TUCSON – Arizona faced its first real test of the season when it hosted the Kansas State Wildcats on Friday night. After jumping out to a 17-3 lead at halftime, Arizona staved off a second-half rally from the visiting Wildcats for its first 3-0 start since 2015. Here’s everything Arizona head coach Brent Brennan, as well as running back Ismail Mahdi and defensive back Genesis Smith said postgame following the Wildcats’ 23-17 win over Kansas State.
Brent Brennan:
Brent Brennan on Arizona’s execution and effort in the win:
“This was really special night for our football team. I think it was a special night for our fans. I’m not sure how the retro theme played out, but it felt good to me. So I just want to say, appreciate everybody. I’m excited when you saw that out there tonight, that effort, that execution, that accountability. I know we got work to do, but that is what it’s supposed to look like. That is exactly in moments what it’s supposed to look like, not the whole thing, but in moments, that’s what it’s supposed to look like. And I’m so proud of our team, and I’m so fired up.”
Brent Brennan on Arizona’s response after a sloppy start to the second half:
“Every football game when you’re playing against a program that’s as good as Kansas State, there’s going to be back and forth. Those guys won a lot of football games for a really long time. They’re extremely well coached. They have good players. And so there’s going to be back and forth. What I loved was, I loved the response, because we had two really ugly plays back-to-back, and then we responded. We responded in all three phases there. And that is what good teams do, is when something goes wrong, you respond, and that’s Redline, and you saw it, and you saw it in the effort, you saw in the execution, you saw the accountability, because we screwed something up, and now we own it, fix it, and let’s play the game. And so that was exciting.”
Brent Brennan on running back Ismail Mahdi’s performance against Kansas State:
Okay, so I’ll tell you, I’m so proud of that kid. Like, what an awesome human being he is. I don’t know how much time you guys have spent with him, but just his energy, the smile on his face, the way he makes you feel when you’re around him, he’s really special. When we went to dinner tonight, I always choose different groups to eat first, right? At the pregame meal tonight, I told the team, this game is going to be one upfront. So I said, O-Line, D-Line, you eat first, which is dangerous, because you don’t know if there’s gonna be anything left.
So I said, O-Line, D-Line, you eat first. And what I saw is, is I saw that group continue to answer and answer every time, on both sides of the ball, but in regards to Mahdi, like he doesn’t make those plays without that offensive front blocking the way they have to against a team that’s normally hard to block. You know what I mean? Like those guys are freaking good, man, and so I’m really excited about just how they responded and how, you know, ‘Ish’ just kept showing up and kept ripping off big runs with physicality, and finish, and receivers blocking down-fielders.”
Brent Brennan on if he considering benching a struggling Michael Salgado-Medina:
“No, there was not. I got faith in Michael. And he had two bad plays, but then he responded to hit the field goal after that. You know what I mean. So I believe in that young man, and he’s going to be a great player here for years to come.”
Brent Brennan on Arizona’s defensive game plan and personnel against Kansas State:
“I think Coach Gonzales and that staff did an awesome job of the plan. I think it was a mixture of that and other stuff, right? Different personnel groups trying to match their personnel groups. I think anytime you hold any Division One team to under 200 yards of total offense, that’s a special night. Like that is a hell of a football night. And so our defensive staff and those players should be ecstatic, and we’re ecstatic for them, because that is big time…We gotta give the defense their flowers, man like that was awesome.”
Brent Brennan on Noah Fifita utilizing his legs this season:
“I think it’s tremendous. And I think that’s one of those things about Noah that you know, we’ve known and that we get to see on display every day. Like the kid is a competitor. He is a Class A, big time competitor, and he wants to win, and he doesn’t care how it looks. He doesn’t care if he has to throw it, hand it, or run himself, but he’s going to orchestrate it. And so, you know, I think, you know, that adds another element to us that makes us dangerous, and I think Coach Dave has been doing a good job of putting him in those situations, and Noah’s doing a good job. He’s now played a lot of football, so he’s settling in. He’s finding his moments where those opportunities present themselves, and he’s taking advantage of it.”
Brent Brennan on Rhino Tapa’atoutai struggles as he returns from last year’s season-ending knee injury:
“Rhino is still coming back from his thing, from his injury, and so he’s on the pitch count, you know? I mean, so we’re being smart about that. We’re listening to the medical staff, and we’re doing whatever, whatever they think we should with those reps. And I thought Tristan did a good job at coming in there and playing, I think in terms of the offensive line, I know we have some work to do, but I’m excited about their progress. I really am, and I think that has shown up in our first three games in both running the ball and throwing it.
And so I’m excited. And you’re you always need more than five. It’s not like you got, oh, we got five guys and it’s going to be the same five every week in college football, it doesn’t work that way. And so I’m excited because Coach Oglesby has done a nice job of developing that position, and I think those guys work their tails off. And I’m excited about the multiple guys that can step in and play good football and give us a chance to win.”
Brent Brennan on what he’s learned about Arizona three games into the season:
“I’ve learned this team loves to compete, and they care about each other. Lots of people say that. I think it’s real here, and I think it matters. I think that’s why you see that kind of effort. That’s why you see that kind of celebration. Like, I don’t know if you saw our sideline in the fourth quarter when our defense was out there, it was on fire. It was awesome. And so this team really cares about each other. It’s important to them. Every day, they show up to work and they work their tails off, and they do it for each other. It’s an unselfish group.
