Arizona football hones in on fundamentals to fix dropped passes

Not all of Noah Fifita’s incompletions this season are his fault.

Arizona’s pass-catching skill players — wide receivers, tight ends and running backs — have totaled 11 dropped passes this season, which is nearly three per game, according to Pro Football Focus.

If the Wildcats didn’t have any drops this season, Arizona’s quarterback would be throwing just under 71%, which is more akin to the Fifita of 2023, a breakout player for the Wildcats and the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.

Arizona redshirt junior wide receiver Chris Hunter, who dropped a pass on third-and-2 in the third quarter of Arizona’s 39-14 loss to No. 14 Iowa State in Ames on Saturday, has four drops this season, per PFF. Hunter’s dropped pass was one of nine failed third-down plays for the Wildcats against Iowa State.

Seven other Wildcats, including receivers Kris Hutson, Javin Whatley and Luke Wysong, each have a drop this season.

So, what’s the solution to catching passes at this point of the season?

“The old-school way, when I was playing, the coach would just yell at you and say, ‘Catch the f-ing ball,’” said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan, who played receiver at UCLA and coached the position before becoming a head coach. “That was the coaching point. It’s the worst coaching point of all time.

“For me, having played the position, I’m more of trying to talk to the player, ‘Where did you miss it? Were your hands behind your eyes? Were your eyes late to it? Did you pick it up late? Did it hit the lights? Did you not fight it through the lights? Did the sun hit it?’ Just trying to help them be better technically about the catch.”

Sometimes, as Arizona is emphasizing this week, it’s about getting back to the basics and focusing on the fundamentals to catching a football, like “eyes to tuck, eyes to securing the ball.”

“Catching the ball and seeing yourself lock it away is the lightning-rod moment in all of college football for me right now,” Brennan said. “It cost Florida State a game, if you watched that (game) the other night. It’s a fundamental thing and so many of our young people spend so much time watching the NFL, and all of those guys do all kinds of crazy stuff with the football. Those guys can do crazy stuff when they get to the NFL, but not when you’re playing for the University of Arizona. We are supposed to take that ball out of the air and get it on our body right now.”

The best example of securing the ball for a reception was Tre Spivey’s touchdown in the end zone during the third quarter on Saturday, “where he was gonna get smashed,” Brennan said.

“But the reason he was able to possess the football is because he plucked it out of the air and snatched it to his body where he’s strong and powerful,” added Arizona’s head coach.

Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege has been impressed by Arizona’s receivers’ catching and play-making abilities, “but there might be a play or two where we let something slide and he didn’t put it on his chest because there’s a million things going on,” Doege said.

“We gotta be really intentional as coaches to make sure we’re demanding every little detail to give us the best opportunity to make plays in critical situations,” he said.

Doege noted “there’s a fine line” between fixing mistakes and over-correcting, “because you don’t want to handcuff a really special player.”

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“The details that I see are fundamentals,” Doege said. “We’re still allowing these guys to be themselves. I’m still allowing Kris Hutson to be himself. I’m still allowing Chris Hunter to be himself, but the details that matter, like putting a ball on your body in a critical situation like that, that won’t ever handcuff him. I just gotta demand that from him every single day.”

Added Doege: “I believe in those guys. Here’s the deal, and I told the receivers after the game, am I down on them? Am I frustrated? Hell no. I believe in those guys. We just gotta continue to find our edge and practice the right habits.

“It’s not about coaching them harder, it’s about coaching them better. I gotta coach them better. I gotta demand every little detail from them that matters.”

Gronk named honorary captain vs. Oklahoma St.

Gronk is back.

On Tuesday, Arizona announced former tight end Rob Gronkowski as the honorary captain for the Wildcats’ Big 12 home opener against Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon.

Gronkowski joins Tyler Loop, Jonah Savaiinaea, David Adams and Marquis Flowers as honorary captains this season. Gronkowski was an honorary captain for Arizona’s homecoming game against UCLA in 2023, the same weekend he was inducted into the UA Sports Hall of Fame. He was also an honorary coach for Arizona’s spring game in 2021.

Gronkowski starred for the Wildcats under then-head coach Mike Stoops from 2007-09, before he was a second-round draft pick by the New England Patriots in 2010.

Part of quarterback Tom Brady’s cohort, “Gronk” emerged as one of the top tight ends in NFL history over 11 seasons. During his NFL career in New England and Tampa Bay, Gronkowski was a five-time Pro Bowler, four-time All-Pro selection, a four-time Super Bowl champion and was named the 2014 NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

“It’ll be awesome to meet him,” said Arizona senior tight end Sam Olson. “He’s one of the greatest tight ends to ever do it. It’ll be awesome to meet him, for sure.”

Extra points

– Now that Arizona is four games into the season, any player who hasn’t used a redshirt year could redshirt this season and preserve a year of eligibility, which is what running back Rayshon Luke did last season. The redshirt rule excludes the postseason, so players can play anywhere from five to nine games and still redshirt a season. Said Brennan, on the conversations about players redshirting: “If you’re helping this football team win games, you’re playing.”

– Brennan, on punt returner Jeremiah Patterson fair-catching two punts inside the Arizona 10-yard line against Iowa State: “I would assess that’s not good enough. We’re not coaching that, and that needs to be fixed. We’re going to flush that out in practice. We’re going to continue to have that conversation. Sometimes it’s hard as a punt returner, when you get driven back and you’re tracking the flight of the football, so it comes down to a feel of where you are on the yard line. That’s part of it, we need to be better at.”

– Doege, on if Oklahoma State’s defensive film is irrelevant considering the Cowboys just fired defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who was replaced by interim defensive play-caller Clint Bowen: “A little bit. There’s a little bit of unknown. ... It’s hard to say what you’re going to get. They’re going to clean up some stuff that I know (Bowen) wants to clean up and try to stay a little more simple and let those guys play fast. Obviously, he’s going to throw what he feels like he can get in, in a week. I don’t think he’ll do a wholesale change, because that would be a disservice to those kids. ... Who knows, but we’ll be prepared for whatever.”