Arizona got a much needed week off after back-to-back heartbreaking losses to BYU and Houston, teams that have kept on winning and are a combined 15-1 this season. The focus has fully shifted to this week’s
opponent, Colorado, but during the bye the lingering effects of those previous games was still being felt.
“They’re pissed off about Houston, man,” UA coach Brent Brennan said after noting the “edge” he witnessed during last week’s practices. “They’re upset about not finishing against BYU. To me, the fact that they’re more passionate or they’re angry or attacking the opportunity to improve, I’m all for it. Let’s go. Let’s go, man, it’s awesome.”
Arizona (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) needs to win two of its remaining five games to become bowl eligible, and its next opponent is coming off its worst performance of the season. Colorado (3-5, 1-4) lost 53-7 at Utah on Saturday, but Brennan doesn’t think that result matters.
“I think any given Saturday in the Big 12 is a challenge,” he said. “I think every team in this conference is really good, and every time you line up, you got to be ready to play. And so I think that part of it, it doesn’t matter where you play, it doesn’t matter who the teams are. Doesn’t matter if it’s the first place team or the last place team or anybody in between, every game in this conference is a frickin’ battle. And we’ve lived that already. We know what that is.”
Here’s what else Brennan discussed at his Monday presser to open Colorado week:
On Colorado: “They are a team that is incredibly tough at home. We know going into this that we’re going to have to play in an incredible atmosphere. It’s Homecoming, it’s sold out, you know? It’s going to be an evening game, all that stuff. And so it’s going to be a really challenging atmosphere, crowd, noise, elevation, all that good stuff. And so that’s what we’re not preparing for.”
On if Colorado’s loss impacted the approach for this week: “It didn’t change my messaging, because every game in this league is an absolute dog fight, and I’ve been saying that for weeks. I look at they lost to two Top 10 teams at home, both those teams are in the top 10 now, Georgia Tech and BYU. Otherwise, they’ve gotten after everybody at home, you know, including a very good Iowa State team. So it doesn’t matter what happened (last) weekend. What matters is what happens (this) weekend. And that’s all we’re worried about.”
On Colorado coach Deion Sanders battling health issues: “Coach Sanders is obviously such a private person. I mean, it doesn’t seem like that, when you see the Coach Prime, but no one knew that he’d been going through this for eight months, or whatever it is. So like, I have an incredible amount of respect for him, and the fact that he’s battled through all that. My experience with Coach Sanders, he’s a really good guy. He’s fun to talk to. He’s got something to say, and being around in the head coaches meetings, he’s really got good insight on a lot of stuff that’s going on college football. And so I really appreciate him, and so I have a tremendous amount of respect for how he’s battled through what he’s been going through.”
On getting back to basics: “A big part of the bye week … was a big kind of return to fundamentals. Blocking, tackling, a lot of work in those spaces, because we felt like there were a lot of opportunities missed, especially, in the Houston game, in terms of tackling and getting people to the football.”
On recruiting during the bye: “There are a lot of good football players in the state of Arizona, I’ll tell you that. I finally got to go out and watch some games, it’s just really, really impressive to be there in person. How important football is in the state of Arizona. It’s really, really cool. Really, really enjoyed being out. It’s harder for for the head coach now. The rules are so different than they used to be. Recently, a year ago they made December a quiet period. Now it’s a dead period, that was always a really active recruiting time for us. Being on the road as an assistant coach, as a head coach. My wife hates the new rules because she’s like, why are you here? She’s trying to get rid of me. It’s much different now as a head coach, and it’s actually something that I would love to not be the rule. I love recruiting. I love meeting the families. I love being around the players. I love seeing them practice. I love talking to their coaches. I love coaches. I love talking to their counselors. I love meeting their teachers, like I want all that. And especially with the climate that we’re in now where we’re considering paying some of these young men a lot of money, you would also like to have as much of a full picture as you could possibly have when you’re making that kind of commitment to a player, and he’s making that kind of commitment to you.”
On the vibe from recruits: “We have a great recruiting staff, and the reception from players locally and players really all over, it’s been really, really positive. I think, I think lots of times in recruiting players choose people, they choose how it feels, and I think we’re as good at that as anybody.”
On Noah Fifita and Seth Doege becoming more comfortable with each other: “They should, because now they’ve been in a lot more battles together. Their process is a lot more evolved. I know I said that at media day in July, like by December, everyone in the conference is going to be talking about Noah Fifita, and I still believe in that.”
On Colorado QB Kaidon Salter: “He’s an explosive football player, and he can make the throws he needs to make, but he’s also dangerous in the run game, which is obviously something that we’ve had to deal with the last couple of weeks. A really good football player. And I know they’ve had a couple of different guys play this year, so we’re kind of preparing for all of them, because you don’t really know which one it’s going to be, but they all bring a little bit of something different to the table. But they all are obviously high level, high talent and really, really good. So we’re gonna be ready for whatever shows up. We just gotta line up and play.”
On Deshawn McKnight’s impact on the defensive line: “He’s such a big body. He’s just got that great, great personality. I think he brings an edge to us. He loves to play football. I think that shows up. And I think the players feed off that in game. We have huge, high expectations for him and his continued progress as a player, because I think there’s more there. I think I think there’s more plays for him to make. But he’s just been a great addition to our team. He’s one of those guys. I think Coach Salave’a has done a great job, really all of our coaches have done a great job, kind of getting the portal players and new players to assimilate into our culture and have a very clear understanding of what red line is and a very clear understanding of and a very clear understanding of what it is to play football at the University of Arizona.”
On Cam Barmore stepping up after tight end injuries: “I think it’s actually awesome what Cam’s done. Injuries are part of the game, and that’s the hard part of it. But the best thing that can happen when you have somebody get injured is for someone to step up. Someone to answer the call and go in there and play good football. And that’s what Cam’s done. You’ve seen him, from spring until now, just this incredible kind of era of development of him in terms of his run blocking, his physicality, and then how he’s finishing on the football. I’m really excited about how he’s playing right now. I think Sam Olson has been a really steady, good player for us in that space, and it’s been fun to see Cam really kind of take advantage of that opportunity. That’s what happens when you have depth. That’s what happens when you have good players in the position, the competition in practice is really intense and really fierce, and then if someone does get hurt, you hope to have somebody to step in and the performance doesn’t fall off.”
