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It’s your opportunity, as an Arizona Wildcats football supporter, to show defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales the love he deserves.

Gonzales has done a remarkable job in his first season as Arizona’s DC, elevating the defense to heights seldom seen around these parts — at least not recently.

Although he’s the mastermind behind the Wildcats’ funky scheme, it isn’t all Gonzales’ doing, as he himself is quick to point out. Defensive backs Dalton Johnson, Treydan Stukes and Genesis Smith will be under consideration for all-Big 12 accolades. Defensive tackle Deshawn McKnight, among others, should be, too.

“When I said all those things in March about the opportunities that we have to be an elite defense, and to chase the moniker of the ‘Desert Swarm,’ it was because I thought those guys were really talented,” Gonzales said this week. “When you get a chance to coach really talented players, they make you a really good coach.”

Believe it or not, this year’s defense has performed at a Desert Swarm-like level in some areas entering the home finale Saturday against Baylor. Putting the unit's achievements into some historical context is one of our goals in this week’s “Cats Stats.” We’ll also document just how much the defense has improved since last season.

Scoring defense

Arizona has allowed 20.3 points per game, which is tied for 29th in the nation. That’s down more than 10 points from a year ago, when the Wildcats yielded 31.8 points per game and ranked 109th in this category.

A recent UA defense crashed the top 30. The 2023 group — which also featured Johnson and Stukes in significant roles — tied for 30th in the country, surrendering 21.1 points per game. That ended a streak of eight consecutive seasons in which Arizona allowed more than 30 points per game and ranked no better than 98th nationally in scoring defense.

The last time the Wildcats were in range of the '23 and '25 defenses? Try 2008, when Arizona yielded 21.3 points per game (tied for 33rd nationally) under Mike Stoops. Stoops’ 2006 club was the last to finish a season yielding fewer than 20 points per game (19.6, tied for 35th).

Total defense

Arizona has allowed 306.2 yards per game, ranking 19th nationally. The last time the Wildcats finished a season in the top 20 in this category? That would be your 1995 Desert Swarm-era Wildcats featuring Tedy Bruschi and current staffers Joe Salave’a and Brandon Sanders, among other standouts.

Last year’s defense yielded 413.0 yards per game, ranking 106th. Those sorts of numbers and rankings have been pretty commonplace over the past decade-plus.

The 2023 defense finished 50th, allowing 357.9 yards per game. The '21 defense was similarly stingy, ranking 54th at 369.7. That defense got no help from its offense, a subject we’ll explore a little more later.

The last time a UA defense yielded less than 325 yards a game for a full season was 2009 (322.0). The '95 squad allowed 273.3 yards per game, ranking 10th nationally.

No one would ever question the bona fides of the Desert Swarm defense. But it is worth noting how much the sport has changed since then. It’s a more wide-open, higher-scoring game — which makes the accomplishments of this year’s defense that much more impressive.

Pass defense

This is where things get really fun and interesting.

Arizona has leapt from 103rd nationally (239.0 yards per game) to seventh (159.5). Again, you have to go back 30 years to find a comparable UA defense.

The '95 club finished ninth in the country in pass defense, yielding 146.1 yards per game. That’s the last time the Wildcats ranked in the top 10 in passing yards allowed per game.

The '21 defense flirted with the top 10, finishing 14th at 190.1 yards per game. The '20 defense was within earshot, too, at No. 27 (202.4). But both of those years come with asterisks.

As mentioned, the '21 Wildcats had a dreadful offense. The '20 team wasn’t much better during that pandemic-shortened season. As such, opponents could build big leads and didn’t have to pass the ball late in games.

The true difference between this year’s defense and those can be found in another stat. The '25 Wildcats have allowed 5.4 yards per pass attempt, tied for fifth nationally. The '21 and '20 squads yielded 8.1 and 8.3, respectively — slightly worse than most other seasons over the past decade-plus.

The last time Arizona allowed less than 6 yards per pass attempt over a full season was 2008. That defense featured Brooks Reed, Ricky Elmore and Earl Mitchell up front, current assistant coach Ronnie Palmer at linebacker and Trevin Wade in the secondary.

That was also the last time that a UA defense had more interceptions (16) than touchdown passes allowed (12) in a season. This year’s defense is trending that way with 14 picks and eight TD passes allowed with two regular-season contests and a bowl game left on the schedule.

The '25 Wildcats also have held eight opponents to fewer than 200 passing yards, the first time a UA defense has done that since 2009.

Third-down defense

Arizona is tied for 27th nationally in third-down defense, limiting opponents to a 34.01% conversion rate. The Wildcats were 90th last season at 41.45%.

The last time Arizona finished a season at under 40% was 2021 (37.41%).

The last time the Wildcats finished a season at under 35% was 2008 (34.3%).

Mike Stoops could coach up a defense, too.