Five storylines ahead of Arizona football's matchup with Houston on Friday night at Arizona Stadium . Usually, Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina is in a chipper mood, but the leader of the UA defense, even with a bye week in between games, couldn't help but feel perturbed by the 56-12 thumping the Wildcats took from UCF in Orlando. Arizona's defense surrendered a season-high 602 total yards and 308 rushing yards; the Wildcats haven't given up that many yards in both categories in two seasons.
UCF averaged 7 yards per carry and had five rushing touchdowns. "I've never been in a game like that in 44 years of coaching," Akina said. "I'm not happy with it.
We get another chance to line up again this week." Due to season-ending injuries to defensive captains in linebacker Jacob Manu, safety Gunner Maldonado and nickel back Treydan Stukes, the Wildcats have recently shifted their 4-2-5 base defense into a dime package, which has six defensive backs, strong safety Dalton Johnson lined up as a linebacker and defensive end Chase Kennedy roaming the defensive line as a linebacker and stand-up edge rusher. In the last two games, Arizona has 36 missed tackles, including 23 against UCF, according to Pro Football Focus.
"We're getting a lot of push up front," Kennedy said. "Just gotta finish plays." After allowing 511 combined rushing yards in the last two games against West Virginia and UCF, Akina said the Wildcats "gotta play more four-down (linemen)" against run-heavy teams and .
