3 Arizona Defenders to Watch Vs. Weber State
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After a huge showcase of relentless pursuit and the Red Line mindset, spearheaded by defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, the aggressive Arizona Wildcats defenders are not satisfied just yet.
"As a football team, we won a football game, but there is so much to clean up across the board on all three phases," Gonzales said.
The defense created five turnovers over four quarters of action, three interceptions, a forced fumble and a fourth-down stop while not allowing a single touchdown on the way to a 40-6 victory over the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors this past Saturday.
Gonzales felt that his crew of hard-hitting defenders could do so much better in terms of yards allowed and winning the middle eight, which is the final four minutes of the second quarter and the beginning four of the third.
Despite the impressive display of dominant contact that Gonzales and other defensive coaches preach, Arizona did allow 290 yards of total offense under 35:44 of possession time.
"...You go from having a pretty dang good day on defense to an average day of 290 yards," Gonzales said. "...You give up 158 yards if you get off the field on third down. That's a dominating defense in today's day and age. 158 yards. But we didn't. We gave up 290. So we didn't dominate anybody. We kept out the end zone, which is positive."
The Wildcats will clean that part up between now and this Saturday, when they play Weber State at Arizona Stadium at 7 p.m. (MST) in front of another electric crowd led by the always cheering Zona Zoo.
We took a look at the defense and came up with three players that we project to have a big game against the Wildcats out of Ogden, UT.
Taye Brown-Linebacker
Brown emerged as the leader of the linebacker corps after an impressive fall training camp and continued that momentum into last Saturday's game against Hawaii.
He showcased his skills as an exceptional piece to the defense when he terrorized the opposing offense with six total tackles and an interception. He will look to continue his dominance and show off his sideline-to-sideline talent against a Weber State multiple formation offense. His ability to drop in coverage and plug the run as a disciplined tackler will cause many problems for WSU.
Jabari Mann-Linebacker
Mann may not have started the game, but when he entered the game, his impact was felt with four tackles, two solo,1.5 tackles for loss, one sack and a quarterback hit.
The redshirt freshman should be able to continue his backfield disruption against a WSU offense that allowed five tackles for loss. His skills throughout training camp and the game have captured the attention of Gonzales, earning high praise for the San Mateo, Calif., product.
It is not known yet whether his snaps will decrease with the return of Riley Wilson, but should Mann get pressure like he did against Hawaii, it will put a young quarterback like Jackson Gilkey to the test in decision-making and moving out of the pocket.
"Jabari gives us some added depth that nobody expected, I did," Gonzales said. "I thought Jabari was gonna be really good Last year because most of the time, running backs make really good linebackers and he was a really good running back i high school."
Genesis Smith-Safety
It is no question that the safety duo of Smith and Dalton Johnson can wreak havoc on an opposing offense, which is exactly what they did against Hawaii.
Smith was a key piece in making sure that the Warriors were kept out of the endzone with a vicious hit to Cam Barfield, jarring the ball loose to force a 3-point try. Smith's ball-hawking skills, paired with his tackling ability, will make him a nightmare for Gilkey to deal with when passing downfield.
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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.