Chris Coduto/Arizona Daily Wildcat Returning senior Lamon Means grabs ahold of Wisconsin tailback Booker Stanley during the first quarter of Arizona's 9-7 loss to the Badgers last season. Means is battling junior-college transfer Michael Johnson for a starting safety spot.

Deep corps evidence of coach's experience

When head coach Mike Stoops came to Tucson last year, he brought with him an extensive background in defense.

He had been the defensive coordinator for two national championship games at Oklahoma and played defensive back at Iowa in four straight bowl seasons, including a Rose Bowl. It should be no wonder that the defense is coming along faster than the offense. Here's how the former unit stacks up heading into the season opener Friday in Salt Lake City against Utah:

Defensive tackles

This could be the area where the Wildcats most improved during the offseason. They signed two athletes who should come in and immediately contribute.

Junior Byron Smith is a big, playmaking body in the middle and comes from Kilgore (Texas) Community College, where he was an All-America selection.

The Wildcats also added Los Angeles-area transfer Rickey Parker, who will add depth to the line.

Returning are sophomore Yaniv Barnett and junior Paul Philipp. Barnett played in five games last year and recorded five tackles, two of which were for losses. Philipp has played in 20 games in his Arizona career, starting in 12 of them. In that time he has notched 20 tackles, four for a loss, and two sacks.

Rather than have a couple of big-time playmakers in the interior defensive line, the Wildcats have depth. Last season, a lack of bodies hurt the Wildcats and kept players on the field way too long.

The graduated Carlos Williams is the one glaring loss at tackle. The team loses his 35 tackles and two sacks from a year ago.

Defensive ends

Andre Torrey might have been the Wildcats' most productive defender from a year ago. He recorded 43 tackles and led the team with five sacks, with six other tackles for a loss.

Torrey took his abilities to the NFL, and it will be up to seniors Marcus Smith and Copeland Bryan to fill that hole. Both saw considerable time last year and both are capable of putting up similar numbers.

Behind them sit redshirt freshman Johnathan Turner and sophomore Jason Parker, who will both see time when Smith and Bryan are off the field.

Chris Coduto/Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore Wilrey Fontenot grabs a fumble from an Oregon receiver during the first half of the Wildcats' 28-14 loss in Eugene, Ore., last season. Fontenot is one of four returning players – including three who earned postseason accolades – in Arizona's backfield.

Linebackers

This position looked promising coming into spring camp but has suffered its fair share of injuries since then, losing three starters to lengthy injuries.

Sophomore Spencer Larsen hurt his knee in spring practice, requiring surgery that will delay his return to the field until late September or early October.

Redshirt freshman Ronnie Palmer broke his foot last week in practice and will be out at least six weeks, Stoops said in practice last week.

Senior Randy Sims missed most of fall camp with an ankle injury and should be back sometime in mid-September.

The silver lining in this dark-clouded injury-fest is that several young players will get to log some time.

Sophomore Dane Krogstad will move to the middle to fill Palmer's spot, and the outside will be filled by senior Sean Jones, who saw some action last year after being moved from fullback.

Two of the bright spots to come out of camp were freshmen Adrian McCovy and Xavier Kelley. Both have potential to be future stars and might even log some time this season.

Defensive backs

The team returns all four starters from last year, including three guys who earned postseason accolades.

Senior Darrell Brooks is the anchor of this unit after leading the squad in tackles last season with 73. For that effort, Brooks was named to the watch lists for the Thorpe and Lott awards, given to the nation's best defensive back and safety, respectively.

Also back is sophomore Antoine Cason, who earned first-team freshman All-America honors a year ago for his 70-tackle, four-interception performance. He was also named to the Thorpe Award watch list.

Sophomore Wilrey Fontenot is back at the other starting corner spot, and sophomore B.J. Dennard is the team's third corner option. He may also swing to the other side of the ball to play the slot at wide receiver.

The Wildcats could go with either returning senior Lamon Means or junior-college transfer Michael Johnson at the other safety spot. Both saw considerable action during fall camp and both figure to contribute in 2005.

Junior Marcus Hollingsworth will be the team's nickel back and has made great strides since Stoops arrived two years ago.