To get ready for the upcoming Arizona football season, All Sports Tucson offers a countdown, which will include history notes and a look ahead to the season — a good way to keep Arizona football on the mind in the summer months leading up to fall camp in early August and then kickoff against New Mexico on Aug. 31 in the start of the Brent Brennan era.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS PREVIOUS DAYS IN THE COUNTDOWN
A LOOK BACK — NO. 34 LAMONT LOVETT
With it being the 34th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 34 for Arizona is running back Lamont Lovett, who played for the Wildcats from 1990-93. He was a member of the 1993 team that went 10-2 with a Fiesta Bowl win over Miami. He was a solid contributor who is now the analyst for Arizona’s radio broadcasts on KCUB 1290-AM, working alongside the Voice of the Wildcats, Brian Jeffries. He also is a life insurance agent for Crest Insurance Group. Lovett’s brother Lamar, who also played with the Wildcats as a standout receiver, is a longtime assistant coach at Pusch Ridge.
NO. 34 IN 2024 — DE AMMON KAUFUSI
Kaufusi, 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, is in his second year in the program after redshirting last season as a freshman. He was a dual-sport athlete who played basketball and football at Highland High School in Salt Lake City. His father is former Arizona assistant coach Jason Kaufusi, who went to Washington with former head coach Jedd Fisch. The elder Kaufusi coached outside linebackers and defensive backs, and also served as special teams coordinator, at Arizona. Ammon’s dad and three uncles played at Utah.
NOTE
Arizona defensive linemen entering the 2024 season:
| No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Hometown | Previous |
| 3 | Smith, Tre | 6-5 | 255 | R-Jr. | Mesa | San Jose St. |
| 11 | Kennedy, Chase | 6-3 | 231 | R-So. | Dallas | Utah |
| 34 | Kaufusi, Ammon | 6-5 | 235 | R-Fr. | Salt Lake City | |
| 37 | Clement, Nolan | 6-4 | 225 | R-Fr. | Alpharetta, Ga. | |
| 41 | Savaiinaea, Julian | 6-3 | 245 | R-Fr. | Honolulu | |
| 42 | Lolesio, Dominic | 6-4 | 245 | R-Fr. | Long Beach, Calif. | |
| 44 | Anderson, Jarra | 6-2 | 260 | So. | Katy, Texas | Memphis |
| 45 | Darton, Kevon | 5-11 | 271 | R-Sr. | Fitchburg, Mass. | Syracuse |
| 46 | Uiagalelei, Ta’ita’i | 6-4 | 285 | Jr. | Costa Mesa, Calif. | |
| 47 | Ta’ufo’ou, Stanley | 6-2 | 275 | R-Sr. | Simi Valley, Calif. | USC |
| 53 | Madoski, Christian | 6-3 | 250 | R-Fr. | Glendale | |
| 54 | Randall, Chase | 6-2 | 270 | Jr. | Tucson (CDO) | Valparaiso |
| 56 | Echols, Bryce | 6-5 | 280 | R-Fr. | Henderson, Nev. | |
| 91 | Johnson, Isaiah | 6-1 | 305 | R-So. | Camden, NJ | |
| 92 | Ma’ae, Chubba | 6-2 | 347 | Sr. | Long Beach, Calif. | UC Davis |
| 94 | Okundaye, Eduwa | 6-2 | 220 | Fr. | Katy, Texas | |
| 95 | Mailoto, Keanu | 6-5 | 300 | R-Jr. | Auburn, Wash. | Mt. San Antonio College |
| 96 | Fernandez, Nick | 6-4 | 280 | R-Fr. | San Pedro, Calif. | |
| 97 | Davis, Tristan | 6-7 | 255 | R-Fr. | Lake Oswego, Ore. | |
| 99 | Durham, Cyrus | 6-4 | 235 | R-So. | Redwood City, Calif. | Coll. of San Mateo |
Projected depth chart:
LDE
- Ta’ufo’ou (25 starts at USC)
- Kennedy
- Lolesio
NT
- Ma’ae (28 starts at UC Davis)
- Anderson (one start at Memphis)
- Johnson
DT
- Darton (24 starts at Syracuse)
- Uiagalelei (six starts)
- Mailoto
RDE
- Smith (13 starts at San Jose State)
- Durham
- Kaufusi
Defensive line is the biggest question mark in terms of a position at Arizona. The program lost Taylor Upshaw and Tyler Manoa to the NFL, Bill Norton and Tiaoalii Savea to Texas (where former defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen left to become co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach), Isaiah Ward and Russell Davis II to Washington and Orin Patu to Bethune-Cookman. Brennan and his staff needed to hit the transfer portal with Uiagalelei the lone returner who has started with the Wildcats, and that’s only six starts. Ta’ufo’ou, Ma’ae, Darton and Smith should be immedate contributors after starting elsewhere last year. Kennedy, Anderson and Uiagalelei should provide quality depth with the others looking to break through to be reliable contributors. Smith has experience playing under new defensive line coach Joe Seumalo at San Jose State.
THEY SAID IT
Arizona has quality experience on the defense at the other positions.
“We’re returning seven guys that started for us a year ago on a defense that finished really strong nationally and in the conference. I think that we also were able to keep the same system with (defensive coordinator) Duane Akina calling it with (defensive backs/stars coach) Brett Arce and then adding a couple other guys that we think will really contribute. Danny Gonzales (linebackers coach, formerly New Mexico’s head coach and Arizona State’s defensive coordinator). I think that part of it is going to be a lot of fun. There’s great leadership there. We return an excellent secondary, a good linebacking core and a defensive front that is going to surprise people.” — Brennan
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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