UA Doege, Gonzales Analyze Matchup Against Iowa State
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The Arizona Wildcats are gearing up to take on the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames this Saturday in hopes of coming out with a win and the first 4-0 start to the season since 2010.
Offensive coordinator Seth Doege's squad has operated at max efficiency since the start of the season and has hopefully eliminated any problems with the BYE week.
Defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales' has looked the same way en route to multiple top 15 rankings in the first three games.
Here are some of their best responses from their media appearances earlier on Monday.
Doege on Iowa State's defense
"moved the football on them. last year, What were they? Top top pass defense in the country. I can see why. When you watch the games from last year, there's a couple teams that didn't throw for over 80 and there were teams in the Big 12 that have talented players, but, they do a great job of when you hand the ball off, they attack their fits. Obviously, everybody's always talked about a three-high structured defense; it looks and seems like there's a lighter box, but then all of a sudden there's six to seven hats very quickly at the line of scrimmage. Then when you do drop back, well, now there's there's eight people dropping into coverage, and so there's not a whole lot of space there. So, schematically, it's a great scheme, but a lot of people can run great schemes and not be very good at them. They're really good at what they do."
Gonzales on stopping Iowa State on third down
turn the ball over and who wins third down battle is going to be the team that has the best chance to win. Like, I always say this, the team that plays the hardest, the longest, and that's what they're built on, playing hard and out physical you... So we're going to have to be really good on third down, getting pressure on Rocco Becht so that he's not comfortable and he can't go through his progression. And then we have to do a great job on the perimeter covering and they do a great job in pass protection and they will keep two tight ends in. They'll make sure that he has time and then they do a bunch of double move stuff and they do a bunch of pick routes downfield that they try and get you out of coverage and they're very good at it.
Doege on both teams coming off a BYE week
"I think maybe the structure was a little different. I think it comes at the right time because it is such a unique structure on how they fit the run game. Again, where are you going to find space in the pass game? Giving us two weeks, that's an advantage for us, just to get prepared and obviously it's an advantage for them too. I think we've done a great job of self-scouting and seeing what our tendencies are. To see if we can eliminate some of that, but at the same time, not get away with, from what we're good at and what we can execute at a high level. I think there's a fine line there of trying to hide stuff, but also doing a great job of executing what you do well. I think it was uh, you know, for us, I guess for them too, obviously they'd say the same thing."
Gonzales on Iowa State's physicality
"We take a lot of pride in how much effort we're going to put into stopping the run. Right now, we're giving up 96 yards a game rushing and if you take out that 75-yard play, we'd be up in the top 15 in the country in total defense in rushing. Our offense can run the ball. Our offense does a great job up front. So there's some, with our service and crossover periods, there's some positiveness on that because I think our offensive front is very physical... The physicality that Iowa State plays with is why they're so good year in and year out. When you get into the games when it's cold up in Ames, Iowa, it doesn't matter. They don't rely on throwing the ball. And he throws it with precision, even in the cold games, but they can just beat you into oblivion running the football. So, it's a great challenge. Like this is going to be super fun on Saturday night because of what kind of game it's going to be. It's why you play football."
Doege on offensive holding penalties
"I think it's a lack of fundamentals when we get tired. So if you look, most of the holdings have come on the back end of drives. I'm tempoing and we're stopping our feet. we're not setting off the ball properly. We're letting the fatigue dictate what our job responsibility is and that's really hard. So we've actually done some things through practice to eliminate, and try to put those guys in those situations, that way it's not just an encouragement. It's not just a motivational tactic of saying, 'Hey, here you got to set properly.' Now I'm training him to those moments where okay, we get in the low red or we get in scoring position and we do want to tempo and we do want to throw the football or we do want to run counter. Are you going to be able to do your job while you're tired?"
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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.