TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats (3-1, 1-0), winners of three straight, hit the road for their first Pac-12 Conference road game of the year against the Colorado Buffaloes (3-1, 1-0) this Saturday, Oct. 5. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. MST on the Pac-12 Networks from Folsom Field.

The shorthanded Cats opened conference play last weekend and came away with a 20-17 victory over the UCLA Bruins. True freshman quarterback Grant Gunnell got his first career start behind center and threw for 352 yards en route to the victory, earning him Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors.

The Buffs were idle last week, but prior to that earned a 34-31 victory over the then No. 24 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils.

With the season still young, Arizona and Colorado share the top spot in the Pac-12 South rankings with 1-0 records in conference play thus far.

A complete game preview is below.

Arizona Notes & Numbers

• The Arizona Wildcats will travel to Boulder for their first Pac-12 Conference road game of the season. The Wildcats have won their last two Pac-12 road openers, topping Oregon State last year in Corvallis and Colorado in 2017 in Boulder.
• The Wildcats are riding a three-game winning streak and topped visiting UCLA 20-17 on Saturday to improve to 3-1 on the season. Arizona was trailing 17-13 heading into the fourth, but came back for the win. It marked the second straight game Arizona has erased a deficit at the end of the third quarter to win. The Wildcats had lost 25 straight contests when trailing after three quarters dating back to 2015.
• True freshman quarterback Grant Gunnell made his first career start Saturday against UCLA. He completed 29 of 44 passes for 352 yards and one touchdown. He was turnover-free. Gunnell has appeared in two games this season and has thrown a 75-yard touchdown pass in both games.
• Following a 28-14 win over Texas Tech, Arizona allowed just 17 points to UCLA. It marked the first time since 2010 that Arizona held back-to-back Power 5 opponents to fewer than 20 points. Coach Marcel Yates' defense has not allowed a fourth-quarter point in either of the past two games.
• Junior linebackers Colin Schooler and Tony Fields II both recorded double-digit tackle totals against UCLA on Saturday. It's the sixth time both players have had 10 or more tackles in the same game and the first this season. The duo combined for 23 tackles, two tackles-for-loss and two pass breakups against the Bruins.
• Redshirt junior cornerback Lorenzo Burns intercepted his third pass of the season against UCLA. He's tied with teammate Jace Whittaker and others for the national lead. Both cornerbacks are also in the top 10 nationally in passed defended at 1.8 per game.
• Redshirt junior running back J.J. Taylor has rushed for 2,750 career yards, which ranks ninth all-time in school history. He needs 208 yards to pass Nic Grigsby for eighth.
• Arizona is fifth in the country in total offense at 552.3 yards per game. The Wildcats are tops in the Pac-12 and one of only two schools in the conference (Washington State) to average more than 500 yards per game so far this season.

9: Arizona leads the country with 9 interceptions in just four games this season. The Wildcats had just seven interceptions the entire season in 2018.

22-0: Arizona has outscored its opponents 22-0 in fourth quarter of the two most recent games against Texas Tech and UCLA. 

255.5: Arizona leads the Pac-12 Conference in rushing at 255.5 yards per game. The Wildcats rushed for just 99 yards Saturday against UCLA. It snapped a 13-game conference losing streak when rushing for fewer than 100 yards in a game.    

7: The Wildcats have 7 different receivers with 100 or more yards on the season through four games this season. Stanley Berryhill III, Tayvian Cunningham, Bam Smith, Jamarye Joiner, Cedric Peterson, Brian Casteel and Drew Dixon have all hit the century mark already this season.  

49: Quarterback Khalil Tate has 49 career touchdown passes, and is tied with Anu Solomon for third all-time in program history. With one more, he will be behind just Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama, who both threw 67 touchdowns in their respective careers.

