Three Players Expected to Standout Against Kansas
In this story:
The Arizona Wildcats (5-3,2-3 in Big 12) will be returning to their home field after a successful dismantling of the Colorado Buffaloes (3-6)at Folsom Field in a one-sided 52-17 routing of their longtime rivals.
In that dominating victory, the Arizona offense was nearly unstoppable, scoring seven touchdowns in a short time. All eight of Arizona's drives that resulted in points averaged 1.29 minutes.
Danny Gonzales' defense was more than up to the challenge of suffocating the Colorado offense, as it generated five turnovers and yielded 299 yards of offense.
- "When we went into the bye-week, we knew we had to return to fundamentals," Head coach Brent Brennan said.
- "We had lost two heartbreaking, gut-wrenching games, and our players responded. We believed we had a good football team, and I think that showed up tonight. So I'm incredibly proud of our progress. I know we still got work to do, but I'm excited about this win."
The Kansas Jayhawks will be coming to Tucson for the Wildcats' homecoming game and they will hope to replicate their success from Colorado. Kansas is currently 5-4, 3-3 in the Big 12 and is coming off a 38-21 win against Oklahoma State.
The Jayhawks bring with them a dangerous offense that is more than capable of making big plays at any given moment of the game. If the defense wants to stop Kansas' offense from running the score up, it will need to rely on these three players to have a huge game.
Chase Kennedy-Linebacker
Chase Kennedy has emerged as one of the premier linebackers for the defense after making the transition from the defensive line this offseason.
Through eight games, the 6-foot-3, 228-pound linebacker has amassed 26 tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles. Kennedy had a season-high eight tackles against Colorado this past Saturday and forced a fumble that caused a score for the Arizona offense.
Look for Kennedy to wreak havoc in the back field and disrupt quarterback Jalon Daniels by flushing him out of the pocket.
Leroy Palu-Defensive tackle
Palu has made huge improvements from the beginning of the season to now, as he has become an integral part of the defensive line.
Throughout the season, Palu has logged 19 tackles and 0.5 sacks. In his first start of the season against the Buffaloes, the 6-foot-3, 300-pound junior logged three tackles and returned a fumble in the Wildcats' huge win.
He will play a big role in stuffing the Jayhawks' rushing attack and getting to Daniels during passing plays.
Dalton Johnson-Safety
The always physical and hard-hitting Johnson had a huge game against the Buffaloes, logging seven tackles and catching an interception, which was the second of his in the last three games.
He and Genesis Smith have been kept pieces on the defense and are big reasons why it is the best passing defense in the Big 12, and are tied with BYU with interceptions with 12 interceptions.
The Arizona defense will rely on the veteran defensive back to have another huge game in hopes of the defense dismantling the Kansas passing offense.
Tell us who you think will have a huge game by commenting on our X account. Just click the link to find us and be sure to give us a follow.
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.