How Arizona's Rushing Defense Has Held Up Through Eight Weeks
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The rushing defense of the Arizona Wildcats was a vicious one that didn't allow any easy yards to be gained through the first four games of the season.
Danny Gonzales' crew of down hill run stoppers were beginning to become a unit that teams needed to fear and gameplan around if they were to have any kind of offensive success through four quarters of action.
Gonzales' unique style of defense, an assortment of blitzes and line backer packages became something that confused the opposing offense as they didn't know which players were being sent and who dropped back.
The last two games played were a different story, as it seems like teams have figured out how to counteract as both BYU and Houston utilized heavy rushing attacks to move down the field methodically.
The first five games
The stout Arizona defense was a physical one that used a combination of disguised blitzes and packages that sometimes featured four linebackers on the field to lockdown running backs and hold them to minimal yards.
In the first five games of the season, the Wildcats allowed a combined 484 yards with an average of 96.8 yards per game. The season low being a week one performance that saw Arizona yield just 67 yards on the ground to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors.
The last two games
The Arizona defense has struggled as it has gotten into the bulk of its Big 12 schedule, struggling to stop both No. 15 ranked BYU and Houston in back to back single possession losses.
The Wildcats lost a double overtime thriller to BYU 33-27 at home and then fell to Houston 31-28 off of a walk off field goal in the final seconds at TDECU Stadium.
In both of those games, Arizona gave up a combined 490 yards of rushing offense, which beats its total by six yards in the first five games.63
Dual threat quarterbacks
A big part of why Arizona has struggled so much against the run lately is due to its issues with disrupting mobile quarterbacks.63
Against BYU, the Wildcats had trouble stopping the dynamic freshman Bear Bachmeier, who ran for 89 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
BEAR BACHMEIER TAKES IT HIMSELF TO SEND BYU-ARIZONA TO OT 😱
— ESPN (@espn) October 12, 2025
Watch now on ESPN2 and the ESPN App pic.twitter.com/RQRtq1XJ3E
Bachmeier utilized his patience and navigating through the players around him to find creases and gain yards.
That opened up the run game for LJ Martin to make bug plays and gash the defense with 162 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.
Houston used that same blueprint to succeed against the Wildcats, as Conner Weigman ran for 98 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, which gave room for Dean Connors to rush for 100 yards on 20 carries.
The epitome of dual threat 🫡
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) October 18, 2025
Conner Weigman does it himself on the designed QB run as @UHCougarFB evens it up.
#Big12FB | 📺 @CFBONFOX pic.twitter.com/ps125ZrhWw
Time for improvement
A lot of Arizona's inability to stop the run can be pointed to the loss of defensive end Tre Smith, whose season was cut short due to an injury that required surgery and extensive recovery.
Arizona is now entering the bye week and will have two weeks to improve the defense nad its troubles in stopping the run.
Once Arizona gets back from the bye week, it will have a lofty matchup to hopefully get its defense back into shape with the Colorado Buffalos, which is the 12th ranked rushing offense in the Big 12.
Tell us why you think Arizona has struggled lately when it comes to stopping the run 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.