Arizona's elite rushing defense battles RichRod's ground game at West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Danny Gonzales had nightmares about facing West Virginia's offense. Literally. 

While Gonzales was recovering from knee surgery and vacationing in the Bahamas with his family this summer, the Arizona defensive coordinator dreamt about the Wildcats surrendering 84 points to WVU, Arizona's opponent Saturday morning in Morgantown, led by former UA head coach Rich Rodriguez.  

"For some reason, I wasn't allowed to coach in the game," Gonzales said. "I saw the score and they almost put up 100 points. I didn't get to coach for whatever reason. It was nightmarish. And you know what? They're capable of doing that, which is the scary part. They put a lot of points on everybody." 

So, what happens when a football sicko has a dream about an offense running up the score? They have their own film session at the pool and beach. 

"Just watching on my phone, like, 'OK, what do they do that has me dreaming about them?' " Gonzales said. "I think RichRod is unbelievable. It doesn't matter who he has. ... They have such a rich tradition of football, it was probably in the back of my head while I was trying to sleep. They can do that, which is the scary part." 

When Rodriguez was the head coach of the Wildcats from 2012-17, Arizona developed a reputation as being one of the top rushing teams in the Pac-12. Back in his second stint at West Virginia, the Mountaineers are not only the top rushing team in the conference, but they're also one of the best in college football, averaging 294 rushing yards per game. 

The only FBS teams ahead of WVU in rushing are Army and Air Force, "and that's because those teams are triple-option teams," Gonzales said. West Virginia's "tempo they do it with and the efficiency that they do it with" has contributed to its success running the football, which goes back to Rodriguez's first stint in Morgantown from 2001-07. 

"They don't care how you're lined up," Gonzales said. "They don't care if you're lined up. ... They get on tracks and try to mow you over. ... (Rodriguez has) been successful everywhere he's been with whoever he has. That's the testament of a really good football coach. He can adapt to whatever his players are and he does a fantastic job with it. ... I have a great respect for him and this will be fun." 

The catalysts to West Virginia's offense are Oklahoma transfer quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. and running back Cam Cook, who are first and second in the Big 12 in rush attempts this season.

"These two that we're going against, they're special," Gonzales said of Hawkins and Cook. "They're really special." 

Cook, the leading rusher in the Big 12, is the only player in the conference with over 100 carries. Cook's 119 carries sit at the top of the Big 12 leaderboard, and his 652 rushing yards rank second in FBS. 

Hawkins leads FBS quarterbacks this season in rushing yards (574) and has 11 rushing touchdowns. Hawkins "is a dual-threat that causes you a lot of issues. It makes your freaking hair turn gray," Gonzales said.

Gonzales compared Hawkins' skillset to former Rodriguez-era Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate and said: "The twitch and athleticism in what they do is very similar." Hawkins "is slippery and hard to tackle." 

"Both him and Cook, when they see a seam, they take it and make you pay for it," added Gonzales. 

Arizona has faced multiple dual-threat quarterbacks this season, including Washington State's Caden Pinnick and BYU star Bear Bachmeier.  

"This one is way different than those," Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said of the 6-1, 205-pound Hawkins. "This one is super twitchy, powerful and acceleration. ... This is a whole different challenge." 

One of the biggest challenges for Arizona on Saturday is its ability to make substitutions in between plays against a fast-paced team. 

"We try to sub even when people go tempo," Gonzales said. "We won't be able to with this group. It's gotta be very efficient. ... The reason people do tempo is they try to make you vanilla. Let's see if they can make us vanilla." 

Arizona used 11 defensive linemen and seven linebackers in last week's 34-7 win over Cincinnati. When a play ends out of bounds or on West Virginia's sidelines or if the Mountaineers make substitutions, that's when Arizona is able to sub players. The Wildcats "have to be on top of it" against WVU, Gonzales said.  

"We play a lot of guys there and so I think that's part of it," Brennan said. "How do we keep them fresh? How can we handle the tempo and substituting? With the tempo that's going to be presented by West Virginia, that's one of those things that's really important in terms of getting lined up, getting the call and being able to execute at a high level."

Arizona's rushing defense is arguably the best unit West Virginia has faced all season. The Wildcats have only allowed 79 rushing yards per game, which ranks third in the Big 12 and 11th in college football.

Arizona played against Cincinnati's rushing attack, which was the second-best in the conference at the time, and held the Bearcats to 74 rushing yards, the fewest for Cincinnati since the 2022 Wasabi Fenway Bowl. 

Rodriguez called Arizona "the blitz-happiest team we’ve played since I’ve come back — probably the best I’ve seen in the last six, seven years."

"They’ll bring it all the time," Rodriguez said. "That’s who they are, that’s their identity defensively. They can make you look really bad and create negative-yardage plays; they’ll bring them from everywhere. … The challenge up front on the (offensive line) is we’re recognizing (blitzes), and the quarterback has to be able to get rid of the ball quicker.

"They can make you look ugly in the run game. You can’t totally abandon it, but if they force you to throw, you have to be able to pitch-and-catch, too."

Said Gonzales: "I believe in playing behind the line of scrimmage, just like they believe in playing on our side of the line of scrimmage. We're really good up front when we're physical and when we play hard. We're not very good when we don't play hard, and we're not very physical.

"We have to be a physical football team to have a chance for any of that stuff to work. It doesn't matter what I call. The magic is within the kids."

Gonzales' aggressive defensive play-calling matched up with Rodriguez — the man who coached Arizona to a Territorial Cup win in 2016 without attempting a pass in the second half — is like two black belts fighting each other, except one is a master of jiu-jitsu (defense) while the other excels in Muay Thai (offense). 

The clash of strengths between West Virginia and Arizona has the potential "to be a big-time football game," Brennan said. 

"Both teams have things they're good at," Brennan said. "How do you find ways to elevate that part of your team and show up in other phases?"

Reality could be much different than Gonzales' 84-point dream in the Bahamas. 

Extra points

— Arizona has multiple connections on the WVU staff besides Rodriguez. Former UA quarterback and Catalina Foothills star Rhett Rodriguez is West Virginia's quarterbacks coach. Former UA cheerleader Raquel Rodriguez is WVU's director of management and strategy. Arizona's former chief of staff Dusty Rutledge has the same role at West Virginia. 

— When Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege was a quarterback at Texas Tech, he passed for a career-high 499 yards and six touchdowns against a WVU team quarterbacked by Geno Smith in 2011. Doege's younger brother, Jarrett, was a quarterback at West Virginia from 2019-21. 

— Arizona is wearing its “Sandstorm” jerseys for the first time this season on Saturday, along with red pants and red helmets with the iconic “Cactus Sunset” decal — a logo popularized by the UA men’s basketball team. It’s the first time Arizona has worn red helmets this season and the first time since the 31-28 loss to Houston on the road last season. West Virginia is donning its black “Coal Rush” uniforms on Saturday.