Arizona fell to 3-6 on the season after a blowout loss to UCF in its annual Space Game. Read postgame quotes from head coach Brent Brennan, Noah Fifita, and Dalton Johnson following Arizona’s 56-12 loss at UCF:
Brent Brennan following Arizona’s 56-12 loss at UCF:
“I think we have great coaches. I think we have great kids on this team. And I think they’ll be diligent in the process of getting right.”
Brent Brennan on his message to Quali Conley after his second fumble in back-to-back games:
“Quali’s played for us for two years, and last week was his first fumble. So I trust Quali, and Quali’s been a good player for us all season. Right, he knows he needs to hold onto the darn ball.”
Brent Brennan on UCF’s 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown at the end of the first half:
“I think that was definitely a really crushing blow at that moment. That’s one of those plays that you practice and you rep, and it’s so hard to duplicate on game day. I think we’re going to look at that and everyone’s going to agree that we can play it better.”
Brent Brennan on UCF running back RJ Harvey’s three touchdown, 184 yard performance:
“Obviously he was a problem and he’s a great player. They did a nice job scheming it up. I do think we had a chance with some missed tackles, and so that’s something, another thing we can evaluate as a football team. I think that showed up – we lost the edge a couple times there, and we missed tackles in space, and that’s something that we need to do better.”
Brent Brennan on Noah Fifita’s, Tetairoa McMillan’s, and Chris Hunter’s performances today:
“I think those three kids were warriors. I think Noah stands in there and battles every game, and every game he gives us a chance. I just have so much respect for all three of those guys. It’s awesome to see Chris Hunter start to elevate. That’s something that we’ve been kind of talking about and waiting for, so we’re encouraged by that. And then I think T-Mac is just a fantastic player and being creative with finding ways to get him the football when people are pushing coverage to him or heating up a quarterback and making it difficult for us to get the ball to him. We have to find a way to get him the football, because he’s too dynamic, he’s too great of a player for us not to do that.”
Brent Brennan on Arizona’s defensive struggles the last few weeks:
“Not having Jacob Manu impacts the game. He’s just such a great player, but also an emotional leader. But also, at the end of the day, it’s our job as coaches to put our players in a position where they can make plays and execute the defense, right, or execute the offense. It doesn’t matter what phase we’re in. It’s our job to make sure they’re in the right spot.”
Brent Brennan on Arizona’s direction go forward following the 56-12 loss at UCF:
“We’re going into a bye-week, so it’s a great opportunity to evaluate every aspect of our football team, starting with our coaching, starting with our scheme, like how we’re putting our players in position on game day. And then to dive into some of those fundamental things with our football team – tackling, blocking, like some simple stuff that we did not do effectively today.”
Brent Brennan on the mood inside the locker room after losing 5-straight games:
“I love this team because they come to work every day and I think the hardest part is that I feel like I’m letting them down. I love how they show up to work every week, and they’re great kids. I believe in our coaching staff, and I believe in these players, and we have to really dig in these next two weeks and give us a chance to play better football.”
Brent Brennan’s message to fans disappointed with the coaching staff and Arizona’s 3-6 season:
“Today is unacceptable and none of us expected to be where we are right now. The biggest thing is we’ve got to look forward, and we’ve got to move forward, and find the best way for us to move forward together.”
Noah Fifita on Arizona’s inability to score:
“I think just inconsistency. Goes back to the little details. I know it’s getting repetitive for everybody listening every week, but it’s also repetitive for us, so just continuing to get down the little details – penalties, taking some unnecessary sacks, and not being productive on first downs leading to some struggles.”
Noah Fifita on Arizona’s rushing game stalling out:
“I think I’ve got to give us some more opportunities to run the ball. We kind of made an emphasis to throw the perimeter screens and let our receivers work in space. I think I could have given our running backs some more opportunities inside, but for the most part, nothing about scheme. They just outplayed us today.”
Noah Fifita on Chris Hunter’s emergence in Arizona’s offense:
“His work ethic. It might sound cliche, but you could ask anybody in the locker room what he’s been doing since Spring Ball carrying to Fall Camp. We knew once he got his opportunity he was going to make the most of it. Felt like he was due for a breakout game, and he still has a lot more in the tank, but you can see the confidence starting to grow. His ability to win one-on-ones. In terms of route runner and also when the ball’s in the air, special.”
Noah Fifita on Arizona’s expectations versus reality this season amid a five-game losing streak:
“I mean, all there really is to is just on to the next. We always say that we stay for each other and it’s – when you’re struggling and you are on a five-game losing streak, it’s easy to point fingers, it’s easy to doubt. In a similar fashion, it’s easy to question God, but just continue to love each other, continue to play for each other. The whole world’s against us now, so it’s really just playing for the people in the locker room and trusting in God’s timing, because his timing is never wrong. It’s easy to be a believer when you’re at the top, but when you’re at the bottom, it’s difficult to continue to trust his plan, but we do, and we trust in each other.”
Noah Fifita on needing to win out to make a bowl game following Arizona’s 56-12 loss at UCF:
“I feel confident. That’s been our mindset, win every game we go into, but naturally it just goes up a notch understanding that from here on out, it’s win or go home. Just continue to enjoy playing with each other. Got to get back to work, and then it’s a one-week Super Bowl from here on out.”
Noah Fifita on the possibility of Tetairoa McMillan becoming the all-time leading receiver at Arizona:
“Yeah, he deserves it. He deserves it more than anybody I could think of and being able to beat his receiver coach makes it even more special. Right now, the focus is to win games. That’s the focus. That’s T’s focus. That’s the type of leader, type of person he is. Naturally for us to have success, No. 4 has got to be able to do what he does. I think, God willing, naturally, he’ll break the record, and in doing so, we’re going to take it one week at time to try to win one week at a time.”
Dalton Johnson on Arizona’s recent defensive struggles:
“I think it’s alignment, assignment, execution, the three topics of what football is. Guys were just not in the right spot. We’ve just got to execute our assignment. At least that’s what happened today. Just got outworked.”
Dalton Johnson on the rain impacting today’s game:
“I don’t think so. We knew coming into this game they had the number three rushing offense. If it starts raining, they’re most likely going to run the ball. We’ve just got to be more physical, but I think it was fine.”
Dalton Johnson on Arizona’s expectations versus reality this season amid a five-game losing streak:
“He [Noah Fifita] said it perfectly, but I was here for that ’22 season when we went 5-7. Right before, you can just feel the locker room check out and, just like, get home early for Christmas, but our part as leaders is making sure this team stays together no matter what. We could lose the next three, win the next three, but we’re a family and it’s the whole reason we came back. Obviously, this isn’t going the way we pictured it, but we’re still brothers at the end of the day, it’s family. So, just making sure that we all just stay as a unit.”
Dalton Johnson on moving into more of a hybrid-linebacker role for Arizona:
“I like it, I think it’s fun. It kind of slows the game down a little bit. I always tell myself, sometimes I’m a linebacker, sometimes I’m a safety. That dime position allows me to really do both. I like being versatile, and if it means I have to play linebacker to help this defense, that’s what I’ll do.”