The Arizona Wildcats just secured their biggest win since Brent Brennan took over at the helm in 2024. After securing bowl game eligibility, the Wildcats marched into Nippert Stadium and handed the Bearcats their third loss of the season. See what Arizona head coach Brent Brennan, as well as quarterback Noah Fifita, running back Kedrick Reescano, and defensive Dalton Johnson had to say postgame following the 30-24 win over No. 25 Cincinnati.
Brent Brennan:
Brennan’s initial thoughts following Arizona’s win:
“Just an awesome day for our football program. We talk about it all the time. Our commitment to building the best team in the Big 12, the best team. And that’s how we’re going to have to do it at Arizona. And I think you saw that today. This is a team that plays for each other. A team that shows up for each other every day. Practice, meetings, weight room. It’s so special. And then you also see a team that is all about Redline and effort and execution and accountability.
Like, at this time of the year, it’s all about execution and I felt like our guys executed when we had to. A 99-yard drive for a touchdown. A defensive stop at the end of the game. Money Mike hitting that field goal. There’s so many parts of that that speaks to what kind of team we have here and I think it’s really really special. So shoot, I couldn’t be more excited. That locker room is just, the energy in there. The joy is contagious and fantastic. And I love where we’re at and I love where we’re going. And we’re going to enjoy the hell out of this one and we’re going to be excited to play next week.”
Brennan on Arizona’s phsyicality:
“All week we kept talking about just the physicality, and just physicality in the run game, the physicality with our defense. And I felt like early on it didn’t show up enough. But when we flipped that physical switch, then all of a sudden we started getting stops and started moving the ball. We started running the ball and making plays and I think that was a huge moment for us in the game.”
Brennan on Noah Fifita’s record-setting touchdown pass:
“First of all, that pass was a dime. Good lord. And awesome to see Gio Richardson, a freshman, make that play for us. But Noah’s really special, you know what I mean? Like I can’t speak to how unique he is, but the young man continues to choose the University of Arizona. He continues to choose Tucson. He continues to choose this program, his teammates, our staff, and he’s just magic. And then we you see him go out there and lead us on that 99-yard drive, or you see him just continue to make plays with his feet, the scramble drill on third and forever, finding Kris Hutson. He’s special in every way and we love him.”
Brennan on adjusting to Cincinnati’s early rushing attack:
“Yeah, I think the biggest thing there was just we kind of had to settle down. And the thing about our defense is it’s a little bit unique and so there’s always a little bit of a learning curve early in the game of how people are going to choose to attack it. They had a bye, they had two weeks to attack it. They had a good plan. Coach Gonzales and his staff made good adjustments and we were able to find our way and start getting stops.”
Brennan on Dalton Johnson’s impactful day:
“Dalton’s a big time football player, man. Like that guy, what an awesome leader. What an awesome player. Another guy that has continued over his career to choose the University of Arizona, to choose these teammates, to choose this program when everyone tried to lure him away. And just so tough, so committed, such a great leader, and then also a big time playmaker. He’s awesome.”
Brennan on the defense making Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby uncomfortable:
“I think that’s a great deal. I think we did a good job with some disguise stuff. And then I think we, whenever you play a great quarterback, he’s only going to give you a couple chances. It’s just the way it is. And you got to finish on those and I felt like we did, which was so exciting to win the turnover battle. Like we had to be physical. We had to win the turnover battle today. And those are two big things that gave us a chance to win a game on the road against a top 25 team.”
Brennan on Michael Salgado-Medina’s missed field goals in the first half:
“He just missed them. Like, I haven’t seen the film. It’s all in real time. You know what I mean, like I can’t give you a fair answer on that. But I’ll tell you this, he hit the one that mattered. And that’s what people should talk about. That kid hit the one that mattered. He had to go out there in a sold out stadium against a top 25 opponent and bang a 51-yarder, and he piped it with no hesitation. And that’s what everybody should be talking about.”
Brennan on Arizona’s wide receivers Kris Hutson and Chris Hunter:
“The block, and then the big play on the sideline by Chris Hunter, right? I mean, both those guys played great. I’m so excited. It was great to get Chris Hunter back. He was a little dinged up coming out of Colorado and wasn’t super healthy last week. And so, it was just great to see him get in there and make plays. And I think that’s the thing with the depth in that room, there’s so many guys that can contribute in a positive way.
