Be loud, not rude: Brent Brennan urges Arizona fans to 'be respectful' during BYU game

Brent Brennan has lofty expectations for the crowd at Arizona Stadium for Arizona’s highly anticipated battle with 18th-ranked BYU.

It’s more like a challenge for the UA faithful, especially after the Wildcats just experienced a sold-out Jack Trice Stadium for their Big 12-opening loss at No. 14 Iowa State two weeks ago.

Brennan’s “challenge to our fanbase and everyone who loves the University of Arizona is to show up,” he said at his Monday news conference.

“Let’s sell out Arizona Stadium and make it the hostile environment we know it can be, and make it really challenging for our opponents when they get here,” Brennan said. “That’s something we experience every time we go on the road in the Big 12. We experienced it two weeks ago at Iowa State. It was sold out, rocking, loud, hard to deal with and that’s something we’re absolutely capable of here.”

Added Brennan: “Also, when we do that, I would also ask our fans, let’s be respectful in this thing.”

Translation: Keep it classy — Arizona isn’t trying to dish out $50,000 to the Big 12, so keep the chants and cheers more about the Wildcats than BYU, which is connected to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Colorado was recently reprimanded and fined $50,000 after “(expletive) the Mormons” were heard during the Buffaloes’ 24-21 loss to BYU on Sept. 27.

“Hateful and discriminatory language has no home in the Big 12 Conference,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said in a released statement last Tuesday. “While we appreciate Colorado apologizing for the chants that occurred in the stands during Saturday’s game, the Big 12 maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said, “That’s not indicative of who we are.”

“Our student body, our kids, are phenomenal,” Sanders said. “So don’t indict us just based on a group of young kids that probably was intoxicated and high simultaneously. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that as well, but the truth is going to make you free. BYU, we love you, we appreciate you and we support you.”

Following Arizona men’s basketball’s upset loss to BYU at McKale Center earlier this year, some UA fans chanted “(expletive) the Mormons” at BYU players and staffers as they were leaving the floor. Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois apologized for the “unacceptable chant.”

“The chant is not reflective of who we are and should not have happened,” Reed-Francois said in February.

The crowd for Arizona’s matchup with BYU will undoubtedly be a significant improvement from the half-full Arizona Stadium last Saturday against Oklahoma State, even though the announced attendance was just over 40,000.

UA and BYU, are a combined 9-1 this season, and BYU is a well-traveled fanbase and has a large contingent of fans in Arizona, which was evident in the 2016 season opener at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, where there were arguably more BYU fans than UA fans.

Saturday could be a rowdy night at Arizona Stadium. Brennan is just hopeful it doesn’t result in a $50,000 check to the Big 12 — and a stain on the reputation of UA fans.

“That’s one of those things where we’re better than that,” Brennan said. “Let’s be here and see a great game and cheer on the Wildcats with everything we’ve got and make it incredibly hard on BYU, but let’s be respectful in the process.”

Wildcats ‘have faith in Money Mike’

There’s a new “Money Mike” at Arizona. That nickname was previously held by former Arizona star receiver Mike Thomas, who set the Pac-10 record for most career receptions.

Arizona’s current Money Mike is kicker Michael Salgado-Medina, who had an up-and-down performance against Oklahoma State, which was also a microcosm of his season as Arizona’s placekicker and the successor to arguably the best kicker in program history in Tyler Loop, who only missed five field goals last season.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Salgado-Medina missed a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter against Oklahoma State, but responded with a 34-yarder and 57-yarder to end the day. He’s 3 for 8 on field goals longer than 40 yards this season, but he’s 2 for 3 on field goals longer than 50 yards. Salgado-Medina is 9 for 14 on field goals this season.

“We have faith in Money Mike,” Brennan said on Monday. “He’s a young player, but he’s getting better every week and we’re going to keep putting him out there, because we believe in him.”

Despite Salgado-Medina’s inconsistencies, Brennan continues to instill positive reinforcement and encourage the UA placekicker instead of dogpiling him with over-the-top criticism laced with colorful language.

“Every player is different and you coach them all differently,” Brennan said. “You treat them all fairly, but you coach them all differently. Some players respond to a different kind of stimulus. But at the end of the day, everyone likes to be encouraged. Nobody likes to get beaten to the ground.

“If you make a mistake, do we have a better chance to respond to that mistake if me as the head coach is all over your case and making you feel bad about the mistake you already made? Or is it better for me to take the approach of, ‘We’re putting you back out there, because we believe in you or else we wouldn’t put you back out there? So go out there and make the plays you’re capable of making.’”

Fifita named Big 12 Offensive POW

Following his five-touchdown performance against Oklahoma State, Fifita was named Co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.

TCU quarterback Josh Hoover was also named Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

Cincinnati linebacker Jake Golday and TCU linebacker Namdi Obiazor were named Big 12 Co-Defensive Players of the Week. Texas Tech kicker Stone Harrington and Baylor kicker Connor Hawkins received Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors. BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier was named Big 12 Freshman of the Week.

It’s the first time Fifita has received Big 12 weekly honors. He was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week five times during his breakout season in 2023.

In Arizona’s 41-13 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday, Fifita completed 28 of 38 passes (74%) for 376 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. Fifita threw touchdown passes to four different receivers on Saturday: Tre Spivey (2), Javin Whatley (1), Chris Hunter (1) and Luke Wysong (1).

Fifita’s 7,296 career passing yards rank fourth in program history behind Nick Foles, Willie Tuitama and Tom Tunnicliffe. Fifita’s 57 career passing touchdowns are tied with Khalil Tate for the third-most in program history. Fifita is fourth in the Big 12 in passing yards (1,341) this season.

“It was great to see him have a big game,” Brennan said. “He’s one of those players we’re going to have to lean on as we get deeper and deeper into Big 12 play, especially this weekend when you have a Top 10 defense and a Top 25 football team, we’re going to need Noah Fifita to play at the level he’s capable of playing at.”

Cats-Cougars set for morning kickoff

Arizona’s road battle against the Houston Cougars will kick off at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, on FS1.

It marks Arizona’s fifth consecutive game with a kickoff time before 7 p.m. PT. It’s the first morning kickoff for Arizona since its last game in Houston in 2018.

Arizona is 2-3 all-time against Houston since their first contest in 1969. The Wildcats won the first Big 12 matchup with the Cougars, 27-3, last season.

In Arizona’s last trip to Houston in 2018, which was former head coach Kevin Sumlin’s inaugural season at the UA, the Wildcats lost 45-18.

Houston is 4-1 this season and recently lost to ninth-ranked Texas Tech, the Cougars’ first setback of the season.

Extra points