SOME GAME THEMES: Riding a three-game winning streak, the Arizona Wildcats will travel for the first time since its Aug. 24 opener at Hawai'i...Boulder, Colorado will be the final destination for the Wildcats where the 3-1 Buffaloes will be waiting...With Arizona also at 3-1, this will mark the first time since Colorado joined the Pac-12 in 2011 that both teams will have a winning record at the time of the matchup...Since the Buffaloes joined the conference, Arizona owns a 6-2 advantage in the series over Colorado...This will be the first game in the series featuring first-year Colorado head coach Mel Tucker...Tucker and Arizona head coach Kevin Sumlin first crossed paths in 1997 when Tucker was a graduate assistant at Michigan State and Sumlin was an assistant at Minnesota...Tucker's Michigan State team, ranked No. 12 in the nation, topped the Golden Gophers 31-10 on Oct. 4, 1997...That matchup of course won't have much to do with this one as both teams will be looking to move to 2-0 in conference play...The Buffaloes are coming off an idle weekend after going on the road and beating Arizona State 34-31...Quarterback Steven Montez is off to a strong start for the Buffaloes and has completed 90 of 134 passes for 1,164 yards and nine touchdowns to just two interceptions...Montez has a deep receiving corps to work with that is headlined by Laviska Shenault and includes Tony Brown, K.D. Nixon, Dimitri Stanley and others...Arizona also knows about strong quarterback play...Filling in for Khalil Tate, true freshman Grant Gunnell shined against UCLA in Arizona's 20-17 win on Saturday...Gunnell completed 29 of 44 passes for 352 yards and threw a 75-yard touchdown to Bam Smith...Gunnell is the first true freshman Arizona quarterback to win his starting debut since Willie Tuitama in 2005...He completed passes to nine different players against UCLA, completing multiple passes to seven of them...Prior to Gunnell's start, the last Arizona true freshman to start at quarterback was Tate in 2016 when he opened the game against USC...Gunnell has played in two games for Arizona and has a 75-yard touchdown pass in both games...He also played against NAU and had a 75-yard touchdown pass to Thomas Reid III...He was helped in the backfield by another freshman in Smith...A redshirt freshman, Smith had five catches for 99 yards and the touchdown to go along with 35 rushing yards on six attempts...It's the second straight game Smith has compiled more than 100 all-purpose yards...The Wildcats spread the wealth in the backfield without the services of J.J. Taylor...Gary Brightwell had a team-high seven carries, including a 10-yard touchdown run...Smith had six carries, while Michael Wiley had four and Nathan Tilford had three...The running back depth has been on display all year as Arizona has four rushers with at least 182 yards on the season...Colorado ranks 10th in the conference in rushing defense at 175.5 yards per game.

LAST MEETING: One year after Khalil Tate put on a show against the Buffaloes with his legs, he did it with his arm in the 2018 matchup...Tate completed 17 of 22 passes for 350 yards and five touchdowns to just one interception in a 42-34 win over the Buffaloes at Arizona Stadium...The Buffaloes took a 10-0 lead through the first quarter, but Arizona then scored on its next eight possessions with Tate running the show...He threw two touchdown passes to Shawn Poindexter and one each to Shun Brown, Stanley Berryhill and Cedric Peterson...J.J. Taylor also had a big night next to Tate in the backfield and rushed for 192 yards on 40 carries...It was Taylor's third straight game rushing for 150 or more yards...Also in the game, kicker Lucas Havrisik connected from 55 yards out on a field goal as time in the first half expired...The Wildcats were 9 of 14 on third downs and converted on all four of their redzone chances, which are two areas to watch Saturday in Boulder...In the end, Arizona compiled 566 yards of total offense against Colorado and have compiled 1,117 yards of total offense against the Buffaloes in their last two matchups combined...Defensively, keep an eye on linebacker Tony Fields II, who had a team-high 10 tackles last year against Colorado and has 21 tackles in two career games against the Buffaloes.

CHARTING THE CATS (CAREER):

• Running back J.J. Taylor has 2,750 career rushing yards, which ranks ninth all-time at Arizona. Taylor needs 208 yards to pass Nic Grigsby for eighth all-time.. Taylor's 474 career carries are the fewest of any player in the top 10. 
• Quarterback Khalil Tate has passed for 5,048 yards in his career, which ranks 11th-most in program history. He'll need another 42 yards to break into the Top 10.
• Tate has rushed for 2,110 yards. He is the 17th player in program history to rush for at least 2,000 yards. With 279 more yards, he would pass Jim Upchurch for 13th all-time at Arizona in rushing yards. 
• Tate has racked up 7,158 yards of total offense in his career, which currently ranks No. 5 in school history. With 178 more total offense yards, Tate would move up to No. 4, passing Tom Tunnicliffe. 
• Tate has passed for 49 touchdowns in his career, which ranks tied for third all-time in program history. With one more, Tate would officially pass Anu Solomon for third all-time. Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama share the record with 67 touchdown passes. 
• Cornerback Jace Whittaker, who utilized his redshirt season last year, broke up his 32nd career pass Saturday against UCLA. He's now tied with Antoine Cason and Devin Ross for fourth all-time at Arizona with 32 PBUs. Whittaker is three behind Kelly Malveaux for third all-time.
• Linebacker Colin Schooler enters Saturday's game with Colorado with 39 tackles-for-loss in just 29 games. With 1.5 more, he'll reach the Arizona top 10 and tie Chris Singleton. Schooler has 3.5 tackles-for-loss over his last two games against UCLA and Texas Tech.

