The upcoming Holiday Bowl between Arizona and SMU offers up a matchup we might never see again.
It is the rarest of rarities in modern college football.
Michael Lev is a senior writer/columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson.com and The Wildcaster.
It’s so unusual nowadays that it almost seems impossible.
The starting quarterbacks for the Wildcats and Mustangs — Noah Fifita and Kevin Jennings — have spent their entire college careers at one school. They will finish their careers next year at the same school.
That just doesn’t happen anymore.
Entering the 2025 season, more than 60% of starting quarterbacks at Power Four programs had transferred at least once, per CBSSports.com. The Athletic examined the top 50 high school quarterbacks from the classes of 2017-20 and found that more than 70% had transferred.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita celebrates after a video review upheld a Wildcat interception in the last minutes of the Territorial Cup game against Arizona State, Nov. 28, in Tempe. The Wildcats took the Cup back with a 23-7 win.
The 2026 transfer portal technically hasn’t opened yet, but it’s already filled with big-name quarterbacks who’ve announced their intention to enter it.
Fifita is one of only four starting quarterbacks in the 16-team Big 12 who isn’t currently a freshman who is returning or is expected to return to the same school next season. Houston's Conner Weigman, Kansas State’s Avery Johnson and Utah’s Devon Dampier are the others. Weigman and Dampier already have transferred once.
The following big-name Big 12 quarterbacks are portaling: Rocco Becht (Iowa State), Josh Hoover (TCU), Sam Leavitt (ASU) and Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati).
Not our guy Noah Fifita. Or Dallas’ very own Kevin Jennings. Despite the fact, as UA offensive coordinator Seth Doege noted, they’d be “high-dollar prospects" in the portal had they decided to enter — which they could have multiple times.
“We're lucky,” Doege said of the Holiday Bowl participants, “because we got guys (who) want to be here. They're not chasing more money. They value stability, they value their teammates, they value the coaching, they value the scheme, and they value the university. They value the town that they're in.
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings reacts to a touchdown during the first half against Baylor, Sept. 6, 2025, in Dallas.
“In today's age, and what college football is now, that's rare, because you see all these big-time guys getting in the portal. And who knows why, right? You can't judge everybody's situation.
“I just know our guy loves it here. He loves the University of Arizona, he loves playing for Brent Brennan, he loves his teammates, and I'm excited to coach him.”
Doege is especially excited to coach Fifita again.
Common traits
Next year technically isn’t the first time Fifita will have been in the same offensive system two years in a row. But it might as well be.
Fifita worked in Jedd Fisch’s offense in his first two years at Arizona. But Fifita wasn’t a starter back then. Now he’s entrenched. And, unlike the past two offseasons, he won’t have to learn a new scheme.
“It's gonna be so awesome to be in a system in Year Two,” Doege said. “He's just so excited that there's going to be some stability in his life when it comes to football.”
That’s one of the ways in which Fifita and Jennings are different.
Fifita has played for two head coaches and three offensive coordinators. Jennings has operated in SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee’s offensive system for his entire college career.
(Fun fact: SMU’s quarterbacks coach is D’Eriq King — yes, the same D’Eriq King who accounted for six touchdowns in Houston’s 45-18 demolition of Arizona in 2018.)
Overall, though, Fifita and Jennings have a lot in common — and that might explain why they’ve made similar career decisions.
Both were overlooked, to varying degrees, as recruits. Fifita was the 38th-ranked quarterback in the 2022 class, per 247Sports Composite. Jennings was No. 95.
Both are undersized. Fifita is generously listed at 5-foot-10, 195 pounds. Jennings is listed at 6-0, 192.
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings throws a pass against Miami, Nov. 1, 2025, in Dallas. SMU won 26-20.
Both got their first big breaks because of injuries to veteran starters. Fifita subbed for Jayden de Laura in the fourth game of 2023 and hasn’t left the lineup since. Jennings made his first two career starts at the end of the '23 season in place of the injured Preston Stone and won the job the following year.
Both have drawn praise for their personalities and presence. Brennan has often lauded Fifita's character, describing him this week as “a young man who is everything that's right about college football.” UA receiver Tre Spivey said Fifita — Arizona’s all-time leader in touchdown passes — is the humblest guy he’s ever met.
In a profile of Jennings in D Magazine, his mother, Sherry Henry, said her son is “the least problematic person you will probably ever meet.” The author of that piece, Mike Piellucci, wrote that Jennings is “so uninterested in drawing attention to himself that the closest thing he has to a nickname is ‘Kev.’”
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita (1) gets off the throw under pressure during the first quarter against Arizona State in their Territorial Cup game, Nov. 28, 2025, in Tempe.
So maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Fifita and Jennings valued consistency, camaraderie and loyalty over money.
All-timers
Jennings announced last week that he’s coming back for his fifth and final season.
“Coach Lashlee put his trust in me,” Jennings told reporters. “When I came out of high school, I had no offers. Nobody was looking at me. Coach Lashlee believed in me, and I'm putting my heart back into it and finishing it off as a Mustang."
Fifita hasn’t made any public proclamations about his future and, in fact, hasn’t spoken to the Tucson media since breaking the program record for TD passes at Cincinnati on Nov. 15. Fifita only talks after games if the Wildcats lose. They haven’t lost since Oct. 18.
Doege spoke about Fifita’s return as if it’s a done deal, and it’s pretty safe to assume that it is. Besides his fond feelings for his current teammates, the coaching staff and the UA, Fifita has a unique opportunity in 2026 to be teammates with his brother, Dash, an incoming linebacker. Noah isn’t going anywhere.
Fifita will enjoy upward mobility right here in Tucson next year as he continues to climb Arizona’s all-time leaderboards. Barring injury, Fifita should finish his career with about 100 touchdown passes and 12,000 yards. The school TD record was 67; the yardage mark is 10,011.
Combine those individual numbers with the Wildcats’ team accomplishments — at least one 10-win season and two bowl berths, with the possibility for more of each — and Fifita will go down as the greatest quarterback in UA history. You could make a case that he already is.
Jennings, meanwhile, is on pace to finish his career as SMU’s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns. He’s also helped elevate the program to national prominence for the first time since the "Pony Express" days.
On Jan. 2, a Mustang for Life and a Wildcat for Life will square off in San Diego. The outcome is irrelevant; they’re already winners.
