Arizona Wildcats Head Coach Acknowledges Work To Be Done on Defense

The Arizona Wildcats defense didn't get the season started out on the right foot and their head coach is aware.

Aug 31, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats defensive back Treydan Stokes (2) fails to tackle New Mexico Lobos wide receiver Caleb Medford (12) as he makes a touchdown during second quarter at Arizona Stadium. / Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

The Arizona Wildcats offense got off to a hot start in their first game, but that wasn't the case for the defense.

Devon Dampier and the New Mexico Lobos offense had a huge day against the Wildcats as they put up 39 points in the opener.

When speaking to media during the week, Arizona Head Coach Brent Brennan gave a hat tip to the Lobos, but admitted they also need to be better on the defensive side of the ball.

"I give New Mexico and [Dampier] a lot of credit. I also think there's some things that we can be a little more clean on in terms of our contain. And some of those rush lanes. And so that's something that defensive staff is hard to work, cleaning up and cleaning up, you know, yesterday and today to be ready to go this weekend," said Brennan.

The Lobos quarterback went 24-of-42 on his passes for 260 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He was more lethal in the ground game, picking up 130 yards on 15 carries with two more scores.

It wasn't like he picked up all of those yards on just a couple of carries, either, as his long was only 26. He was consistently able to pick up yards on the ground, which is a big alarm for the Wildcats' defense.

Stopping mobile quarterbacks can be difficult, but it's a must in today's game given how much control they have throughout the contest.

New Mexico averaged 5.5 yards per carry in Week 1. A year ago, Arizona gave up just 3.6 yards per rush.

Obviously it's just the first game of the season, so that's nothing to panic over yet, but it's certainly not what anyone on the team had hoped for.

Duane Akina, Arizona's defensive coordinator, is one of the few people that stayed with the Wildcats after the coaching change that took place this past offseason. Granted, he was just an analyst last year, so he is in a new role.

Akina has a lot of experience around the program for a long time, an assistant coach during the late 1980s and all of the 1990s, making him a great person to help this new staff take over.

It'll be important to see how he and the rest of the defensive staff responds in their coaching of the Wildcats as they prepare for Big 12 play to start up next weekend.