Several Arizona Wildcats Defensive Players Earn Recognition for Week 12 Play
The Arizona Wildcats entered Week 12 of the college football season desperate for a victory.
They entered their matchup against the Houston Cougars with a 3-6 record, riding a five-game losing streak. Their last victory had come on Sept. 28 in their Big 12 conference opener against the Utah Utes.
Since that point, there has not been much to get excited about.
The team hasn’t consistently played well in any facet of the game, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
In their previous game, they surrendered 56 points to the UCF Knights. During the losing streak, the fewest points the Wildcats allowed was 28 against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Given their struggles, it was certainly a welcome surprise to see them perform so well on defense against the Cougars. Whatever was worked on during the bye week paid dividends as they put forth a spirited effort.
Arizona snapped their losing streak, winning 27-3.
They were able to consistently get off the field, allowing Houston to convert only 2-of-13 third down attempts, while giving up only 14 first downs.
The Wildcats forced three turnovers, recovering two fumbles and intercepting Zeon Chriss once. They held their opponents to only 326 yards of total offense, putting together arguably their best all-around performance of the season.
Given how well the team performed, it should come as no surprise that several defenders on the team were recognized for their performance in the game.
Safety Genesis Smith was named to PFF’s National Team of the Week.
He stuffed the stat sheet, recording seven total tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss, one pass defended, one interception and one fumble recovery.
Joining him at the safety spot was Xavier Watts of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
On the Big 12 team of the week, Smith, who was listed as a defensive flex player, was joined by two of his teammates; fellow safety Dalton Johnson and interior defensive lineman Stanley Ta’ufo’ou.
Johnson finished the game with four tackles and one tackle for loss, earning a PFF grade of 77.5, which was the second highest on the Arizona defense behind Smith.
Ta’ufo’ou had five total tackles and earned an overall grade of 75.7 with an elite run-defense grade of 87.8.
