For the third time this season, Arizona found itself neck-and-neck with a ranked opponent late into the game. But like with previous matchups against BYU and Texas Tech, the Wildcats couldn’t come through in the end.
The UA is 7-3 overall, with the three losses by a combined 20 points after falling 40-39 to No. 2 Utah on Saturday night. The defeat ends any consideration of Arizona playing in the Big 12 Conference title game or being part of the 12-game playoff, but the season is far from over.
“I think
tonight we showed that we we can play with anybody,” UA coach Brent Brennan said. “We’re going toe to toe with the No. 2 team in the country, and I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. And we didn’t get it done. The outcome isn’t what we wanted, and so now we have 24 hours to learn from it. Because win or lose, 24 hours we got to learn from it.”
Arizona visits Kansas State next Saturday and then hosts ASU for the Territorial Cup on Nov. 28. Along with a bowl game, the Wildcats have a chance to record back-to-back seasons of nine or more wins for only the second time in school history and first time since 1974-75.
“ y message to the guys after the game was, we got to learn from this and keep moving forward,” Brennan said. “We have a lot of good football left to play. This is a great group of young men. They come to work every day. They love each other. They love the U of A, and they’re ready. They’re going to come back to work tomorrow and be ready to go.”
Our game recap can be found here. Below is what Brennan, quarterback Noah Fifita and cornerback Jay’Vion Cole said after the loss:
Brennan on the game atmosphere: “This was an amazing night in Casino Del Sol Stadium. I want to say thank you to our fans, our alums, our students. I mean, that’s something that we challenged everybody with all week. And they showed up tonight. They were on their feet all night. It led to four false start penalties for Utah. It was just, it was an awesome atmosphere. And that’s something we talk about a lot about, how do we create the best atmosphere in the Big 12, and I thought our fans did that tonight. It was an awesome day on campus.”
On the loss: “This was a hard night. This was a heavyweight fight. We said that going into it. We’re playing the No. 2 team in the country, and they’re good. They’re well coached. Coach Scalley does a great job. His staff does a great job. We got a ton of respect for those guys. And to me, this night and the way it went from start, to finish, I think really speaks to just our belief, our resilience, and our response.
“The way our guys responded all night, I thought was really, really special. I thought our defense was making plays. Mays with the fumble recovery, the recovery on the muffed punt, the the incredible interception by Jay’Vion Cole was. I mean the amount of field he had to travel to make that play was just incredible.”
On Fifita: “Noah Fifita is one of one. He’s special in every way, just the the throws he made, how he stood in there, took shots, how he ran, how tough he is, what a warrior he is, what a leader he is. He is everything that’s right about college football and everything that’s right about the University of Arizona.”
On moving on to the next one: “We got a big time football game on the road at Kansas State, and we dive back into our process. We dive back into Redline. We dive back into the battle of belief and working for each other and putting the work together. And at the end of the day, if we do that, we’re going to play good football next weekend on the road at Kansas State.”
On the start time getting moved to accommodate Utah’s travel delays: “Nothing really changed for us. We were at the benefit of having a home game. They moved the game three hours. Actually, to be honest, I was concerned that it was going to impact our crowd, but it didn’t. That was one of the best parts about it, right? You move the game three hours. Our students were there all night on their feet. They never sat down. The fans were on their feet, rocking. It was special. It’s awesome. I mean, that’s what I’m talking about with the home crowd impact they can have. That’s what we need at Casino Del Sol Stadium, and we didn’t get it done tonight in the end. But golly, did they impact the whole thing, from start to finish.”
On the final offensive play: “We were trying to draw them offside. And that situation right there, that’s my fault. I never should have put (center) Zach (Henning) in that position. I never should have put him in that position. We had dummy cadence, so we’re trying to get them to jump offside. They moved. They didn’t come far enough into the neutral zone. He snapped it, and we didn’t have a good answer, so that’s my fault.”
On receivers Isaiah Mizell and Giovanni Richardson: “Both those guys are studs. They’re just awesome players. They come to work every day. They got great attitudes. They got great energy. Coach Wade does a fantastic job coaching them. Att that position, when you have game changers, you’re in every game, and that showed up tonight.”
On Utah RB Daniel Bray running for 197 yards: “I told you that they have good players, right? That was not a surprise to us, and I think that’s probably a little bit of a combination of some missed tackles and him being a good player, and them having good players, and us playing a good football team. We don’t want to give up 200 yards rushing, right? So I think we can be better there.”
On the offensive line struggling to protect Fifita: “I think we were blocking a good front, and it’s hard, and everyone’s fighting their ass off, and sometimes you get beat.”
Fifita on the loss: “I think naturally, I just kind of think about the plays that I didn’t make. Defense gave us the ball back with over two minutes but we didn’t do it, so that’s the part that kind of hurts. But at the end of the day, gotta live with it and move on to the next.”
On Brennan’s message after the game: “It’s always been about us. Just continue to just love us up and just understand that there’s a lot of more football to be played.”
On the play calls on the final possession: “I don’t think it’s my place to kind of speak on that. I’ll let kind of the coaches speak on it, but at the end of the day, the ball was in my hands. The play needed to be made, and I didn’t make it.”
On the crowd and Big Noon Kickoff: “Man, they did a phenomenal job. We appreciate the city. We appreciate the students showing up. They definitely gave us an advantage tonight with that noise and with the energy. I’m just sorry we weren’t able to win.”
On the focus for the rest of the season: “For us, it’s just enjoying every moment with each other. We believe we have a special team still to this day, and enjoying every opportunity and taking advantage of it.”
Cole on returning from injury: “It was amazing, being out three weeks and to be out there and compete.”
On his interception: “It was crazy. Wasn’t supposed to be open, blown coverage and the quarterback threw it up and I was able to get there.”
On Utah gaining 500 yards: “They just ran what they ran. We were just undisciplined. We didn’t execute.”
