CULVER CITY, Calif. -- The numbers were anything but pretty. By every conceivable statistic, the Arizona defense was beyond horrid in 2012, ranking 102nd out of 120 FBS teams in points allowed, 105th in rushing yards allowed, 108th in sacks, 117th in passing yards allowed and 118th in yards of total offense allowed.
When you listen to Wildcats linebacker Jake Fischer's spirited defense of his defense, you get to thinking maybe they weren't as bad as they looked. Arizona did hold high-powered Oklahoma State to a touchdown under their scoring average and had three interceptions in the early tone-setting upset, with five more takeaways in the shocker that derailed USC's season.
"We weren't the best, but we weren't 100-whatever in the nation," Fischer said at Pac-12 media day.
Injuries and inexperience resulted in a "roller-coaster ride" on defense, but Fischer expects it to result in a vastly improved unit this season.
"It's going to be night and day, night and day," Fischer said. "With all the guys coming back a year stronger, a year better and with another year in Coach (Rich) Rodriguez and (defensive coordinator Jeff) Casteel's systems, I think we're going to be great."
The biggest improvement should come in their familiarity with defending up-tempo offenses, having faced Rodriguez's spread option every day in practice at a faster pace than the defense would ever see in a game.
With aggressive pacing becoming so commonplace in the Pac-12, Fischer admitted the downtime against offenses that huddle after every play can make him anxious.
Said Fischer: "When you play against a team like Stanford or Oregon State that huddles, you kind of get antsy because you're not used to waiting at the line of scrimmage for guys to come back."
Follow Dan Greenspan on Twitter @DanGreenspan.
