Arizona Coaches Talk Win Over Hawaii

After Brent Brennan spoke to the media on Monday, running backs coach Alonzo Carter and defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales spoke to the media on Tuesday.

It was the running game and defense that highlighted Arizona’s 40-6 season opening win over Hawaii.

Here are some takeaways from what Carter and Gonzales had to say to the media on Tuesday.

On the physicality of Kedrick Reescano and the run game:

Carter: "The physicality was something we preach. You hear this word a lot. We preach violence in a football manner. We use it in context. In our room, we have this mantra called "FVP" which is fast, violent and physical. I have been using that since I've been coaching and they have bought in.

When you have coach Doege who is always preaching violence and coach Gonzales who is always preaching violence in a football manner, it goes hand in hand. We are big on iron sharpens iron. I feel like every day we compete. In a room like that that's competitive and we go against our defense all the time, it gives us an edge."

On the assessment of the blocking from the running backs:

Carter: "No block, no rock is the theme. I think Quincy (Craig) as well as Ismail (Mahdi) have done a great job of following that mode because they're very good on protections...

Quincy has done a great job. To me, my initial thought was he would be in more of a third down role because they had a lot of pressure stuff that they would put in. Going into the game plan, that was going to be his role. But like I said once he got rolling and Kedrick got it going, we just let him stay in and he busted off a couple of big runs."

On the next step for the backfield heading into Weber State game:

Carter: "We take competition serious. Weber State is an FCS program who is going to come in here with bad intentions. Last year, I was here when we beat New Mexico and we beat Northern Arizona, but it didn't feel the way we wanted it to feel.

You don't want ride too high off winning that first game. Just because you beat a group-of-5 team doesn't mean an FCS team is going to come in here and try to beat you on your home field. It is important we get off to a fast start in all three phases."

On Arizona’s rushing defense against Hawaii:

It was a bit of a rocky start for the Wildcats defensive line against the run early last Saturday when Hawaii ran a 15-play drive that lasted over seven minutes. In that series, the Rainbow Warriors ran the ball five times for 22 yards.

Outside of that one series, it was a strong season opener for Arizona defensively against the run but Gonzales was still frustrated over the performance.

"It drives me crazy that we gave up 67 yards rushing," he said.

The rushing yards UA allowed against the Hawaii was the fewest rushing yards Arizona has allowed since giving up 35 yards at Washington State in 2023.

On updates on injured defensive backs:

Gonzales said that Treydan Stukes could have played this past weekend, but the team wants to ensure he is fully healthy.

"He is ready to go and chomping at the bit," Gonzales said. "We got a lot of football, and the experience that Gavin (Hunter) gained on Saturday night was really valuable, especially for our football team. We're going to make sure that Treydan is 1000 percent ready to go."

Gonzales also added that Marquis Groves-Killebrew returned to practice on Tuesday. They will see how he is able to practice on Wednesday and Thursday.

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