Arizona's 'physical brand of football' is translating to takeaways for the Wildcats

Regardless of what the scoreboard says, the Arizona Wildcats have a 24-hour rule to think about the previous game.

Arizona made the most of its 24 hours after the Wildcats’ 52-17 win over the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder.

Moments after Arizona’s rout of Colorado, UA head coach Brent Brennan said the Wildcats “are going to celebrate the hell out of this. This is going to be a fun plane ride, dammit. We’re going to enjoy the plane ride home and I’m looking forward to that. The joy in that locker room, the hugs and smiles, how it felt, just fantastic.”

The two-hour plane ride from Boulder to Tucson was a stark contrast to the previous five road trips that ended in multiple blowout losses. The final loss of the series of road setbacks dating back to last season ended with a walk-off field goal.

“Have you ever been on a plane after a loss?” Brennan asked reporters during his news conference on Monday. “Imagine a funeral at 35,000 feet for five hours, and you can’t get out of it. It’s the most miserable experience ever.

“The opposite side of the coin is two hours of smiles, hugs, high-fives, celebrations, people jumping on the microphone singing ‘Bear Down.’”

The always-positive and smiley Arizona defensive tackle Deshawn McKnight sang a “big-time rendition of ‘Bear Down’ on the plane before we took off. It was great,” Brennan said.

“That was a really big game for us,” Brennan said. “To go there and get the win was very important for us.”

One of the factors for Arizona’s success against Colorado was winning the turnover battle. Arizona had five takeaways to Colorado’s two. Arizona wide receiver Kris Hutson fumbled on the Wildcats’ opening possession of the second half, which started after UA cornerback Jay’Vion Cole intercepted Colorado backup quarterback Ryan Staub.

Arizona freshman running back and Dallas-area native Cornelius Warren III (called “Corn” by UA coaches and players) fumbled in the fourth quarter of his UA debut in Colorado.

“We take that part of our game so seriously,” Brennan said of protecting the football. “That’s one of those things those guys have to learn from. ... Those are all very much teachable moments and that’s a huge point of emphasis with us, always.”

How do the Arizona coaches address players on the sideline after fumbling the football? They encourage players to hit the reset button — or, for “Ted Lasso” watchers, have the memory of a goldfish.

“It doesn’t matter what the mistake is, we’re definitely a team that’s talking about playing the next play,” Brennan said. “’You can’t change the past. None of us have a time machine. The best thing you can do for yourself and the best thing you can do for this time is to get the hell over it and play right now. Go get it. Play. Get over it.’

“That’s hard for this generation, because they’re worried about how many people on Twitter are going to tell them they suck for fumbling the ball. It’s a way different world they’re growing up than I (did). They have different outside circumstances they have to deal with.”

Despite the two fumbles, Arizona won the turnover battle. The Wildcats have lost the turnover battle just twice this season — Kansas State, Iowa State and Oklahoma State — and are 2-1 in those games. The Wildcats are 3-1 when they win the turnover battle this season.

Arizona’s 18 takeaways this season are two more than the Wildcats had all of last season. The Wildcats have two five-takeaway games this season, which hasn’t been accomplished since 2000.

Arizona’s 12 interceptions this season are tied with BYU for the most in the Big 12. It’s also the most interceptions for Arizona in a season since 2017. Arizona had 17 combined interceptions the last two seasons; it’s on pace for 16 this season.

The Wildcats’ six fumble recoveries are tied with West Virginia and Oklahoma State for the fourth-most in the conference this season.

Arizona is a few area codes away from reaching its record for takeaways in a season (46), which was set in 1954, but creating turnovers has been a part of its fabric under first-year defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales.

Physicality and takeaways “go hand-in-hand,” Brennan said.

“If you play a physical brand of football, you tend to get the ball and force more turnovers,” said the Arizona coach. “That was something coming out of Houston that we felt like wasn’t good enough. ... That was a huge point of emphasis through the bye and last week during practice. The best part about it was the players loved it and attacked it and that’s what gave us a chance to play that way.”

The Kansas Jayhawks, Arizona’s upcoming opponent for homecoming on Saturday, have nine takeaways — half as many as Arizona — in nine games this season. The Jayhawks have four interceptions this season. Kansas’ offense has also turned the ball over nine times this season. The Jayhawks have won the turnover battle thrice this season and are 3-0 in those matchups.

“I have a ton of respect for them,” Brennan said of Kansas. “Defensively, they have a great front, really physical, run to the ball and have a lot of experience there.”

