presence at the defensive line. Arizona can do the same thing with the experience and size at the front. The Wildcats defensive backs room can also disrupt the timing of the wide receivers that utilize motions and improvised route running tactics. Furthermore, safeties Dalton Johnson and Genesis Smith will be a force in stopping passes when getting to the third level.
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.