GUNNELL NAMED PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Freshman quarterback Grant Gunnell has been named the Pac-12 Conference Freshman Player of the Week, the league announced Monday afternoon. Gunnell led Arizona to victory Saturday night against UCLA in his first career start for the Wildcats. The freshman from The Woodlands, Texas, completed 29 of 44 passes for 352 yards and one touchdown. Gunnell hooked up with running back Bam Smith for a 75-yard touchdown pass in the win. Gunnell is the first Wildcat to win Freshman of the Week honors. The award is in its debut season. Gunnell became the first true freshman to start at quarterback for Arizona since Khalil Tate started versus USC in 2016. He's the first true freshman to win his first start since Willie Tuitama in 2005. The Texas native also became the first freshman quarterback to throw for 350 yards and no interceptions in a game since Keith Smith in 1997. The freshman was especially impressive in the second half against the Bruins. He completed 12 of 15 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown in the game's final 30 minutes. He also helped the Wildcats engineer a fourth-quarter comeback. Arizona was trailing 17-13 entering the final quarter. Gunnell is the first Arizona freshman to win a Pac-12 weekly award since running back Nick Wilson was named Offensive Player of the Week in 2014 following his performance against Utah.

THE CATS IN PAC-12 ROAD OPENERS: The Wildcats have won each of their last two Pac-12 road openers and are 6-6 in their last 12 overall. Arizona earned its first Pac-12 win under Coach Kevin Sumlin last year in its road opener, topping Oregon State 35-14. The year prior, Arizona won its road opener at Colorado when Khalil Tate rushed for an NCAA quarterback record 327 yards in the game. Arizona's most memorable Pac-12 road opener came in 2014 when the Wildcats upset Oregon 31-24 in Thursday night primetime action.

TATE IS GREAT: Three games into his senior season, Khalil Tate has already established himself as one of the most dynamic players in program history. Tate has thrown for 5,048 passing yards in his career and 49 touchdowns to 24 interceptions. He has also rushed for 2,110 yards and 17 touchdowns. He has averaged 6.9 yards per rushing attempt in his career and has accumulated 7,158 yards of total offense in his three-plus-year Wildcat career. Last season, Tate started all 11 games he suited up for and posted career highs in passing yards (2,530) and passing touchdowns (26). His pass efficiency rating of 149.77 ranked second in the Pac-12 and was the fifth-best mark in Arizona single-season history. Tate is one of two Power 5 quarterbacks with at least 2,000 career rushing yards and 5,000 career passing yards, joining Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts, who spent the first three seasons of his career at Alabama, before transferring as a graduate student.
 

Player (School)	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards
Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma)	6,921	2,349
Khalil Tate (Arizona)	5,048	2,110

Player (School)	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards
Marcus Mariota (Oregon)	10,979	2,237
Khalil Tate (Arizona)	5,048	2,110

LATE SEASON FORM TRANSLATES TO 2019: Tate was especially strong late in the season for Arizona last year. The quarterback missed the Oct. 20 game against UCLA game to rest a foot injury. When he returned, Tate completed 75 of 124 passes (completion percentage of 60) for 1,115  yards and 15 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He averaged 278.8 yards per game. In his first seven games, Tate completed 53 percent of his passes and averaged 202.1 yards per game through the air. He also tossed 11 touchdowns in that seven-game span. It's also worth noting that two of Tate's final four games came against top 20 teams in Oregon and Washington State. The strong string of performances carried over to 2019 when Tate accounted for 269 yards of total offense against Hawai'i. His role was limited against NAU in a game where Arizona scored 51 points in the first quarter, but Tate went 14 for 17 for 138 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the sixth straight game, dating back to last season, that Tate has thrown multiple touchdowns in a game.  Additionally, Tate's completion percentage of 82.4 against NAU is the highest of his career in a game in which he attempted 15 or more passes. Against Texas Tech, Tate broke his own record for longest run ever in program history by a quarterback with an 84-yard touchdown dash. He also threw his 49th career touchdown pass and surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark for the eighth time in his career.