Like, Wysong on the big third down on our second to last drive that Noah hit the out cut. It was a beautiful ball, beautiful pass, big conversion. Like all those guys can contribute. And then the block with Hunter on the touchdown run, and what a run by Ked. I mean just the physicality Ked ran with, the physicality Q ran with, the job the O-line did. What a great effort.”
Brennan on Arizona’s stable of running backs:
“That’s why you have to have a good stable of running backs. I think there’s a misconception out there in college football where you need like, one Saquon, but like there’s only one of those. Like it’s normally by committee because those guy take such a pounding. The game is so violent and so physical. And the fact that those guys are all such great teammates. They’re all unselfish. They all celebrate each other’s success.
That’s what I’m talking about when I’m talking about building this team here. Like that’s what we’re doing, like these guys care about each other. And those guys were going crazy when Ked ran that it, and when Q was making those plays, and when early on Mahdi had that touchdown. I think that’s what makes it special, when they celebrate each other’s success.”
Brennan on not being satisfied with seven wins:
“I mentioned it last week, like the goal of getting to the postseason, you want to try and do that as fast as you can because it guarantees more life, more development, like it’s better for everything. Recruiting, every part of your program, right? And so that part is critical when you have a young football team. But at the same time, it’s not enough. Like we didn’t come here to be .500. We didn’t come here for that. We came here to build great football, build an incredible team that the University of Arizona, our fans, our alums, the City of Tucson can be proud of.”
Brennan on the turnaround to win three straight:
“I think when we lost those two tough games, we believed we were a good football team. Like that part of it, everybody was pissed off. We were upset that we didn’t close those games out when we had a chance to against BYU and Houston. We respect those teams and they beat us, but shoot, we had a chance to win those games and we did not. So now, how do we flip it? How do we find a way, like today, find a way to make sure we get to the finish line and get what we all came here for, which is a win.”
Noah Fifita:
Fifita on Arizona upsetting No. 25 Cincinnati on the road:
“Just trusting and believing in each other and that’s something that we’ve been talking about. It’s about us. We knew coming in it was going to be a hostile environment against a good team, but if we did our job, we’d be able to come out victorious and we were able to do so. Obviously, defense made some critical stops throughout the entire game and we were able to finish it when it mattered.”
Fifita on not being satisfied with six wins and bowl eligibility:
“The goal isn’t six wins at the end of the day. We’re trying to win every game we play and especially with the guys we play with. We love each other. We play for each other. And that’s what you see out there. The passion. The intensity. It’s because of the love we have for each other.”
Fifita on the moment that sparked Arizona’s comeback:
“I think we had our struggles in the first half. We really did. We couldn’t finish in the red zone, but like I said, that goes back to the team, because defense kept us there the entire time. Two turnovers against a really good offense. Obviously that’s what shows at the end of the day on the scoreboard. But I do think that what got us going was the touchdown run by Ked, the 99-yard drive. That’s what really sparked it in the second half.”
Fifita on breaking Arizona’s all-time touchdown passing record:
“I’m grateful. I really am. It’s a tremendous honor and I give all glory and praise to God, but we came to Cincinnati to get a win. That’s what we did. So, we’re going home as a team with a victory.”
Kedrick Reescano:
Reescano on what Arizona was able to do against Cincinnati:
“I think us coming together and having a team effort is like, that’s the only way to win. It took everybody to pitch in. Like couldn’t be one person winning that whole game for us.”
Reescano on Fifita setting the all-time passing touchdown record:
“Oh, man. It’s amazing. Much deserved. You see a guy like this, like he’s the hardest working person I know. So for him to get the record, that’s something he deserves.”
Dalton Johnson:
Johnson on Arizona’s win over Cincinnati:
“I think we executed great it all three phases of the game. You know, offense, defense, special teams. We just capitalized off of each other and that’s just what this team is good at. We just, if one’s down, the other one’s going to lift them up and then we’re going to respond together. And that’s just what we did today and we were able to execute.”
Johnson on winning three straight since the bye-week:
“I would say practice. And I would also say just building confidence. So, you build that confidence in practice with how you work and how hard you work. And so when the times get tough, it’s a two-minute and we’re up six and they need a touchdown. You know, that’s when you fall back on your training and preparation. This team connection. I love these guys. It’s my last year, and you know, I wouldn’t want to be on any other team. And I’m trying to finish it off the right way. We’re going to get nine and then get 10 after that.”
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