Arizona's Defense Must Improve in Critical Areas for 2026 Success

The expectations for Arizona football coming into the 2025 season were high. The team started the year ranked No. 21 in the Preseason AP Poll with a good number of returning players and stars Noah Fifita and Tetairoa McMillan leading the way.

It looked like it was going to be a memorable season for the fan base after losing its head coach Jedd Fisch to Washington during the off season.

But, things didn’t go that way for Arizona and new head coach Brent Brennan as the team struggled on both sides of the ball and couldn’t get any consistent play going throughout the year.

The Wildcats finished 4-8 on the year and ended the season on a two-game losing streak and lost seven of the last eight games.

However, during the off season, Brennan shook things up on the coaching staff and was able to bring in transfers on both sides of the ball to get things back on track.

Not only was the offense struggling to move the football but the defense had some many issues that it was a revolving door by the end of the season.

However, on the defensive side of the ball, the team and its staff faced a lot of road blocks along the way that led to the unit spiraling out of control.

The biggest thing that needs to change for the defense in 2025 will be the health of the uni and the ability to keep players on the field. Last season, Arizona saw several players suffer season ending injuries causing issues in the starting unit and with the depth.

For Arizona to have success, the defense needs to stay healthy and try to keep players on the field. You won’t have very much otherwise.

Secondly, Arizona just wasn’t very good against dual-threat quarterbacks. Even when healthy, The Wildcats let QBs run wild. The two games that come to mind were against New Mexico and Kansas State.

In those games, Arizona allowed 257 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. The defense was on its toes all game long and never really slowed things down. In all, UA allowed an average of 35 points in those games while going 1-1 despite the poor defense.

Arizona will need to improve its speed around the edge and come up with better ways to slow the offense down.

Those are the two biggest issues that Arizona faced Bennan and his defensive staff during the 2024 season.

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