SEATTLE - Arizona head coach Dick Tomey said the Wildcats' 31-17 loss to Washington made one thing clear: There was no doubt about who was the better team on Saturday.

"The best team won. That wasn't a mystery," Tomey said. "The credit goes to Washington."

The Huskies dismantled the Arizona defense first through the air, then on the ground, wearing out an injury-plagued unit that is still trying to identify its strengths and weaknesses. The game just went further in showing that this team's play has been di fficult to pin down. In a 21-20 loss to Iowa, the defense couldn't make plays in the fourth quarter, allowing the Hawkeyes to grind out the clock at the end of a game. In the next game, a 41-0 win over Illinois, the defense intercepted five balls in the f ourth quarter, returning three for touchdowns.

Against Washington it was burned more often than not.

"We have a young unit that will make mistakes," Tomey said. "We had a lot of poor coverage and we had a lot of non-existent coverage. We hadn't been really challenged in that area until today. We found something out and we didn't like it."

The Wildcat defense on Saturday showed both of its faces, demonstrating a tough run-stopping line in the first half while allowing 26 yards, only to be run over in the second, allowing 166 total. The defense was victimized time and again by big passing pl ays, but showed it still could turn a few plays around, as cornerback Chris McAlister did when he intercepted a Brock Huard pass and ran it back 46 yards to set up an Arizona touchdown.

Tomey said he has the kind of talent he needs to win, but it's not the same kind of talent he had on UA defenses in the past.

"We don't have the guys up front getting pressure on the ball," Tomey said. "We do have playmakers with a lot of talent. We just need to get them experience and have them learn not to make mistakes."

Senior Joe Salave'a is considered the leader of the Wildcat defensive line, a line that could not establish a consistent pass rush.

"There is no excuse for not getting to the quarterback," said Salave'a, who suffered an injured shoulder that slowed him throughout the game and had him on the bench in the fourth quarter.

"We didn't do our job of getting to the quarterback. We have to step back and reevaluate ourselves so that we can come back and play Arizona defense," he said.

And as Tomey has said many times, it is Arizona defense, not offense, that has made the program successful.

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