Arizona not revealing starting quarterback until just before Oregon State game

Jedd Fisch didn’t shake his poker face when asked about who will start at quarterback for Arizona between original starter Jayden de Laura and Noah Fifita, a two-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, moving forward.

The Arizona head coach double-downed on the quarterback mystery as the Wildcats prepare for their first game since returning from a bye week when they face No. 11 Oregon State on Saturday night in Tucson.

“We have two really good ones,” Fisch said during his news conference Monday. “That’s where I’m at. We’ll see what that looks like come Saturday at 7:30 (p.m.), but right now I feel really good.”

De Laura, now in his second season at Arizona, had 1,069 yards, nine touchdown passes and six turnovers — five interceptions — before suffering an ankle injury at the end of the third quarter in the Wildcats’ 21-20 win over Stanford to begin Pac-12 play; he also had a career-high 121 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

In de Laura’s place at Stanford and the following three games against No. 7 Washington and back-to-back road games at No. 9 USC and No. 19 Washington State, Fifita completed 90 of 121 passes (74%) for 924 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions — and his passing yards have incrementally improved for three weeks.

In Arizona’s dominating 38-point win at Washington State, Fifita completed 34 of 43 passes for 343 yards and didn’t have a passing touchdown, but completed 79% of his passes and played his first complete game without any turnovers.

The decision comes down to de Laura, who has 35 more starts than his quarterback cohort, or Fifita, the red-hot redshirt freshman who helped the Wildcats to a statement win at WSU and lost by just a combined nine points against two Top-10 teams — and is the future — or current — face of UA football.

Decisions, decisions.

“So we’ll just wait and see what that looks like and see how it progresses this week,” Fisch said.

“We’ll see how healthy everyone is and go from there.”

RG Pulido could still play, redshirt

Arizona running back Michael Wiley is expected to return this week, while right guard Raymond Pulido remains doubtful. Both Wiley and Pulido suffered lower-leg injuries at Stanford.

“We’re in a good spot there,” Fisch said of Arizona’s injuries after the bye week. “We’re pretty close to everyone being able to play.”

The 6-6, 335-pound Pulido entered the season starting at right guard as a true freshman before missing the first three games of the season following a bicycle accident near Arizona Stadium. When Pulido returned to the starting lineup at Stanford, he left twice for a lower-leg injury and hasn’t played since. Redshirt sophomore Leif Magnuson, a Saskatchewan, Canada native, has been manning Arizona’s right guard spot in place of Pulido.

With five games remaining in the regular season, Pulido can play in three of those games and still redshirt this year, preserving his four years of eligibility. The four-game redshirt rule doesn’t apply to the postseason, so Pulido could play in the bowl game if the Wildcats qualify.

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Fisch said he “would be very surprised if (Pulido) is physically ready to go this week, so you’re really talking about a four-game window there.”

“At that point in time, we’ll end up having that conversation,” Fisch said. “’Can he play three of those four games?’ If he can, that will still allow him to have those four years and also, if we’re fortunate enough to be able to play in the postseason, he’d be able to do that as well.”

Gronk set to return for homecoming

For the second straight season, homecoming weekend will have the Gronks in town.

Former Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski, whose brother Chris Gronkowski starred at fullback for the Wildcats, will be the team’s honorary captain on Nov. 4, when the Wildcats face No. 23 UCLA at 7:30 p.m. for homecoming. Gronkowski was also an honorary captain last year before Arizona’s loss to 10th-ranked USC in Tucson.

Gronkowski will also be inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Fame that weekend as well.

Fisch revealed Gronkowski’s honorary captain status on Monday when the Arizona head coach was asked by the former UA star and four-time Super Bowl champion to become the newest title sponsor of the L.A. Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. ESPN’s latest bowl projections has the Wildcats playing in the Gronk L.A. Bowl against Wyoming on Dec. 16. ESPN also has another projection with the UA facing future Big 12 opponent TCU in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana.

“I’m more excited about that part of it, to get him back on campus,” Fisch said. “Gronk has continued to support our program since I’ve been here and I’m very grateful for that. So we’ll have him back on campus next Saturday.”

Since Fisch was hired, Gronkowski has visited Tucson once a year, which first started during the 2021 spring game, marking a decade since Gronkowski stepped foot on the UA campus. He attended the spring game in 2011 following his rookie season with the New England Patriots, then didn’t return until the ’21 spring game. Last season, Gronkowski returned to Tucson for homecoming and was also the keynote speaker at the Arizona Bowl kickoff luncheon.

Former UA commit pledges to Washington

Salpointe Catholic standout and three-star edge rusher Keona Wilhite officially committed to the Washington Huskies on Monday.

The 6-5, 245-pound Tucson native and former Arizona commit also held offers from Oregon State, UCLA, BYU, Colorado, Nebraska and Arizona State.

Wilhite was one of two Lancers who committed to the hometown Wildcats this summer before re-opening his recruitment earlier this month, along with five-star edge rusher Elijah Rushing, who is expected to commit to Oregon.

Wilhite is the latest Salpointe star to join the Huskies. Offensive lineman Matteo Mele, who suffered a season-ending injury, is in his final year at UW.