After two heartbreaking losses and a bye-week, the Arizona Wildcats had plenty of time to think about how those games felt in the locker room after the fact. Brent Brennan described the team as “pissed off” and “frustrated” heading into the bye-week, but said the team attacked the extra week with a different “edge.” Well, that edge showed up on Saturday when the Wildcats defeated Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes by their largest margin of victory in the 28-game history between the two programs. See what Arizona head coach Brent Brennan, wide receiver Javin Whatley, and cornerback Jay’Vion Cole had to say postgame following the 52-17 win over Colorado.
Brent Brennan:
Brennan on his thoughts about the game:
“There was a lot of good stuff in that game. I thought our defense was lights out, forcing five turnovers and at least one fourth down stop, which for us that’s another takeaway. I thought the physicality we played with was outstanding. Offensively, I thought Noah operated on a really high level, so that was just a lot of fun to see. And I’m really excited about the forward progression of our football team. When we went into the bye-week, we knew we had to return to fundamentals. We had lost two heartbreaking, gut-wrenching games and our players responded. We believed we had a good football team and I think that showed up tonight. So I’m incredibly proud of our progress. I know we’ve still got work to do, but I’m excited about this win.”
Brennan on the strip-sack creating momentum early in the game:
“Well, any takeaway in a football game is a momentum changer, and then where it was in the field position and (to) be followed up on the next play by a deep ball for a touchdown is big time. I thought the throw was an absolute dime from Noah and then Kris made a great play. So, just really exciting to kind of get that momentum and then capitalize on it.”
Brennan on Colorado’s defense allowing over 50 points in back-to-back games:
“When we looked at Colorado, we didn’t spend as much time with the Utah film because I just feel like they are a much different team at home and I just see how well they’ve played over the course of the year here at Folsom, and so we were just focused on us, and our program, and our process to getting ready to play.”
Brennan on capitalizing on favorable field position through the turnover battle:
“Anytime you get positive field position from a turnover, or a big punt return, or just any of that stuff, it definitely changes the game, right? Shorter fields are better than longer fields. And so I thought that was great. And I thought Coach Doege called a great game and I thought Noah executed at a high level in those situations.”
Brennan on the Arizona’s receivers’ progression down the stretch of the season:
“I think those guys are, I mean, you see more guys making plays now, which is exciting. I think anytime we can be that explosive in the pass game we become incredibly hard to defend. You also saw some great runs pop there in the second quarter. So, tonight in a lot of ways I think we were firing on all cylinders in terms of our run and pass game. And Noah Fifita, just brilliant.”
Brennan on his assessment of Noah Fifita:
“I think those big explosive plays, getting through his progression, hitting Gio [Richardson] on that dig that split and got housed. It was great to see Gio Richardson, you know, true freshman make a play like that for us. But the ball was a dime, as was the big ball to Nunu right before halftime. An absolute dime from Noah. And so just to see him play at that level and just to play with that confidence, and like I said, I think his relationship with Coach Doege, him trusting Coach Doege, and executing the offense at a high level makes it a lot of fun to watch.”
Brennan on facing four different Colorado quarterbacks in the game:
“I don’t even think we thought of it that way. We kind of spent the week preparing that, thinking that we might see all, you know at least three of them. And really for us it was much more of a focus on us and how we play. Do we play with Redline? Do we execute the defense? And I thought they did. – I thought Coach G and our defensive staff did a great job getting our defense ready to play and I thought they executed. And so that’s Redline and we’re excited to see it.”
Brennan on the play from Arizona’s defensive backs:
“I think they were lights out. (When) there’s like that many turnovers or that many takeaways in a game. And I think the more they play, the more those guys get confidence, right? And I think a lot of that has to do with our ability to pressure the quarterback or move him off his spot, but I thought those guys did a great job all night.”
Brennan on ending the five-game road-skid:
“Oh, it was big time. It was big time. I think just seeing the excitement and the enthusiasm and just how we started coming out, guys were ready to play, they were excited. We hadn’t played in two weeks and we had to sit on the tough loss at Houston for two weeks, and guys had to sit in that and we had to practice through that and everybody was pissed off and bent out of shape. And so we attacked the work.
