Arizona has played three road games this season, each of which involved a flight to and from Tucson. The mood going out is always one filled with hope, while the return vibe is directly impacted by the game result.
On Saturday night, following a dominant 52-17 win at Colorado, the charter back from Boulder had a much different feeling than the previous ones. The Wildcats had ended a 5-game road losing streak and needed to celebrate.
“Have you ever been on a plane after a loss?,” UA coach Brent Brennan said Monday. “Imagine a funeral at 35,000 feet for five hours and you can’t get out of it. I mean, it’s like the most miserable experience ever. The opposite side of that coin is two hours of smiles, hugs, high fives, celebration. People jumping on the microphone singing Bear Down, it was great.
“We had just a great moment with Deshawn (McKnight), he asked if he could speak on the microphone, and I said sure. And he led us in a big time rendition of Bear Down on the plane before we took off. That was really big game for us. That team had played really good football at home, and we knew that going into that game, that was an evenly matched game. To go there and get the win was really important for us.”
Arizona (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) is home for two of its next three games, starting with Saturday’s Homecoming matchup with Kansas. One more win and the Wildcats are bowl eligible.
“I think we’re going have a great Saturday here in Tucson,” Brennan said. “I’m excited to see the fans show up for this game. It’s Homecoming. We’ve got all kinds of former players and alums coming back for this to create what I hope will be the absolute best environment we’ve had in Arizona stadium all season.”
Here’s what else Brennan said at his presser to start Homecoming week:
On being physical and forcing turnovers: “I think those things go hand in hand, if you play a physical brand of football, you tend to get the ball, force more turnovers. And I think that was something coming out of Houston that we didn’t feel like was good enough. Just talking to Coach (Danny) Gonzales and the defensive staff, and so that was a huge point of emphasis through the bye and last week during practice. And I think the best part about it was that those players loved it and absolutely attacked it, and I think that’s what gave us a chance to play that way.”
On Kansas QB Jalon Daniels: “Jalon Daniels is brilliant. He’s a California kid, we’ve been watching him play since he was 14. Great player. Can do it all, make the throws, effective as a runner. We got a lot of work to do to get prepared for this game.”
On Braedyn Locke struggling during mop up time: “That’s on me, because we put him in in a really challenging position, because I’m saying we’re running the ball. You put a player in that situation where you’re going to be one dimensional, the object is to get out of the game. The game is over, right? And so you want to give those guys some reps, give them some opportunities to play. You want to give them some opportunities to do some things. But we also didn’t give Braedyn the full playbook compliment out there. I thought he did a really good job operating, I thought he took a couple shots. He stood in there, that showed up a lot in the film. I love Braedyn, and he’s an outstanding football player, and he’s going to be great when we need him to be.”
On Tre Spivey: “After the game, Genesis Smith’s mom sent me this picture of Tre and Genesis when they were here on an unofficial visit, when they were like 14. And it’s so cool just to see the relationship continue to to grow and just what they mean for each other out there, each other’s biggest fans. I think Tre is a combination of a big, powerful body that also has speed on the back end of it. So his ability to break tackles, to play with physicality. I also think it’s his mindset. Every time he catches the ball, he’s trying to score. And so it was great to start off that first drive like that, with that explosive play, where he breaks a tackle and just keeps playing. It’s been fun to see his process of development since he’s been here. I think that’s been something that’s been really clear. I think Coach (Bobby) Wade has done a fan done a fantastic job with him, and then you see him continue to just make plays. He told Coach (Seth) Doege after the game, and then he told the offense, yesterday in the offensive side of the ball meeting, that he’s he is having the most fun he’s ever had playing football. And I think that speaks a lot to the experience he’s having here at Arizona.”
On Spivey’s size advantage: “You’re talking about a kid who’s 6-3, 200. That’s why you like a big body receiver, because normally the defensive backs are not quite as big. But also, there’s also a mentality that you brings with it. Because there’s lots of guys that have physical tools to break tackles or to make people miss or whatever that is. How Tre Spivey does it is going to be a lot different than how Kris Hutson does it. Just with how they’re built. But I think Tre absolutely plays to who he is, and you like that kind of mentality and that aggression when the balls in his hands.”
On Zac Siulepa: “It was great to see big Zac starts and get his feet on the ground. He joined us late, as he was working through, just like his process of getting here, and his academic stuff in the summertime. He’s a player that we’re really, really excited about. And I think as he gets more comfortable in the scheme, and he gets stronger, and he gets really, kind of in better football shape, you’re going to see him be able to have more of an impact on the field.”
On dealing with fumbles: “I think it doesn’t matter whatever the mistake is, like we are definitely a team that is constantly talking about play the next play. You can’t change the past. None of us have a time machine. The best thing you can do for yourself, and the best thing you can do for this team is to get the hell over it and play right now. Go get it. Play. Get over it. And that’s hard for young people to do, because a lot of times for this generation, they’re worried about how many people on Twitter are going to tell them that they suck for fumbling the ball. It’s a way different world they’re growing up in than I (did). They have different outside circumstances they have to deal with. We take that part of our game so seriously, and that’s one of those things that those guys have to learn from. For (Cornelius Warren), he’s never played before. For Hutson, there was a small detail in that where he could have just hit it and it wouldn’t have been a problem. But instead, he’s trying to make everybody miss and now you got way more tacklers on top of you. Those are all very much teachable moments, and obviously a huge point of emphasis with us. Always, always.”
On if Dalton Johnson could have scored on his interception return had he not cut back: “What I tell every ball carrier all the time is to trust their speed. Trust their speed. And so often guys don’t, and they end up cutting back, and the pursuit catches up with them. That one, that’s such a hypothetical. Did I do the math to figure out if his velocity, his miles per hour, would have been enough to beat the angle of that? I don’t know. But I do tell players a lot, trust your speed. Just hit it, just hit. For them, they all are like trying to avoid the first (hit), but then then it just ends up being so much more people in pursuit. When he slows his feet, it makes the tackle easier, versus putting speed on that guy trying to make the play.”
On Luke Wysong: “Luke, he’s been such a great addition to our football team. He’s a leader, a super high care factor, incredibly hard worker. He’s very well respected on the team, and he brings just a toughness and an aggressiveness that to that position of punt returner. If you give Luke a little bit of air, he’s got the speed and the toughness to go. Hopefully, as we continue to go, you’ll see more of that from him.”
On the jumbo package at the goal line: “I think anytime you get down there, everyone’s trying to find ways to be creative, trying to find ways to either add gaps or spread the field, because you don’t have as much vertical space to attack. What can you do offensively, adding bodies, adding gaps, motion, movement, shifts, all that kind of stuff. I think that was just something that’s been a fun thing, because it gets more people on the field that don’t always get to play down there, so they get a part of it, and hopefully it lends a little bit of physicality to what we’re doing down there, also. I think the players are fired up about it, the players are fired up about that package.”