TOUCHDOWN TATE: Khalil Tate is known for his explosiveness, but even highlight reels may struggle to put into perspective how spectacular his big-play ability truly is. In 2017, Tate accounted for 26 touchdowns. He averaged 47.7 yards on his 12 rushing touchdowns, 28.6 yards on 14 passing touchdowns and 37.4 yards on all 26 touchdowns accounted for. Including his limited action as a freshman in 2016 and his season numbers in 2018, here's a look at Tate's career touchdowns:

    Total Yards on Touchdowns (66): 1,960
    Average per Touchdown: 29.7 yards
    Total Rushing Yards on TD (17): 664
    Average Per Rushing TD: 39.1
    Total Passing Yards on TD (49): 1,297
    Average Per TD Pass: 26.5

GRANT LAND: Freshman quarterback Grant Gunnell made his first career start Saturday against UCLA, filling in for Khalil Tate, who missed the game due to injury. Gunnell threw for 352 yards and one touchdown against the Bruins. He's just the third true freshman quarterback in the country to throw for more than 350 yards in a game this season. He joins USC's Kedon Slovis and Boise State's Hank Bachmeier. Like Slovis, Gunnell didn't commit any turnovers in his performance and like both, he did it in his first career start. For the season, Gunnell is 38 of 55 for 503 yards and four touchdowns on the season. He's completing 69 percent of his passes. Gunnell is the first Arizona quarterback to throw for at least 350 yards and no interceptions since Anu Solomon did it against USC in 2014. Only five Arizona quarterbacks –Jason Johnson, Nick Foles, B.J. Denker, Anu Solomon and Gunnell – have thrown for 350 yards and no interceptions since 2000. He's the first Arizona freshman to do it since Keith Smith in 1996. Smith threw for 418 yards and five touchdowns at Cal in a 56-55 loss.
 

Player (School)	Opponent	Passing Yards
Hank Bachmeier (Boise St.)	Florida State	407
Kedon Slovis (USC)	Stanford	377
Grant Gunnell (Arizona)	UCLA	352

EXPERIENCE PLAYS: Arizona boasts a total of 245 starts on defense this season and 168 on the offensive side. On defense, Arizona has seven players with 20 or more starts in Tony Fields (29), Lorenzo Burns (28), Jace Whittaker (28), Justin Belknap (26), Colin Schooler (25), Kylan Wilborn (22) and Scottie Young (22).  Safety Tristan Cooper also has double-digit starts with 13. Offensively, 72 of the 168 returning starts come on the offensive line. Cody Creason, who has played all over the line in his career and has started his senior season at right guard, has 23 career starts to his credit. Center Josh McCauley and left tackle Donovan Laie both started all 12 games last year, while Bryson Cain started the first nine games of the season, before suffering an injury and missing the final three. Redshirt senior wide receiver Cedric Peterson leads all returning offensive players with 25 career starts, while quarterback Khalil Tate has started 23. Running back J.J. Taylor, who was a third-team AP All-American last season, has started 19 games in his career.

PICKS APLENTY: Arizona intercepted four passes in its season opener against Hawai'i, securing its highest total since picking off four passes against No. 15 Washington State on Oct. 28, 2017. The four interceptions were the most in a road game by Arizona since 2006 at Oregon. Three players – Jace Whittaker, Lorenzo Burns and Tony Fields II – combined for the four interceptions. None of them had an interception in 2018 after combining for nine in 2017. Whittaker and the Cats were at it again against NAU in the second game of the season. Both Whittaker and freshman Christian Roland-Wallace picked off passes, upping Arizona's season total to six. The Cats again picked off two passes in the non-conference finale against Texas Tech with Burns and linebacker Anthony Pandy intercepting passes. Burns kept the streak alive against UCLA, notching his third interception of the season and giving Arizona a national-best nine for the season. Whittaker missed all of last season with an injury, but now has seven interceptions for his career and has already tied his season-high of three set in 2017. Burns had five as a redshirt freshman in 2017, but went without any last year. Fields had one has a freshman in 2017 before picking off his second career pass against the Rainbow Warriors. Roland-Wallace, a true freshman, picked off the first pass of his game. As a team, Arizona had just seven interceptions last year and only had multiple interceptions one time. The Cats have already surpassed both of those totals in four games this year. The season opener marked the first time Arizona had four interceptions in a season opener since also picking off four passes against Idaho in 2008 in a 70-0 win.
 