Like, what else can you do? Are you going to sit around and feel sorry for yourself, or are you going to go to work? And those guys went to work. And then you see the results of that. You see the results of that hard work, you see the results of that consistency, you see the results of that extra that they’re putting in and I’m excited about that.”
Brennan on Arizona’s balanced offensive attack:
“That’s what I hope to see. I do think Coach Doege has done a great job and our offensive staff preparing those guys. But those players got to make the plays when they get the opportunity to do so. And that was really, really exciting, really, really fun.”
Brennan on how big of a win this is for Arizona:
“This is a huge win. This is a huge win coming off two heartbreaking losses and it gives us a chance to be excited and now have some momentum to attack the work going into this next week.”
Brennan on being one game away from being bowl eligible:
“We live in a one week vacuum, man. Like we don’t think about any of that stuff. We’re going to celebrate the hell out of this. This is going to be a fun plane ride, damn it. We’re going to enjoy the plane ride home and I’m looking forward to that. But the joy in that locker room, the hugs, the smiles, how it felt, just fantastic. And we’ll get to Kansas tomorrow.”
Javin “Nunu” Whatley:
Whatley on overcoming the losses to BYU and Houston for a big win:
“We had two losses, so we really attacked the bye-week and worked on the little things and I feel like everything just translated over today.”
Whatley on how the offense utilized the bye-week:
“I feel like offensive wise, we kind of did the same (as the defense). Just stuck to our bread and butter and just tried to do everything we were good at and perfect it.”
Whatley on the development of Arizona’s wide receiver room:
” Each week we come in, every guy, everybody works hard and I feel like each we we got better a something. Like, it don’t matter what it is, route running, releases. I feel like each wee we’re getting better at something so we could transfer it over on Saturday.”
Whatley on freshman Gio Richardson’s biggest improvement since spring:
“He always had the skills. So, I’d say just him getting comfortable and coming off of his injury that he had in high school, but I’d say like really just him getting comfortable and feeling himself again.”
Whatley on his relationship with the younger receivers and how he’s been a part of their development process:
“I like playing with them. They actually listen to the older guys. So, like when I tell them something like that, they’ll listen. But yeah, my little buddies right there.”
Whatley on his 34-yard touchdown reception:
“The whole week we’ve been talking about playing fast and splitting cover two and basically just making the right read. So, I felt like it was open, so I was just running. That’s what I do best is run. So, I just ran.”
Jay’Vion Cole:
Cole on overcoming the losses to BYU and Houston for a big win:
“I feel like coming off those two losses, those are two very great teams we played, two hard fought losses. And then with the bye-week coming off of Houston, I feel like it was just a great week for us to go back to work and just put all the hard work back to work.”
Cole on how the defense utilized the bye-week:
“As far as the defensive side, I feel like we got back to what we do originally, what got us to the four wins in the past, which was running to the ball, playing physical, and just doing what we do, detail in everything we do.”
Cole on the message to close the game out after taking an early lead:
“Our biggest thing, especially going up big on the road in the Big 12 especially was just finishing. I feel like we didn’t do a great job of that today. We played a very great football team who gave us a challenge, honestly. We just really need to work on finishing in the future.”
Cole on how Arizona’s defense got the upper hand against Colorado:
“I feel like for us on the defensive side of the ball, we just ‘out-physicaled’ them. We stuck to what we did, which is being detailed. Getting to the ball as a team. Making plays on the football when they presented themselves.”
Cole on what to expect after Colorado’s blowout loss to Utah:
“We knew that the team we saw play last week versus Utah was not the team that we were going to get today. They’re a very great football team. The team that we saw last week was not Colorado.”
Cole on the secondary’s three interceptions:
“I feel like we were just detailed in everything we did, especially in our calls that we were playing. A lot of overthrown balls. We were just making the plays when they presented themselves.
Cole on how big of a win this is for Arizona:
“It’s a very big win, especially on the road in the Big 12. At a challenging place like this, great fan base, great football team we just played. So, for us to come out on top was amazing.”
[…] two “heartbreaking, gut-wrenching” losses as Brent Brennan described them, the Arizona Wildcats had two choices heading into Boulder […]