Initially, Arizona offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll refrained himself from reflecting on the Wildcats’ loss to Northern Arizona in 2021.
“Nope,” Carroll responded, after he was asked about the Lumberjacks’ 21-19 defeat of Arizona two years ago in Tucson.
Understandable. Who would want to talk about being on the wrong end of the most historic win in program history for your opponent? Who would want to relive losing to an in-state FCS counterpart for the first time since 1932, when the country was under the Herbert Hoover administration amid the Great Depression?
Arizona’s 20-game losing streak that bled over from the previous two seasons extended to a 15th game on that eerie night for the Wildcats on Sept. 18, 2021.
NAU running back Kevin Daniels (128 yards) out-rushed Arizona’s entire offense (106 yards), and the Lumberjacks were down to their third-string freshman quarterback RJ Martinez, who’s now a backup at Baylor. Long story short: It was a memorable night for all the wrong reasons for Arizona.
A few members of the Arizona team sit on the bench after losing to NAU at home in 2021.
“I remember that I knew we had to find a way to get better fast and we had to put that game behind us, as we have to put all games behind us that we don’t win,” said Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch. “I think the rest of the night went into watching film and evaluating our talent and making decisions on what type of team we have.
“You get to a point where there is this lingering black cloud over the program of losing streaks and games we weren’t winning,” Fisch added.
In Fisch’s first season at the helm, the loss to NAU soured a start to what has otherwise been a program on a steady ascension.
“It was a very difficult night to be on that staff, but it really showed how far we had to go and we weren’t really ready to win yet,” Carroll said. “We weren’t ready to be a good football team, and it took a while. It’s a process. It’s not something you can just snap your fingers and fix. Looking back on that, seeing how far we’ve come, there’s a little bit of hope.”
Arizona running back Stevie Rocker Jr. and NAU defensive lineman Carson Taylor collide in the first quarter of the teams' Sept. 18, 2021 game at Arizona Stadium.
On paper, the season-opening matchup between the Lumberjacks and Wildcats Saturday on night at Arizona Stadium could be considered a quote-unquote “revenge game.”
“We’re expecting to have a battle on Saturday night. We had one a couple of years ago,” Fisch said. “I think our team is a little different than it was a couple of years ago and I know their team is different.”
Drastically different.
Counting scholarship players and walk-ons, just 21 of the 110 players (19%) on Arizona’s roster this season were a part of Fisch’s inaugural season two years ago. Left tackle Jordan Morgan, running back Michael Wiley, defensive back Gunner Maldonado and punter Kyle Ostendorp are the only starters this year who started against NAU two years ago.
Northern Arizona defensive back Devontae Ingram (15) gets ahold of Arizona wide receiver Stanley Berryhill III (1) by his face mask while dragging him down after a catch in the second quarter of NAU's eventual win over the Wildcats two years ago.
The loss to NAU wasn’t a reminder for Fisch that the previous regime under Kevin Sumlin left his staff with essentially empty cupboards for talent; rather it was Arizona ending the pandemic-influenced ’20 season with a 70-7 drubbing from Arizona State in the Territorial Cup game.
“The last game in 2020, before we arrived, we recognized that the program was not in a good spot. ... The rest of the team that was back lived that loss and lived a bunch of losses throughout their college careers,” Fisch said. “So, I certainly realized what a rebuild it was going to be. We talked about it all Year 1: we called it Year Zero for a reason. We felt like we had to strip it down to the studs and start building it back up.”
Phase 1: Establish an identity on offense and utilize the transfer portal and bring in high-profile freshmen. The Wildcats did that by adding wide receivers Jacob Cowing and Tetairoa McMillan, quarterback Jayden de Laura, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea and tight end Tanner McLachlan, among others. The Wildcats also groomed several underclassmen and transfers on defense in the second half of the season.
The Arizona Wildcats run onto the field to take on Northern Arizona at Arizona Stadium on Sept. 18, 2021.
The high-powered passing attack and budding defense elevated Arizona from 1-11 to 5-7, with marquee wins over ASU and UCLA.
“Last year I felt like we made good progress in the build and in that process of trying to get better every single week,” Fisch said. “We finished winning two out of the last three (games) last year, finished with some really good football players on our roster, and then added some more good players.”
Phase 2: Return the lion’s share of the offense, return quality underclassmen and dive into the transfer portal to strengthen the front six to improve a rushing defense that was eighth-worst in FBS. The Wildcats added five defensive linemen and two linebackers (Daniel Heimuli and Justin Flowe) from the transfer portal, and signed sixth-year defensive back Dylan Wyatt, who will start on Saturday.
“I feel like we’re in a good spot this year going into this game, and recognizing that two years ago was a different team,” Fisch said.
Although several players on the current rendition of the Wildcats weren’t a part of the loss to NAU two years, they also shoulder the loss.
“Because we’re a part of the Arizona football team now, it sits with us kind of wrong,” said de Laura.
Georgia transfer defensive tackle Bill Norton said, “We take burden of the responsibility to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.”
“Coach Fisch has emphasized it to us that we’re going to treat every opponent the same and we’re going to go into every game with the same mindset,” he said.
“But, yeah, no more disappointment like that.”
Extra points
As of Friday evening, Arizona has sold over 46,000 tickets for the season opener. The Wildcats had 33,481 against NAU in ’21, which was the first crowd under 35,000 for a UA home game since Arizona Stadium’s capacity increased to 50,000 in 1976. If Arizona eclipses 46,275 tickets sold, the announced attendance from the home opener against Mississippi State last season, it’ll be the most attended home opener since the 2018 season (51,002).
Tucson-based indie rock band “Calexico” will perform live on the UA mall leading up to the Wildcats’ season opener at 5 p.m.
The “Wildcat Walk” with UA players and coaches walking up to Arizona Stadium on Cherry Street will begin at 4:45 p.m.
Arizona's loss to Northern Arizona in 2021 was the Wildcats' first setback to the Lumberjacks since 1932. (Video by Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star)
Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said UA senior left tackle Jordan Morgan, who is overcoming a knee injury, is "good to go" for the Wildcats' season opener vs. Northern Arizona. Video by Justin Spears/Arizona Daily Star
