People are starting to catch on to how improved Arizona’s rush defense is this season. On Saturday the Wildcats’ defensive line held Cincinnati’s rushing attack, the No. 2 rushing attack in the conference, to just 74 rushing yards. In turn, it has earned Big 12 defensive line of the week honors.
*Stats vs Cincinnati: 74 rushing yards allowed, 2.6 yards per rush, 1.5 sacks, four tackles for loss, 16 tackles
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*Season stats: 79.0 rushing yards per game, 64 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, six quarterback hits
There was a clear emphasis this week in stopping the Bearcats on the ground. Head coach Brent Brennan preached it all week and his team heard him loud and clear.
“They wanted to run the ball,” said Brennan. “We knew that, and we said no. We’re not going to do that tonight, and that’s just a commitment and a mentality from the defensive staff and defensive players. I thought that was awesome.”
This is the first time the defense has won a group Big 12 weekly honor, but it does join the offensive line as the second group to earn such honor as it earned “offensive line of the week” last season. Overall, it is the third conference honor this season, and is the 14 Big 12 honor since joining the conference.
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While he is listed as a linebacker, Chase Kennedy plays on and off the defensive front. He is part of the reason the Wildcats are better this season at stopping the run.
“We know they came into the game averaging around 270 rushing yards a game, and so the goal is to keep them under 100, and we knew that we had a great chance to win if we did that,” said Kennedy after the win over Cincinnati. “Once we stopped the run we knew everything was going to be in our hands.”
Cincinnati was a tough task, but now comes Arizona’s biggest test of the season when it comes to defending the run. West Virginia has the nation’s third best rushing attack as it averages 294 rushing yards per game.
The Mountaineers have two of the nation’s best rushers in quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. and running back Cam Cook, who are both inside the top ten in rushing yards in the country. Arizona’s rushing game is slowly coming along so the RichRod Bowl might be a true track meet on Saturday.
