⚡ CFB Dashboard

* Arizona knows that in order to beat BYU, it is going to have to contain the run and that starts with running back LJ Martin. "LJ Martin is going to be the best back I think we see all year," Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said. "I think that dude is a freaking bad ass. I think he's awesome. Bear Bachmeier, there's a reason he's a really good quarterback. "I think Bear is elite, he's tough, everything he does he falls forward. He ran for 89 yards against us last year and LJ Martin ran for 162. They rushed for 258. If we don't give up 258 yards rushing, we have a chance to play in the conference championship game." * Speaking of Bear Bachmeier, Gonzales has nothing but respect for the BYU signal caller and his overall approach to the game. "He's super efficient in everything he does," Gonzales said. "He doesn't get rattled. We intercepted him twice last year and he's still as calm as could be on that last drive when they needed a touchdown. We got a third down on him with 1:05 to go. He fumbles the ball and we don't come up with it. It didn't matter. It didn't rattle him one bit. For being a true freshman to be able to play with that kind of composure is unbelievable. "Everything he does when he runs the ball, he falls forward. That was the beginning of Danny Gonzalez can't stop the quarterback power. We're going to go watch and see it over and over. Can we stop it or not? That might be the difference in the game. Much like Ty Pennington from NAU last week, I think Bear Bachmeier is an awesome football player. He's tough as hell, he's a badass, he's a great leader. He's the reason they won so many games last year and then you pair that with a gigantic offensive line. He manifests a positive attitude for those guys and he's unbelievable. It's why they win so many games." * There was some criticism with how many tackles Arizona missed in the season opener against NAU, but Gonzales views the performance a bit differently. "In my opinion, at this level if you long stride, short stride or chop your feet and break down to try to grab on and make a tackle, they are way too talented and athletic and going to make you miss," he said. "That's where the idea of just gutting human flesh came in. I have no problem if they run up there and miss. They are not going to get charged a missed tackle if they bounce off somebody or the guy has to make a move and they miss because they throw because there should be three or four other ones coming over there violently to try and gut their tail and that's where the missed tackles come. "We don't give up many yards after contact, we really don't. As the game went on, it got significantly better, but if you put on that tape you will see five, six, seven, eight guys diving on the pile every single time. I thought it got better as it went along. I thought the coverage got better as it went along for those guys once they relaxed a little bit." * In a bit of a surprise move, Lee Molette III got the starter over Gavin Hunter in the opener, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will be the case this week as well. "It's a combination of matchup, what they do in practice, and how they work together," Gonzales said. "Matt Brock was the defensive coordinator at UConn when Lee was there and he was the linebacker coach and DC under Zach Arnett at Mississippi State two years ago. A very similar system, not coverages, but everything else that we do. Lee has played four years of big time college football. The game experience that he has, he did a great job during fall camp of making Quinn feel comfortable when him and Gavin are in there together. "There's going to be matchups that dictate who starts, there's going to be combinations of the five guys who starts and who plays. In my mind, you've got Quinn who I think is the starter at Bear. You've got Malcolm, who is the starter at Field Cat. Then you've got Lee, Gavin, and Daylen Austin. "Those three I view as the starter depending on the matchup. It can be any of the three that goes in on any play or any series. We didn't have that luxury or necessity last year, but it's more of a luxury. Gavin is big and strong. Lee is really savvy and smart. Daylen can cover anybody. We have different things we can do in different situations, so if those guys want to start they better practice their ass off."