Arizona football notebook: Final home game on tap for longtime Wildcats, pass defense to face toughest test
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When Dalton Johnson committed to Arizona more than five years ago, he did so without ever setting foot on campus. In fact, he had no idea where campus was.
“I remember someone asking me one time where’s the University of Arizona at, what part of Arizona?,” Johnson recalled Tuesday. “I couldn’t even tell them. And here we are in Tucson.”
A 3-star prospect from outside Houston, Johnson’s recruitment came during the COVID pandemic. His “official” visit, in June 2020, was over Zoom. And his main recruiter was Jeremy Springer, who was the UA’s special teams coordinator under Kevin Sumlin.
Sumlin was fired after the COVID-shortened 2020 season, yet a few days later Johnson still signed with Arizona despite not knowing who would coach the program. He didn’t play that first season for Jedd Fisch, making his debut in 2022 opener at San Diego State.
Saturday will be his 47th game as a Wildcat, 35th as a starter, and last at Casino del Sol Stadium. Same goes for 6th-year senior Treydan Stukes, who will be making his 27th start and 51st appearance dating back to 2020.
“I’ll probably take a minute to just take a deep breath as I come out the tunnel,” Stukes said when asked about his final home appearance. “It will probably hit me in that moment that it’s the last time I’m going to take the field, but definitely going to refocus on the game and try to put a good one together.”
Johnson and Stukes are the lone holdovers from the Sumlin era, and two of the few still around from Fisch’s tenure. Both opted to stay when Brent Brennan took over in early 2024 and each chose to withdraw from the NCAA transfer portal last winter.
“Once I made that decision to stay, I guess all the times when we could have left, it was always the right choice,” Johnson said. “I believed in what Coach B is doing, what he put together. He believes in me. And what more can you ask for?”
Chubba Maae also decided to stay after signing with Arizona in December 2023 only to see almost the entire staff he expected to play for go to Washington.
“My decision to stay was the main reason I chose to come here in the first place, it was the people,” said Maae, who has started the last eight games at left guard after spending his first four college seasons on the defensive line.
Deflating the air attack
Cincinnati became the eighth team this season to fail to throw for 200 yards against Arizona, tied for the second-most games in school history. Only Hawaii and Iowa State have done so, with ISU’s Rocco Becht the lone quarterback to top the 200-yard mark.
Enter Baylor and senior QB Sawyer Robertson, who have the No. 2 passing offense in the country. The Bears average 324.4 yards and 43.2 attempts per game, with Robertson leading FBS with 3,210 yards and second in touchdown passes (29).
“The challenge that we have is enormous,” UA defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said.
Though it lost 55-28 to Utah last week, Baylor gained 563 yards and Robertson threw for 430 yards with three TDs (and two interceptions). The Bears have topped the 600-yard mark twice, including against an SMU team that is battling for the ACC title.
A big part of Baylor’s pass attack is the slot fade, a throw that 6-foot-4, 240-pound tight end Michael Trigg is often on the other end of. Trigg has 43 catches for 649 yards and six TDs, one of four targets with at least five TD receptions.
“Their receivers do a fantastic job,” Gonzale said. “Josh Cameron … he probably leads the nation and drawn pass interferences because he does such a great job with body control. The hardest thing to do in pass defense is a fade out that’s an underthrown ball.”
The best way to defeat is get the quarterback, hit the quarterback. If you just do man coverage all the time they’re good enough to adjust routes.
I’m going to sound broken record. He was to date, and I thought our guys did a great job of preparing for him and taking away opportunities and trying to frustrate him. The way he is able to adjust on the move, and the way his receivers find spots when it might not be the designated route they were going to run, but the fact that they’re on the same page is elite.
Wildcats’ unsung hero
If you haven’t paid much attention to Arizona’s kickoffs this year you aren’t missing much, which has been the point. Senior Ian Wagner has had only one of 55 kicks returned, with 53 touchbacks and one that went out of bounds.
“I’ve always been great at kickoffs, so it’s kind of what I pride myself on,” said Wagner, a transfer from Illinois State.
Opponents’ average starting field position on kickoffs this season is their own 25.1. The 19 kickoff return yards Arizona has allowed is second-fewest in FBS.
“His impact on the game is tremendous,” Brennan said. “I think he’s absolutely one of those unsung heroes. But that is not lost on our football team. Everybody on our team knows how important Ian Wagner is, and we love him.”
Listed on Arizona’s roster as being from Sierra Vista, Wagner only spent one summer there with his adoptive parents. He spent most of his life in rural Illinois, near the Air Force base his father was stationed at, which is how he ended up at Illinois State. With the Redbirds he was a punter and kicker, making 25 of 35 field goals in addition to his kickoff duties.
It wasn’t until he arrived at Arizona that Wagner added the role of holder for Michael Salgado-Medina on field goals and extra points.
“I kind of figured it was another way to get on the field,” Wagner said. “And obviously the team needed it, because there was a void there. I know I was athletic, and I was good at catching.”
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