'Just keep swinging': Arizona Wildcats not tapping out after 5-game losing streak

Despite a five-game losing streak and facing bowl elimination, Arizona head coach Brent Brennan remains “excited about a Friday night game in Arizona Stadium,” when the Wildcats face Houston.

Brennan reiterated his eagerness to “see what a Friday night game looks like in Tucson.”

Yeah, about that ...

It probably won’t look like the early days of Brennan’s coaching career under UA coaching legend Dick Tomey — or even last season, when the Wildcats went on a seven-game winning streak to end the season.

When Arizona and Houston kick off at 8:15 p.m., the ninth-ranked Arizona men’s basketball team will be in the middle of its battle with Wisconsin on the road. To draw fans to the football game, the video board (112-by-47 feet) at Arizona Stadium will show the first half of the Arizona-Wisconsin game, then play relevant second-half highlights during the Arizona-Houston game. Arizona is amid its longest losing skid since the Wildcats dropped 20 straight games between the 2019-21 seasons, and the 56 points allowed in their most recent 44-point thumping by UCF is the most points allowed since the 70-7 loss to Arizona State for the Territorial Cup. Being in the same breath as a rock-bottom moment for UA football isn’t what Arizona had in mind entering this season, but it’s the harsh reality for the program right now.

About an hour before the Wildcats and Cougars face each other on Friday night, several Tucson-area high school playoff games will be kicking off, including neighboring Tucson High and Salpointe Catholic. The first night of a Professional Bull Riding Event at the Tucson Convention Center is also on Friday.A struggling Arizona football team (3-6) is facing a sub-.500 Houston team (4-5) that ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring, averaging 15.2 points per game; Arizona is second-to-last in the Big 12 with 22.1 points per contest.

It’s not necessarily the hottest ticket in town on Friday.To Houston’s credit, the Cougars have won three out of their last four games and are trending in a positive direction under first-year head coach Willie Fritz. Arizona? Not so much.

“We’ve got our hands full,” Brennan said.

Since the Wildcats are one loss away from bowl elimination, “We’re in a one-week season,” Brennan said.

“We talk a lot about blocking out the outside noise, because I know it’s loud for them,” said Brennan. “They’re not 50 years old like me. They haven’t been through this kind of thing before. Helping them navigate that part of it and focus on each other, how much they love the game of football and doing the work that’s required at a high level, so you can have a chance to win, is really our focus. We’re trying to pull that in and lean into each other and not worry about stuff you can’t control.”

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Brennan’s message to his players: “Keep swinging,” said Arizona center Josh Baker. “It’s going to break. Keep swinging.”

Added Brennan: “Right now, when you’ve lost five games in a row, you have to make a conscious choice of staying in the fight. I think that part of it is so important. For them to understand that the only way we’re going to get to where we want to go, whether that’s this week, next week or the following week — or even next year, is using every opportunity to improve. Are we going to attack improvement? Or are we not? That part of it is so important, especially when you’re frustrated and disappointed.

“It’s a fantastic life lesson for them. You’re facing adversity, what are you going to do? Are you going to keep swinging and keep fighting and finding ways to move forward? Or are you going to take your ball and go home? So far, they’ve been fantastic.”

Arizona offensive line coach Josh Oglesby, who coached at San Jose State under Brennan, was with the Spartans last season when they started the season 1-5 and won six straight to end the season.

When a team is spiraling, Brennan “is awesome in helping teams through situations like this,” Oglesby said.

“That being said, we don’t like to be in situations like this. But it’s a mindset of just keep pushing forward, just keep swinging. It’s like breaking a massive boulder. It’s not going to break on the first swing with a sledgehammer, but if you keep chipping away at that thing, eventually it will crack and it will break.

“That’s the message to our team right now. We have three guaranteed opportunities left, and we’re fighting for our fourth.”

Brennan and his staff have already dug themselves a deep hole.

A loss on Friday, in a likely half-full Arizona Stadium, will only deepen the hole, setting up a long road ahead for the current UA football coaching regime.

Extra points

• The honorary captain for the Arizona-Houston game is former defensive tackle Roy Lopez, who plays for the Arizona Cardinals. The Phoenix-area native started his collegiate career at New Mexico State and helped the Aggies win the Arizona Bowl in Tucson before transferring to the UA in 2020 for the pandemic-influenced season. Lopez’s father, Roy Lopez Sr., led the Sunnyside High School football program for three seasons. The younger Lopez, a 6-2, 318-pound defensive lineman, was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Lopez is now in his second season with the hometown Cardinals.
• Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan needs 182 receiving yards to pass Bobby Wade, Arizona’s current receivers coach, as the Wildcats’ all-time receiving yards leader.