On the same day Arizona hired new head coach Brent Brennan, UA redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifita was named the Football Writers Association of America Offensive Freshman of the Year on Tuesday.
Fifita was also named to the FWAA's 32-player Freshman All-America Team.Â
Fifita, who was also the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, concluded his first season as Arizonaâs starter with 2,869 yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 72.4% of his pass attempts. The Huntington Beach, California native is the only UA quarterback in program history to complete over 70% of his passes in a season.
After taking over for the injured Jayden de Laura during Arizona's come-from-behind win at Stanford to begin Pac-12 play, Fifita went 7-2 as the starter, including a seven-game winning streak to end the season; the two losses to Washington and USC were by a combined nine points. Fifita stamped his breakout regular season with a school- and Territorial Cup-record 527 yards through the air along with five touchdowns in a blowout win over rival ASU in Tempe.
In Arizona's win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl, Fifita passed for 354 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, the second-most passing yards in a bowl game in program history.
Fifita joined offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea as UA players to receive FWAA Freshman All-America Team honors in the last two seasons.Â
Brent Brennan was officially announced as the head coach of the Arizona Wildcats on Tuesday. Brennan flew to Tucson and walked into Arizona Stadium with the Pride of Arizona playing "Bear Down, Arizona" and mascots Wilbur and Wilma greeting the new UA coach. (Video by Justin Spears / Arizona Daily Star)
