Defensive Players to Watch as Arizona Wildcats Prepare for New Mexico Lobos
It isn’t just the head coach that is new for the No. 21 Arizona Wildcats — it’s the defensive coordinator, too.
But, like new coach Brent Brennan, the coordinator is a familiar face.
Brennan retained Duane Akina in the offseason. He’s a lifer in the business who has been coaching as an assistant since 1979. Interestingly, he’s mostly been a defensive guy, even though he played quarterback at Washington in the late 1970s.
The outlier was in the 1990s, when he was Arizona’s offensive coordinator from 1992-95 and worked for Brennan’s mentor, Dick Tomey. Akina was also a defensive coordinator at Texas.
Akina was an analyst last season for the Wildcats and now he’ll return to coordinating a defense.
Nick Howell is the defensive coordinator at New Mexico. He enters his first season with the Lobos, but he’s spent most of his career working for new Lobos coach Bronco Mendenhall at both BYU and Virginia.
Howell has work to do after his defense gave up a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter of a 35-31 loss to No. 4 Montana State.
The Wildcats and Lobos face each other on Saturday.
Here are three defensive players to watch for each team.
Arizona
LB Jacob Manu
Manu was an All-Pac-12 first team selection a year ago as he led the conference in tackles with 116 (45 solo, 71 assists). Now, he’s on the Senior Bowl watch list and NFL scouts are keeping tabs on the draft-eligible junior.
He’s one of five returning starters for a defense that was No. 29 in FBS in scoring defense a season ago, allowing 21.1 points per game. In a formation with just two linebackers, Manu sets the tone for the entire unit.
CB Tacario Davis
Davis is another Senior Bowl watch list player. He earned All-Pac-12 second team honors after he led the conference with 15 pass breakups and 16 passes defended. Also a junior, he’s 6-4 and he isn’t going to be leapt over by defenders.
Much of Arizona’s returning starters are concentrated in the secondary. So Davis has help. But his length, ability to position on the run and ball awareness set him apart from the rest of the group.
FS Gunner Maldonado
Maldonado is going to track runners out of his free safety position all season. He earned a starting job for the first time last year and he shined. He had a career season, as he finished with 81 tackles (57 solo, 24 assists).
He’s a senior now and he waited his turn. It’s possible that he could surpass 100 tackles this season, given the defensive formation and his emerging skill set.
New Mexico
LB Dimitri Johnson
The Lobos don’t have a lot of returning starters from a year ago, so that’s why it’s important for the senior to be a heavy contributor all season in the Lobos’ 3-4 front.
Last season he started all 12 games at outside linebacker and finished with 48 tackles, including two tackles for loss and a half-sack. He won’t get to the quarterback much. But his size and range allows him to pursue well laterally. He had four tackles in the opener against Montana State.
CB Noah Avinger
The San Diego State transfer had a huge debut last Saturday, as he led the Lobos with 14 tackles and returned a fumble for a touchdown. He also broke up two passes.
The impact wasn’t shocking. With the Aztecs he played in 25 games with eight starts in 2021 and 2022 before he had to redshirt last year with an injury. This is the type of performance the Lobos were hoping for against the Bobcats and need every game.
DE Gabriel Lopez
The junior returnee was one of two Lobos to record a sack on Saturday against Montana State and he is one of two returning starters up front. He finished the game with four tackles, including three solo.
Last year, his first with UNM, he started all 12 games, recording 26 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 4.0 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, a pass breakup and two hurries. That’s the kind of performance the Lobos hope he can build on this season in their 3-4 front.
MATT POSTINS