	School	Interceptions
1.	Arizona	9
	Florida	9
3.	Boston College	8
4.	San Jose State	7
	Utah	7
	Ohio State	7
	Washington	7

FOURS UP: Arizona has come from behind to win each of its last two games and have outscored Texas Tech and UCLA 22-0 in the fourth quarter. Arizona trailed 14-13 heading into the final quarter before winning 28-14. Against UCLA, Arizona trailed 17-13, before pulling out the 20-17 win. The Wildcats had lost 25 straight games when trailing after three before the Texas Tech win and have no won back-to-back such games. A big reason why has been Gary Brightwell. In the two fourth quarters, Brightwell has rushed 17 times for 76 yards and three touchdowns. He helped the Wildcats generate a 13-play, 99-yard drive against Texas Tech in the final quarter to ice the game. Against UCLA, he had a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

THIRD DOWN TO FIRST DOWN: Arizona is 10th in the country in third down conversion percentage at 52.4 percent. The Wildcats have converted on 33 of 63 chances through four games this season. The 33 conversions are tied for second nationally among teams who have played four games this season. The Wildcats trail just TCU, who has 37. Texas and Boise State both have 33, along with Arizona. Arizona converted 15 of 21 third downs against Texas Tech, one game after converting nine of 14 chances against NAU. Dating back to 1997, Arizona has never had more than 33 third-down conversions in the first four games of the season.
 

Year	Third Down Conversions
2019	33-of-63 (52.38%)
2018	23-of-51 (45.10%)
2017	27-of-61 (44.26%)
2016	20-of-53 (37.74%)
2015	23-of-52 (44.23%)

CREASON A CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALIST: Cody Creason has been selected as a semifinalist for the 2019 William V. Campbell Trophy. The prestigious award, in its 30th year, is presented annually to the nation's top football scholar athlete, taking into account academic success, football performance, and exemplary leadership. To be eligible for the award, a player must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2, have outstanding football ability, and demonstrate strong leadership and citizenship. Creason has been a crucial member of a Wildcats offense line that has paved the way for the nation's No. 11 ranked rushing offense. In addition to his performance on the field, Creason has consistently achieved at a high level in the classroom. As an accounting major, he has posted a cumulative GPA of 3.308 at Arizona's lauded Eller College of Management and been selected Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention twice in 2016 and 2018. Creason is currently pursuing his master's degree in accounting. Creason has also displayed outstanding leadership qualities with and away from the football program. He was selected and serves as a member of the Wildcats season-long Leadership Council and has volunteered his time around the community on multiple occasions. He served as a game captain for the Wildcats against NAU and UCLA.

TAYLOR MADE: With 102 yards on the ground in Arizona's home opener against Northern Arizona, junior running back J.J. Taylor crossed over the 2,700-yard mark for his career. It was the ninth 100-yard performance of his career. Taylor now sports 2,750 career rushing yards during his four seasons in a Wildcat uniform, good for ninth all-time in school history. The next player on the list – sitting at No. 8 with 2,957 yards, just 207 more than Taylor – is Nic Grigsby, who played for Arizona from 2007-10. Taylor finished the 2018 season with 1,434 rushing yards, the fourth-most in a single season in Arizona school history and the seventh-most in the nation last year. He became the 14th player in school history to accumulate 1,000+ rushing yards in a single season when he went for 212 yards in an upset over No. 19 ranked Oregon on Oct. 27. Taylor eclipsed the 100-yard mark five times in 2018, four of which came in the Wildcats final five games of the season.
 

Date	Opponent	Yards	Attempts	Yds/Att
9/7/19	Northern Arizona	102	10	10.2
11/24/18	Arizona State	144	28	5.1
11/2/18	Colorado	192	40	4.8
10/27/18	Oregon	212	30	7.1
10/20/18	at UCLA	154	19	8.1
9/22/18	at Oregon State	284	27	10.5
11/11/17	Oregon State	129	10	12.9
10/28/17	Washington State	153	14	10.9
9/17/16	Hawai'i	168	18	9.3

I'M MR. BRIGHTWELL: Junior running back Gary Brightwell currently ranks leads the team with 259 rushing yards this season, 85 of which he picked up on a career-high 21 carries in the Cats third game of the year against Texas Tech. He picked up two touchdowns on the ground against Tech and added another last weekend against UCLA, giving him the team lead with four rushing touchdowns this season. Brightwell also leads the Arizona backfield (min. 20 attempts) with an average gain of 7.8 yards per rush. He rewrote the Arizona record books in week two against Northern Arizona – his 94-yard touchdown run against NAU is tied with Nic Grigsby (2009) for the second-longest run in school history, and was just two yards shy of tying the all-time record of 96 yards set by Trung Canidate in 1997. Through three seasons and 124 attempts, Brightwell has amassed 784 rushing yards for the Cats, good for an average of 6.3 yards per carry.