And so I’m excited because we’re 3-0, we have a bye. We can do some self assessment, we can dive into some situation with football, we can work on some stuff, and we can also get ready for an extremely good Iowa State team on the road, which we know is going to be an extremely tough game. So I love where we’re at and like, I know we have work to do. There’s a lot more of the good stuff that I want to see happen, but I’m going to be excited about what happened tonight.”
Brent Brennan on Genesis Smith’s response to make the game-sealing play after giving up the 75-yard touchdown run:
“Genesis Smith is a straight up baller, like he is an awesome football player. Like, he’s still pissed off because he dropped the two interceptions. Because they both would have been just miraculous, incredible catches, but that’s what kind of competitor he is. He’s one of those guys. I call him the CEO of our football team. He’s the ‘Chief Energy Officer,’ because he is always with the juice, always. You guys have come to practice. You guys have seen him. He’s the Energizer Bunny. He doesn’t stop, but the guys feed off that. And to his credit, right, like misses a tackle and then shows up consistently late in the game, in the moments that matter, in the moments when it has to get done. Genesis is there to make a play.”
Brent Brennan on Arizona Athletics’ effort to enhance the game day experience with things like the halftime drone show:
“Yeah, I think it’s awesome. Obviously, if someone was playing football in the parking lot at a Walmart, I’d show up and watch it, but I’m a football guy. I love what they’re doing here. Like, I think Desiree and her staff has worked really hard and been really creative. They’ve taken input from fans. They’ve done a whole bunch of work to like, how do we make this as great of an experience for our fans as possible?
I’ve heard the Bear Down Bash is awesome. I haven’t, you know, it’d be weird if I was out there, like, having a beer, like dancing, you know, pregame. Everybody would be like ‘what the hell is that guy doing here,’ I think. But I think I give the credit to them, because less people are going to games across America. People are just like standing home watching TV, you know what I mean? Don’t want to get off their couch, whatever, traffic, whatever.
To me, those people are missing the magic of a college football game. They’re missing the pomp and circumstance, they’re missing the Pride of Arizona, they’re missing the cheer squad, they’re missing the Wildcat Walk. They’re missing the game on the field, and the energy in the stadium, and the ZonaZoo, which was sold out tonight. I mean, that part of it is really special, really special. And I think in a day and time when everybody’s looking for experience, like a high-value experience, there’s nothing better than a college football game in Arizona Stadium.”
Ismail Mahdi:
Ismail Mahdi on what Arizona showed against Kansas State:
“Just adversity. I think that’s the best thing that could happen to us, getting adversity earlier on in the season and just responding, you know what I mean, just responding to that. I think it was great that the way that the outcome went out. Obviously, we want to blow up team out, but I think that’s good preparation for us to, you know, just to feel that adversity when we’re down situations don’t go our way, and we’ll go out there and just respond with Redline.”
Ismail Mahdi if Friday felt like a games he had at Texas State:
“Yeah, sure. It felt like the games at Texas State just getting the ball. And I’m used to it, you know, I played a lot of snaps in my career, so I’m used to what I just displayed out there.”
Ismail Mahdi on the message to the sideline to stay composed after a disappointing third quarter:
“Yeah, just responding. Redline, you know, just keeping our heads up. You know, everybody’s telling everybody, keep your head up, we’re good. We’ve got each other’s back. And Coach Brennan always emphasized that, just respond, Redline.”
Ismail Mahdi on what Arizona’s offense has shown through the first three games of the season:
“We play fast and we believe in each other. Coach Doege believes in us. He’s doing a great job putting the skill players in a great position to make plays. I mean, this is one of the best OCs I’ve been around, he’s doing a great job finding the playmakers to make plays, and we just stay together. I feel like this is the most committed offensive group that I’ve been with player wise. We’re player led, and we push each other and stuff like that. It’s been great to be with this offense.”
Ismail Mahdi on quarterback Noah Fifita utilizing his legs more through the first three games of the season:
“Yeah, that’s lethal. So they gotta account for him, you know, he’s a baller, I love that guy. Plays great and just be able to use his feet, you know? The D’s gotta read him. They just can’t focus on the run, so it’s very important.”
Ismail Mahdi on if this was a prove if game for Arizona, and if so, what it showed the rest of the conference:
“Yeah, just attack our preparation, no matter it’s the Chicago Bears, no matter it’s Tucson High. We’re going to go out there and play the brand of football we play, and that’s Redline.”
Genesis Smith:
Genesis Smith on what Arizona showed against Kansas State:
“Just getting back to Redline, whenever adversity strikes, that was coach Brennan’s emphasis on this game. He knew adversity was gonna strike. So just getting back to effort, 100/100, execution, proving it, and accountability. Whenever we messed up, just owning it and fixing it, and it worked itself out from there.”
Genesis Smith on Arizona’s defensive success against three different offensive styles this season:
“I feel like just living and dying by our mantra, ‘know what to do, how to do it, all eleven to the ball in a bad humor, and them keeping them out of the end zone.’ I feel like just doing that every each and every play is putting us in that position for success.”
Genesis Smith on if this was a prove if game for Arizona, and if so, what it showed the rest of the conference:
“Yeah, for sure, we know this game is gonna be a little bit tougher compared to our first couple games, but each and every game is a faceless opponent. We’re gonna attack our preparation the same each and every day. So I felt like we did that and the result showed.”
Genesis Smith on defensive back Treydan Stukes making his season debut:
“That’s my guy. I was super happy to be out there with him. Wish he was out there more, but I know Gavin Hunter, he’s going to hold it down. So, and Gav’s really, really, really stepped up. So I’m proud of both of them, and I know we got a lot of dogs in the secondary.”