Arizona's showdown with No. 19 UCLA at Arizona Stadium on Saturday is a "white out" game, but the Wildcats won't partake in the theme, however it's not their decision.
The Wildcats' midseason request to wear their road white uniforms was denied by UCLA, so Arizona will wear navy blue jerseys and pants with white helmets on Saturday, while the Bruins will don white jerseys. Arizona's road game against Mississippi State game in Starkville was a "white out" and the Wildcats wore their navy blue uniforms. Arizona previously wore blue jerseys in its "white out" game against UCLA in 2021 and Texas Tech in 2019.
So why did UCLA deny Arizona's request? Maybe the, um, unique relationship between Bruins head coach Chip Kelly and Arizona boss Jedd Fisch had something to do with it. Fisch was the Bruins' interim head coach in 2017 after UCLA fired Jim Mora. After Kelly was hired in 2017, he "didn’t have a long transition with Jedd, I was here for like a week or two," he said.
"They were practicing for the bowl game so I stayed away and let him coach the team and that was about it," Kelly said in 2021. "He was interviewing for a few jobs so he really wasn’t around, so there wasn’t much of an overlap."
When Kelly was asked if he considered retaining Fisch as an offensive assistant, he "already had our staff in place." Before Arizona's game against UCLA in 2021, Fisch mentioned he knew Kelly from his days with the Philadelphia Eagles and they briefly discussed bringing Fisch on Philly's staff, but Kelly denied that ever happening.
"I’ve known Jedd for a long time but I did not talk to him about that," Kelly said.
Per NCAA rules, "the visiting team shall wear white jerseys; however, the home team may wear white jerseys if the teams have agreed in writing before the season."
Also, "if the home team wears colored jerseys, the visiting team may also wear colored jerseys, if and only if the following two conditions have been satisfied: A: the home team has agreed in writing prior to the game; and B: the conference of the home team certifies that the jersey of the visiting team is of a contrasting color."
If the visiting team wears a colored jersey in violation of the conditions specified of the previous paragraph, it is a foul for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The last time the Wildcats wore all-white uniforms in a "white out" game was against Cal in 2014, also known as the "Hill Mary" game, which ended with wide receiver Austin Hill hauling in a walk-off Hail Mary pass from Anu Solomon.
Kickoff between Arizona and UCLA is at 7:30 p.m. on FS1.