SCHOOL(ER)'S IN SESSION: Junior linebacker Colin Schooler has put together an incredible Arizona career through his two-plus seasons in Tucson, racking up 246 total tackles, 39.0 tackles for loss, and 8.0 sacks. He finished the 2018 season, his sophomore campaign, with 119 total tackles, good for fifth-most in the Pac-12. Additionally, Schooler's 21.5 tackles for loss during last year's season were second-most in the conference, just 0.5 behind Utah's Chase Hansen. Schooler led the Wildcats in tackles seven times last year, and finished second on the team twice. Over his Cats career, Schooler is averaging 8.48 tackles per game and 1.34 tackles for loss per game. He is currently on the cusp of breaking onto a pair of Arizona career leaderboards – He is 4 tackles shy of becoming just the 24th player in Wildcat history to log 250+ tackles, and is 1.5 tackles for loss shy of the Arizona career top-10 (records dating back to 1967).

HAVING A FIELD DAY: Sitting right behind Schooler is another junior linebacker, Tony Fields II, who has logged 221 career total tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, and 7.0 sacks in two-plus seasons with the Cats. This Saturday will be Fields' 30th consecutive start – he has started in every game he has played for the Wildcats. Fields logged five tackles in the Wildcats season opener at Hawai'i, had four against NAU, led the team with nine tackles against Texas Tech, and tallied a season-high 10 stops last weekend against UCLA. In two career games against Colorado, Fields has logged double-digit tackle totals in both with a combined effort of 21 tackles, 2.0 TFL, and 2.0 sacks in those contests. After leading Arizona with 104 total tackles in 2017, Fields finished second on the squad in 2018 with 89. Last season, Fields and Schooler combined to total 208 tackles, the fourth-most by any Pac-12 duo of leading tacklers in 2018. They were 18 tackles clear of the No. 5 duo.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS: Redshirt senior cornerback Jace Whittaker and redshirt junior cornerback Lorenzo Burns are currently tied for second in the Pac-12 lead and tied for third among all qualified FBS players with an average of 2.0 passes defensed per game. The duo of Whittaker and Burns has combined for six interceptions this season, more than 106-of-130 FBS programs have logged.

EXPERIENCED SECONDARY: Between redshirt senior Jace Whittaker, redshirt junior Lorenzo Burns, and junior Scottie Young Jr., the Wildcats feature 93 combined games of experience in the secondary. Whittaker, a cornerback, has four-plus seasons of disrupting opponent's passing games under his belt and to that end he has broken into the Arizona career top-10 in pass breakups; he currently sits tied at No. 4 all-time with 32 (also: Antoine Cason, 2004-07; Devin Ross, 2006-09). Whittaker logged four passes defensed (PBU+INT) as a freshman, 12 as a sophomore, a career-high 16 as a junior, and seven this year. He was limited to one game due to injury last season. During the 2017 season – Whittaker's last complete campaign – he logged at least one pass breakup in seven games, including three games with three PBU. His single-game career-high came on Oct. 10, 2016 at Utah, when he notched five pass breakups. For a complete chart of the Arizona top-10 in PBU, see the sidebar on page nine. Burns, another cornerback, has 22 career pass breakups to his name and hauled in five interceptions during the 2017 season. He has also picked up 136 total career tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, and 2.0 sacks during his three-plus seasons in Tucson. Burns' five interceptions during the 2017 campaign were the most logged by a Wildcat since Trevin Wade also hauled in five in 2009. Four of Burns' five sacks in 2017 came during a six-game stretch from Oct. 21 at California to Nov. 25 at Arizona State. Young, a safety, took over the mantle from Burns in 2018, grabbing three interceptions to lead the team and rank sixth in the Pac-12. Young saw extended action as a true freshman in 2017, logging time in 10 games and tallying 53 tackles, one interception, and two pass breakups.
 

Player, Pos.	Games	Tackles	PBU	INT
Jace Whittaker, CB	41	115	32	7
Lorenzo Burns, CB	29	136	22	8
Scottie Young Jr., S	24	106	6	4
TOTAL	94	357	60	19