Arizona safety Dalton Johnson repeats as Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week

In his final home game, Dalton Johnson recorded a career-high 18 tackles and picked up the first conference player of the week award of his career. Hard to top that, but he did.

Johnson has been honored as Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for a second straight time, this one following his performance in helping Arizona win back the Territorial Cup.

Johnson had an interception and a fumble in Friday’s 23-7 win over ASU, adding three tackles and two pass breakups. Both takeaways came in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats held an opponent scoreless after halftime for the second week in a row.

A fifth-year senior, Johnson leads Arizona with 97 tackles and is the first safety to be the Wildcats’ leading tackler in consecutive seasons since Darrell Brooks in 2004-05.

Johnson is the first UA player to win consecutive weekly conference awards since Noah Fifita won back-to-back Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors in 2023. The last defensive player to get honored two weeks in a row was Scooby Wright by the Pac-12 in 2014.

Arizona has earned seven weekly awards from the Big 12 this season, matching its total from 2023 in the Pac-12.