Noah Fifita, Dalton Johnson and Treydan Stukes headline Arizona's All-Big 12 group

The Big 12 football awards and all-conference were announced on Thursday and three Arizona Wildcats received All-Big 12 first-team honors. 

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, safety Dalton Johnson and nickel back Treydan Stukes were named to the All-Big 12 First Team. 

Arizona wide receiver Kris Hutson, safety Genesis Smith, linebacker Taye Brown and cornerback Jay'Vion Cole received All-Big 12 third-team honors. 

This year marks the most Wildcats named to an all-conference team since 2008. 

UA running back Ismail Mahdi, defensive tackle Deshawn McKnight, wide receiver Tre Spivey, left tackle Ty Buchanan, linebacker Max Harris and defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea were honorable mentions for the All-Big 12 teams. 

The Big 12 season award winners included BYU running back LJ Martin (Offensive Player of the Year), Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (Defensive Player of the Year), Baylor punter Palmer Williams (Special Teams Player of the Year) and BYU's Kalani Sitake (Coach of the Year).  

Additionally, Utah quarterback Devon Dampier (Offensive Newcomer of the Year), Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey (Defensive Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year), Utah tackle Spencer Fano (Offensive Lineman of the Year), BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier (Offensive Freshman of the Year), Oklahoma State linebacker Wendell Gregory (Defensive Freshman of the Year) and Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson (Scholar-Athlete of the Year) were also honored on Thursday. 

Fifita, who was also a Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honorable mention, is the third all-time Arizona quarterback to be named to an all-conference first team — and the first in 50 years.

Fifita joined Bruce Hill, who was an All-WAC first-team selection in 1975, and Ted Bland, a three-time All-Border Conference selection from 1933-35. The last Arizona quarterback to earn all-conference honors was Matt Scott, who was an All-Pac-12 second-team selection in 2012. 

Fifita joins longtime friend and former UA teammate Tetairoa McMillan as offensive players from the UA to earn All-Big 12 first-team honors. Stukes and Johnson are the first-ever defensive players from Arizona to receive All-Big 12 first-team honors. 

Stukes and Johnson are the first Wildcats to earn first-team all-conference honors since linebacker Jacob Manu in 2023.  

Fifita passed for a career-high 2,963 yards, 26 touchdowns and five interceptions in the regular season — a season after tossing 12 interceptions. 

Fifita's 26 passing touchdowns are a career-high and the fifth-most in a season by a UA quarterback. Fifita needs three more passing touchdowns to set Arizona's single-season touchdown record. He currently owns Arizona's record for the most career passing touchdowns (70), which he set in Arizona's upset win over No. 25 Cincinnati last month.  

Fifita has the third-most passing yards in the Big 12 behind Robertson and TCU's Josh Hoover, but has fewer interceptions (5) than Robertson (12) and Hoover (13).

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Fifita is the first-ever Wildcat to receive Territorial Cup MVP honors multiple times since the award was first given out in 2001. If Arizona wins its upcoming bowl game, Fifita will be the only player to quarterback two 10-win teams at Arizona.

Johnson has the sixth-most tackles (97) in the conference this season — the most by a defensive back. Johnson, Stukes and Cole are tied for the second-most interceptions (4) in the Big 12. 

Johnson is on pace to become the first Arizona defensive back since Darrell Brooks in 2004 and '05 to lead the Wildcats in tackles in back-to-back seasons. Johnson's 97 tackles are more than his season total from last year.

Johnson ended the season earning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors twice. He had 18 tackles in Arizona's home finale against Baylor, the most tackles by a Wildcat since Scooby Wright III in 2014. Johnson also had an interception and forced fumble the following week against ASU in the Territorial Cup. 

The sixth-year Stukes, who has been a part of three coaching staffs at Arizona, is in his final season at Arizona and has 52 tackles and four interceptions this season. Stukes' interception in the end zone sparked the Wildcats' three takeaways in the fourth quarter of the Wildcats' win over Baylor.  

Stukes and Johnson are the first Arizona defensive backs to receive all-conference first-team recognition since Antoine Cason. This year is also the first season that Arizona has produced multiple first-team all-conference defensive backs since All-WAC selections Jackie Wallace and Bob White.

Hutson and Cole are in their first seasons at Arizona after transferring to the UA in the spring.

Hutson, who started his career at Oregon and Washington State, is the Wildcats' top receiver with 740 yards and four touchdowns on 57 catches — 42 of his receptions resulted in first downs, according to Pro Football Focus. Redshirt junior receiver Chris Hunter had the second-most first-down catches (18) at Arizona this season. Hutson's 55 catches in Big 12 play led the conference. 

After Cole transferred from Texas, the redshirt junior cornerback recorded four interceptions and is the fourth-highest graded Arizona defender on PFF with an 80.6 defensive grade — 84.7 grade in pass coverage. Cole received Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year honorable mention. 

In the first season under defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales, Brown has quietly become one of the Wildcats' most productive defensive players with 84 tackles, which is the second-most behind Johnson.

Smith is in his second season as Arizona's starting safety and has the third-most tackles (77) behind Johnson and Brown, along with eight pass breakups and an interception.  

Arizona and ASU tied for the fourth-most first-team All-Big 12 selections behind Texas Tech (6), Baylor (5) and BYU (4). The Wildcats played against seven teams that produced 19 All-Big 12 first-team players and they were 5-2 against those teams. 

No. 18 Arizona ended its regular season on a five-game winning streak and a 9-3 overall record and now awaits its postseason fate, which will be announced on Sunday at 10 a.m. on ESPN.