We are counting down the days till the season opener as the final week of training camp continues. We're only 11 days till football officially returns to Arizona Stadium with the Wildcats hosting New Mexico.

Defensive coordinator Duane Akina spoke to the media following Tuesday's practice. Here are five takeaways from what he had to say.

The experience of Lance Keneley

One of the newcomers on the defensive side of the ball is Keneley, who played his last three years at Stanford. Akina was the defensive backs coach for Stanford at the time, though he wasn't directly involved with the recruiting process of Keneley.

Akina talked about the experience he is bringing to Arizona this season.

"There is some maturity he has lined up," Akina said. "He had some good football teams so he has been there, some of the language is very similar from when we were at Stanford. There's a comfort zone there and so because of that, it's a quicker fix rather than bringing in an incoming freshman."

Akina added that experience is even more important when playing on either line.

"For a true freshman playing in the front, it's not an easy task because the physical side is a big get," Akina said.