Tre Smith Becoming a Key Piece On Arizona's Line

Arizona Wildcats defensive lineman Tre Smith has emerged as one of the much-needed pieces in a defense that struggled to stop the run and get to the quarterback in 2024,.

The Wildcats finished their first year as the 14th-ranked rushing defense in the Big 12, surrendering 175.3 yards per game.

Arizona was also the 12th-ranked defense against the pass, relinquishing 239 yards per game. The Arizona defense gave up 31.8 points per game, ending the 2024 season as the 13th-ranked scoring defensive team in the conference.

Many factors could have been pointed towards why the defense lacked success against the run and pass, but one of the most notable would be a multitude of injuries that terrorized Arizona and line play that featured bull rushing instead of covering a zone.

Smith began his collegiate career at San Jose State and played there for two years. He then followed head coach Brent Brennan to Tucson for the final two years of his collegiate career.

In 2023, his last year with the Spartans, Smith had 67 total tackles, 6.5 sacks and a forced fumble. His stats did dip a little bit in 2024, but that much could be expected given the move to a much more competitive conference.

The redshirt senior had 28 quarterback pressures but struggled to turn a lot of those into sacks, managing to notch only 4.5 of those on his stat line for the 2024 season.

Defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales described the defensive end's style of play as being able to "bull rush and being a bull in a China cabinet and just destroy everything in his path" during a spring practice press conference.

The addition of former University of Arizona great and new defensive line coach/assistant coach Joe Salave'a will help bolster his skills on the line to add more sacks to his resume in his final year.

As one of the veterans on the defensive line, Smith has been dealt the task of correcting past mistakes and has been given the tools to bolster his game to become a much more efficient edge rusher/run stopper.

"Now we've given him some tools, some counter moves to be able to do those things."

Salave'a sees the high potential that Smith has to improve his game to an elite level that Arizona needs for him to lead the defensive line. As of spring practice, he has already begun making changes to develop his game.

"I think right off the bat you see his energy, his motor," Salave'a said. "The one thing that we can do now, that you're starting to see now, is, to his credit, he's taking the coaching and he's utilizing his hands. Most of the time he's in there working overdrive because he's not utilizing his hands...It's great to see him now starting to use his length and using his hands to accompany the motor and the tempo that he goes with."

The Mesa, AZ standout feels that the work that has went into spring practice will show on the field come August. Smith feels that "Belief and consistent work and discipline" is what will turn the effort in practice into wins in 2025.

What Arizona has done in spring practice is maintain a strong work ethic and keep a family culture.

"We work hard and we stay together," Smith told BYU TV in an interview. " That's probably the biggest thing. Like I was telling you, the culture, just having fun, loving each other. That's what it is for me."

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