Following a 4-8 season in 2024, expectations for Arizona football were low and nearly every team facing the Wildcats last season had the game marked down as a win. Having to “save face” in his first season put head coach Brent Brennan behind the eight ball.
How did he respond? By rolling up his sleeves and putting action behind his words. He knew in order to turn the program around he needed to face the season head on.
The first thing he did was get a new offensive and defensive coordinator. Brennan
hired Seth Doege to lead the offense and promoted Danny Gonzales to defensive coordinator. Both turned out to be perfect choices.
Both coaches brought renewed energy to the field and players adopted the mindset of playing for one another, their coaches, and the fans. As the season started and progressed, the team gained confidence that it could contend with any team.
This gave the Wildcats a super power that not every team has, not even the best teams. They had the element of surprise. Every Arizona opponent did not think it was a team that could go 9-4 and make a Holiday Bowl appearance.
This meant that teams went into games not properly prepared for what Arizona could put out onto the field. Not only were the Wildcats better prepared than most teams, they fought harder in almost every game.
A preseason conference favorite in Kansas State found out right away just how much Arizona had improved. The Wildcats took a 17-3 lead into the half and eventually hung on to win that game.
Then the eventual conference runner up in BYU had to go into double overtime to escape Tucson with a win. Despite the loss, this was the game when fans and people around the country realized that the UA was not a team to mess with.
Fast forward to the end of November when Arizona went on the road to Cincinnati, and all signs pointed to a Bearcats win.
Maybe it was Cincinnati looking ahead to its matchup with BYU the next week or even eyeing a spot in the Big 12 championship, but it was not prepared for what the Wildcats were bringing into town.
Arizona fought harder and made more plays to come out with an upset win over the Bearcats and beat another team that on paper should’ve won. A similar result came two weeks later in Tempe when the Territorial Cup game took place.
Tempe has not been a forgiving place for the Wildcats historically so the odds were already stacked against them. Now add in the fact that ASU was riding a three game winning streak with its backup quarterback and it did not look good for Arizona.
However, Arizona was riding a four game winning streak. Not only did Arizona beat the Sun Devils, it dominated the game to take back the Territorial Cup. Time and time again the Wildcats proved the doubters wrong last season.
This season brings a greater challenge. Not only does Arizona want to repeat the success of last season, it now has to do it without the element of surprise and higher expectations. The Wildcats won’t be sneaking up on any of its opponents and will get each team’s best shot.
The good news is that Arizona brings back a Heisman caliber quarterback in senior Noah Fifita. It also retained almost all of its coaching staff, so the continuity and familiarity of how it wants to attack will be there.
When looking at last year’s schedule, the Wildcats were fortunate enough to have seven of its 12 games within the state of Arizona. Six home games and a bus ride to Tempe.
This season’s schedule also gave Arizona that same good fortune. The hitch is that the competition has gotten tougher.
Both BYU and Texas Tech, the two Big 12 championship game teams, will bring the Wildcats into their respective towns. Arizona will also have to go on the road to take on West Virginia and former Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez, who will no doubt have his Mountaineers ready to go for that game.
Then there are the teams that will be visiting Casino Del Sol Stadium.
Cincinnati will be looking for revenge from last season. Teams like TCU and Utah hope to be in the conference championship race when they visit in late November, and of course ASU will always bring its best effort as it aims to take the Territorial Cup back to Tempe.
A higher and tougher mountain awaits the Wildcats and it will certainly be a battle to get back to nine wins. Once again, the coaches and the players have no choice but to face it head on. There’s no other way that Gonzales would want it.
“Everybody last year had Arizona written down as a W preseason, and now that means making team 123 as good or better than 122 is gonna be a heck of a lot harder than it was last year, because nobody thought we were gonna be worth anything,” said Gonzales.
The chance for team 123 to be the best in program history starts September 5 against NAU. It will be Native American Heritage night and Arizona will look for its fifth straight season opener win.