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Similar to Arizona, the Jayhawks are a win away from becoming bowl eligible under fifth-year head coach Lance Leipold, who is 27-32 at KU since 2021. Kansas redshirt senior quarterback Jalon Daniels has passed for 8,742 yards, 65 touchdowns and 27 interceptions, along with 1,314 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns, in his six-year career at KU.

The 6-foot, 220-pound Daniels “is brilliant” and was on Brennan’s recruiting radar at San Jose State when the quarterback played at Lawndale High School (California). Daniels has a 20:3 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season. In Big 12 play this season, Daniels has 11 passing touchdowns and one interception. The Wildcats have seven interceptions in five games at Arizona Stadium this season.

“We’ve been watching him play since he was 14,” Brennan said of Daniels. “Great player, can do it all, make the throws, effective as a runner, so we have a lot of work to do to get prepared for this game.”

Fifita named Big 12 Offensive POW

Following a four-touchdown performance against the Colorado Buffaloes, Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.

Fifita shares the honor with Arizona State quarterback Jeff Sims, who replaced the injured Sam Leavitt and passed for 177 yards and rushed for 228 yards in the Sun Devils’ 24-19 win over the Iowa State Cyclones in Ames.

West Virginia defensive back Fred Perry and Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez were named Big 12 Defensive Players of the Week. Utah returner Mana Carvalho and Texas Tech kicker Stone Harrington were named Big 12 Special Teams Players of the Week. West Virginia quarterback Scotty Fox earned Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors. ASU’s offensive line and Utah’s defensive line received the Big 12’s “Beef of the Week” award.

It’s Fifita’s second time receiving Big 12 Player of the Week honors. He was also the Big 12 Player of the Week after the Oklahoma State game this season.

Fifita completed 11 of 19 passes for 213 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in Arizona’s 52-17 win over Colorado in Boulder. Fifita is one of six FBS quarterbacks to pass for four-plus touchdowns in three games this season.

All of Fifita’s touchdown passes were in the first half — and they were all to different receivers: Tre Spivey, Kris Hutson, Javin Whatley and Gio Richardson.

In Big 12 play this season, Fifita has passed for 1,330 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions. Fifita is currently third in the Big 12 in passing yards (2,042) and touchdowns (21). Fifita passed his touchdown total from last season (18) and currently has eight fewer interceptions than last season.

Fifita now has 65 career touchdowns. He’s three touchdowns away from passing Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama for the most career touchdowns by an Arizona quarterback.

Fifita could set Arizona’s passing touchdowns this week, when Arizona (5-3) hosts Kansas (5-4) for homecoming at Arizona Stadium Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2. The winner of the matchup becomes bowl-eligible.

Kickoff time, TV info announced for Cincy game

Arizona’s next road game against No. 25 Cincinnati will kick off on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 10 a.m. on FS1, the Big 12 announced on Monday.

It will be Arizona’s eighth straight game with a kickoff time at 6 p.m. or earlier — the second one with a morning kickoff. The Wildcats faced the Houston Cougars at 9 a.m. last month.

When Arizona faces Cincinnati next week, it’ll be the first-ever matchup between the Wildcats and Bearcats, which joined the Big 12 in 2023 after stints in the American Athletic Conference and Big East.

Cincinnati is led by third-year head coach Scott Satterfield, who is leading the Bearcats to their first winning season since 2022. Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby has the third-most rushing yards by a Big 12 quarterback this season behind Utah’s Devon Dampier and BYU’s Bear Bachmeier. Cincy is fourth in the conference in total offense and rushing offense.

The Bearcats (7-2) enter a bye week after a 45-14 beatdown by 24th-ranked Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Cincinnati, now third in the Big 12 standings, suffered its first loss in conference play.

Extra points

—Brennan, on the seven-offensive lineman package the Wildcats have used for goal-line rushing touchdowns the last two games, which has tackles Rhino Tapa’atoutai and Michael Wooten and fullback-converted-tight end Kayden Luke as a blocker in the backfield: “Any time you get down there, everyone is trying to find different ways to be creative, trying to find ways to either add gaps or spread the field, because you don’t have as much vertical space to attack. ... It’s a fun thing, because it gets more people on the field that doesn’t always get to play down there, so they get to be a part of it. Hopefully, it lends a little bit of physicality to what we’re doing down there. The players are fired up about that package.”

— Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege was named the Co-Big 12 Offensive Coordinator of the Week, along with Utah’s Jason Beck, by CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz on Monday.

— The ESPN2 broadcasters for the Arizona-Kansas game on Saturday are Mike Monaco (play-by-play), Kirk Morrison (analyst) and Dawn Davenport (reporter).