With the last game on a Friday, Arizona had the luxury of an extra day of rest and/or preparation for its next opponent, and it can use all the help it can get. The Wildcats are hosting No. 2 Utah on Saturday, one of the biggest games in Tucson in recent memory and arguably the biggest of the Brent Brennan era.
Fox picked the game for a primetime (5:30 p.m. MT) broadcast, is sending its best crew to call the game while bringing its Big Noon Kickoff pregame show to campus. All that’s left is for the fans
to show up.
“It’s an opportunity again for the Zona Zoo, for our fans, everybody in the state of Arizona, the city of Tucson, to sell out the Sol,” Brennan said Monday. “That’s one of those things that we’ve talked about a lot. We haven’t gotten it done this year, but this is the game for that. This is the game to show up for your alma mater, to show up for your university, or show up for this city, and how this institution is wired into the city of Tucson.”
Arizona is averaging just over 42,000 fans at Casino Del Sol Stadium, which has a capacity of 50,800. The last sellout was the 2024 Homecoming game against Colorado.
“All the things are perfect for this opportunity, and so let’s show everybody how freaking dope the city of Tucson is,” Brennan said. “Let’s show them what this institution, the University of Arizona, is all about by going absolutely nuts in that stadium on Saturday night.”
Below is what Brennan said at his Monday presser to open Utah week:
On Michael Salgado-Medina winning Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week: “It was awesome. II have a lot of faith in Michael. We all do, and so it was awesome to see him get out there and pipe that kick, and there was never a doubt for any of us. And like I told you, as soon as we recovered that onside kick, we were in field goal range.”
On the atmosphere Utah had for its last game: “It looked fantastic. Yeah, it looked great. I’ve coached in a bunch of games there over the course of my career, as an assistant and as a head coach, and they have a great game day. And you can see that it had an impact on BYU at times in that game, and that’s what I’m talking about here in Casino Del Sol Stadium on Saturday night. Like our fan base, the Zona Zoo, our alums, the city, making that incredibly challenging for Utah.”
On if Utah being a program Arizona can model itself after: “I would agree. There’s lots of things about that program that are fantastic. There’s been a consistency there. They’ve played in the Rose Bowl. They’ve won the conference. I know it was the old conference, but they’ve done a great job since moving from the Mountain West into the Power Four. And so I got a ton of respect for what they do there. Coach Scalley is doing a great job. They’re very well coached. Three guys that I worked with over the course of my career coached on that staff there. I love those guys.”
On CB Dwight Bootle’s struggles vs. TCU: “There’s just a couple of those things where he just needs to look for the ball, because he’s in good position. It’s just not how we finish it.”
On the offensive line vs. TCU: “We’re playing against the best defense in the conference, right? We still ran for, what, 130-plus, and and still threw for 300, right? Scored 29 points. There was still a hell of a lot of good production in that game. In my experience, there’s always give and take with the O and D lines when you’re playing, and same thing with our defensive front and our opponent defensive front. So I think that’s just part of college football that you’re trying to do a good job of giving guys a scheme that they can execute. And I mentioned that, like coming from Texas Tech into that game last week versus TCU, I thought our O line had made great strides in that. Just like everybody being on the same page a little bit better, finishing a little bit better, being a little bit more technically exact in their work, and so I was encouraged by it.”
On Utah QB Devon Dampier: “He’s awesome. He’s an awesome player. Made all kinds of plays against us (with New Mexico in 2024). I think they scored 40 points in that game. He was super impressive. Still is.”
On Utah using two different QBs, sometimes together: “I think the fact that it’s been so effective with with having both Dampier and (Byrd) Ficklin in there, and they’re finding really ways to be really good ways to be creative with it.”
On having difficulty with mobile QBs: “That’s kryptonite in all of football. Like, who are the best quarterbacks in the NFL? All the guys that can move, so guys that they’re able to utilize plus-one run game or escape these incredibly athletic, twitchy defensive linemen. I think that’s a challenge for for all of college football, and obviously Dampier is exceptional at it.”
On the gameplan to contain Dampier and Utah: “I’m not going to give you anything schematically or how we’re going to slow down this incredible player. But we’re going to do everything we can to do it. And they combine that with a great running game. They got receivers that make plays. They got a bunch of big tight ends. Their O line is massive and athletic and tough. And same thing on defense. They’re super good on defense, incredibly good in the red zone. It’s going to be a physical, physical game.”
On Big Noon Kickoff picking Tucson: “I think it’s awesome because it’s just a great opportunity for us to show off how amazing the University of Arizona is. Our team, our program, the university, our students. It’s such a great thing to have one of these shows come on campus and broadcast from campus, and so I’m optimistic that the Zona Zoo and our students and everybody in the Greek system starts early and gets ready to go and shows up for that moment. Just like we did with (ESPN College) GameDay a year ago with basketball. How cool was that experience? Well, I’m hoping we can double down and make it even bigger with Big Noon on Saturday.”
On Rob Gronkowski coming back to town: “Gronk’s awesome. I really have a ton of respect for him. Just kind of who he is and how he carries himself. He’s been very supportive of me and the U of A since I’ve been here. It’s awesome to get him back again. He’s got such a great way about him. He is one of those people that is authentically himself always, and I think that’s why he’s so endearing to everybody. He really is who you think he’s going to be, and just a great dude with great energy, and he loves the U of A. And so I’m excited for him to come back, and I’m excited to see him. I’ve gotten spent some time with him over the last couple years, and he’s just, he’s really an impressive person, man. He’s just really a great, great guy.”
On if he’ll change the messaging because of Big Noon being here: “No. I think there’s a process to our preparation. There’s a process to the game day. There’s a process to playing good football, and that’s where we have to live. That’s where our team is at our best. That’s the place that’s our focus here. That’s how we operate best within our program.”
On DB Dajon Hinton: “I’m so proud of that young man. What a great job. I mean, coming back from from a really tough injury, and he played 60 snaps on … Friday night. And played well. Played his tail off, and so I just think that’s one of those young players that’s going to continue to grow and improve the more live snaps he gets.”
On the run game: “I thought we blocked a little better than we did against Texas Tech. Those O-linemen are prideful kids, and I do think this is the best O-line we’ve had since I’ve been here. The opponent has a say, too. I thought I thought everybody came together, and that was one of those things we talked about wanting to run the football effectively, and I thought we did. I think when we’re able to do that, it gives us a little bit of balance, and it makes us a little less one-dimensional. So I thought that was important.”
On where the TCU win ranks in crazy games he’s coached: “It’s up there. It’s incredible, and I think it was just awesome to see everybody execute their part of that in that moment. If you’re going back to, like even the fumble recovery by Noah. Like that might be the biggest play of the game, Noah, being there over the ball getting on it, but then he comes back and he throws the touchdown pass where only Quincy can catch it and Quincy catches it. There’s a lot of really exciting stuff, the kick by French, the recovery by Zuri, the kick by Michael, there’s just a lot of really good moments in that.”
