Arizona has to quickly move forward from its heartbreaking 34-26 loss to Texas Tech and focus on the Friday night matchup against TCU. However, while preparation needs to turn to the Horned Frogs, lessons learned from the trip to Lubbock cannot be ignored.
For fifth year linebacker Chase Kennedy, he is entering the endgame of his time as a Wildcat, which means that those lessons need to be learned and applied quickly. That’s what makes it perfect timing for the short week due to a Friday night tilt
with TCU.
“Each game, each week, this week especially just because of the quick turnaround, that you would necessarily want to forget about because there’s a lot of lessons to be learned from that game,” said Kennedy. “You got to be able to move on just because each week is a new opponent, and that’s it.”
Even the great ones miss
The leader of the Wildcats, Noah Fifita, also needs to be one of those players who quickly forgets what happened against Texas Tech. He was unable to seize a possible “Heisman moment” but there is still a lot of football to be played.
Offensive coordinator Seth Doege gave a lot of credit to his quarterback and said he was the main reason Arizona had a chance to beat Texas Tech.
“The truth is, and what I told him afterwards, we’re only in that game because of Noah Fifita,” said Doege. “That’s the only reason we’re in that game. So if anybody has any other opinion about that, you’ve lost your mind, because they literally said we’re not going to let number one beat us and he almost did. Playing like drop eight tampa two coverage. There’s nowhere to throw the football, and he found ways to throw for 417 yards.”
After Fifita missed his throw to Tyler Powell on a critical fourth down against Texas Tech, Fifita immediately apologized to Doege once he got on the headset. Doege did not need an apology because “Number One” was the reason Arizona was in a position to win the game.
“Even the greatest ones miss,” said Doege. “It was unfortunate, and I know it eats at him.”
While Fifita and the Wildcats missed out on a big opportunity, the month of November can still present more opportunities to accomplish goals set out in August. That includes Fifita being a Heisman candidate as he moved up two spots in the fan vote standings to number seven.
No more “This is Arizona”
If Arizona is to position itself to be a Big 12 title or College Football Playoff contender, whether it be to finish out the 2026 season or in the future, there needs to be an abandonment of what history shows the UA to be.
There cannot be a continuation of sayings like “This is Arizona” or “Arizona will Arizona” coming from those outside of the program. Before the loss to the Red Raiders, there was an expectation and some predictions of Arizona walking out of Lubbock with a victory and starting on a path to a strong postseason run.
While the result blurs some of those visions, the conversation of the Wildcats being in the College Football Playoff or the Big 12 Championship needs to become a norm in the eyes of defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales.
“I’m excited about the city of Tucson having that expectation and seeing all those things and predictions and all that stuff online, and it’s exciting going into that game, everybody’s talking about the possibilities of the CFP and all those things,” said Gonzales.
It should all come down to perspective for the Wildcat faithful. Two years ago, there was uncertainty about the head coach, the quarterback, and the future of the program.
Fast forward, Arizona has taken both reigning Big 12 Championships teams to the brink on the road and nearly walked away with wins. Of course, the results are not ideal, but if the Wildcats can continue to position themselves in games and situations like the BYU and Texas Tech game, the dam will eventually break.
“I’ll tell you this, being 6-2 at the University of Arizona, and people being disappointed is freaking awesome,” said Gonzales. “It is awesome because that has not been the case around here, and so we want to continue to build this every single year.”
Investing in the community
While the coaching staff continues to build a winning program, what is also being built by the program as a whole is a connection and relationship with the city of Tucson. It is spearheaded by head coach Brent Brennan, who gave away 1,000 for the Iowa State game to local charities, non-profit organizations, and community groups.
Now, Brennan has extended that generosity across the final three home games this season. That will be 4,000 tickets in total that he will be giving out, and to him it’s a very easy decision to give the people of Tucson an opportunity to see his team play good football.
“Investing in our community here, a place that we love, a place that is so tied to the institution, I think it’s critical that we find a way to give back and give people access to opportunities like this,” said Brennan.
Investing in the community and providing different opportunities goes beyond giving out tickets to football games. Arizona will be hosting a “TUSD Takeover” on Friday where TUSD students will visit the UA campus and will have the opportunity to eat lunch with student athletes, experience campus life, and learn about the application process for Arizona.
It’s not just about making Arizona football accessible, but making the resources of the University available. TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo noted that the TUSD Takeover is important because of how iconic Arizona is to many generations of Tucsonans.
“To these 1000s of students, the majority of which are native Tucsonans, the University of Arizona is iconic,” said Trujillo. “It represents legacy, tradition, and the dreams of their parents and their grandparents, who have inhabited this region for generations and dreamed of their kids coming to the University of Arizona.”
“They’ve seen cousins and relatives graduate and get doctoral degrees and master’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees. So for them it’s not only just the fulfillment of a college-going dream, but it is also the fulfillment of a legacy set by those that have come before them.”
