What did Brent Brennan say postgame following the Arizona Wildcats’ 31-28 loss at Houston

For the second week in a row, Arizona lost a game it probably shouldn’t have in the final seconds of action. After a heartbreaking double-overtime loss against top 20 BYU, the Wildcats fell on the road at Houston, as Cougars’ kicker Ethan Sanchez connected on a 41-yard walk-off field goal. Here is everything Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said postgame following the 31-28 walk-off loss to Houston.

Brent Brennan

Brent Brennan on his immediate reaction to the loss against Houston:

“That was just a really tough day. I think we came out fast and physical early. I think we played – we set the tone early for how we wanted to play in that game. And there was a lot to be proud of early on in that game and into the second quarter. I felt like a huge momentum swing was when we didn’t get the fourth down there when we went for it deep in the red zone, and then ended up giving points on the back side of that. This team is hurting right now. You lose on the last play of the game, you lose in double-overtime. And we have a bye-week, which is good, because we need to practice, and we need to get better at tackling, and blocking, and playing freaking football.

We didn’t force any turnovers as far as I know. So a huge point of emphasis (was) win the turnover battle. We did not do that today, and so obviously I’m pissed off and upset and so is every person in this program, because I think we have grown a lot. I think we’ve made a to of progress, but to not close that thing out when we had an opportunity to today just makes every person in here sick. So that starts with me. That’s my job. And so, we’re going to get back to work on it.

I feel for our fans, I feel for our players, I feel for our students and everybody at the U of A, because we’ve got a good football team, and we’re going to get to work fixing it. We’ve got a ton of football left to play. I believe in this team. I believe in these kids. I got faith in this team, and we’re going to get to work.”

Brent Brennan on allowing opponents to rush for 200+ yards in back-to-back weeks:

“I think we played two good football teams for starters. Both of them played a bunch of plus-one run with quarterback run. It’s not just – it’s different than lining up and handing it to the tailback. But obviously that’s something we’re going to see. Colorado’s quarterback is a great runner, so we’re going to see that the rest of the season, so we better figure that out today.”

Brent Brennan on the challenges of running quarterbacks:

“Normally your quarterback hands the ball off. And then he can’t block anybody on defense, so he can’t account for anybody. So defensively, you’re normally even or plus-one on defense. You have one more than they can block. When the running back is now blocking and the quarterback is your runner, you’re now adding. So to me, that’s the challenge of it. That’s why people do it. It’s effective. We do it too. And I thought they had a good plan for us.

Obviously Coach Gonzales is a fantastic football coach. We have played excellent defense all year. And we’ve had a tough go with two really good football teams the last two weeks.

Brent Brennan on wide receivers coach Bobby Wade getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct:

“I wish it was a sideline warning. It was not. That was coach (Bobby) Wade, but I’ll tell you this, there’s no person on our staff, in our program, or in our athletic department that’s worthy of 15. Nobody. Not me, not Coach Wade, not nobody. That’s ridiculous. And so we’re going to address that too.”

Brent Brennan on Arizona’s offensive struggles late in the first half:

“We didn’t get it on fourth down. And I think that’s the situation right there where we have to play complimentary football. If we have it down there, we’re inside the 30, I believe, and we go up on fourth and one, number one we need to get it like we did late in the game. We did that, like we were aggressive. We had our foot on the gas pedal in the fourth quarter. We went for a fourth down three times and (they were) all successful.

So that one in the first half, we need to get that first down so that we can keep that drive moving and add points there. But what happened was we didn’t get it and we gave up points right before half, and that was a big impact on the game.”

Brent Brennan on Tre Spivey’s two-touchdown performance:

“Tre is awesome. Tre is a great young many. Obviously, he’s a transfer kid, but he’s an Arizona kid. And it’s so important that we do a great job recruiting the state of Arizona. And if those players leave the state of Arizona and want to come back, we’ve got a good place for them. And I think Tre Spivey would tell you this is a good place to come.

I think he improves every week. I think he’s someone that you see getting more comfortable in the scheme and then the staff’s doing a good job of finding more opportunities for him to get the ball. But, that first touchdown was an incredible play by Noah, and then the DB undercut it and missed it, and then Tre got out, which was great because you got to see how fast he is for that big body.”

Brent Brennan on performances by tight ends Sam Olson and Cam Barmore:

“I’ve know Sam Olson for a long time and he’s a tough kid with a super high care factor. He just wants to be a good player, loves the U of A, loves his teammates, and Cam’s been a great addition through the portal in the offseason. The amount of development by Cam from spring ball, to training camp, to now is fantastic. And I think that’s what development is all about. That’s when you know you’ve got a good tight ends coach who’s doing a good job of teaching fundamentals and techniques, and you see that performance go from here to here like you’re see with Cam right now. So, we’re excited.”

Brent Brennan on Noah Fifita’s near-perfect day:

“You know how I feel about Noah Fifita. He’s special in every way. I mean that. And to be 24 of 26, like how many times does that ever happen in college football? Like that’s a ridiculous day…I think what’s happening is that the synergy between Noah and Coach Doege and the offense continues to accelerate. The more we play, the more we now each other, the more we get into the flow of things. And I think Noah’s trusting the offense and believing in Coach Doege, and you’re seeing good results.

Now damn it, we want to win. We want to win a damn game. And so that’s one of those things that we have to go back and figure out. Where are the moments that we didn’t play complimentary football? Where are the moments that we could have put Noah in a better position to use his playmaking to put us over the edge late in the game when we needed it, or early in the game when we needed it? And those are the things we’ve got to fix.”

Brent Brennan on Arizona rallying back from being down two scores in the second half:

“Yeah, this team’s got a ton of fight, man. This team is a great group of kids. These kids love the U of A. They love each other, they love this program. I think a lot of people say that, and I think it’s lip service. I think it’s BS when people say it. We say that here, it’s real. We mean it. Like all these kids chose to stay, or they chose to come, because they believe in what’s happening here and they believe in the institution. And so that fight didn’t surprise me at all. I loved it. And I’m just crushed that we didn’t get a stop there when we needed to try and turn it back and go the other way.”

Brent Brennan on his message to the team as it looks to reset during its second bye-week:

“My message to the team was that we have a good football team. We’ve lost to two good teams on the last play of the game and in double-overtime. And as much as that hurts, we can fix it. The easiest errors to fix are assignment errors. If you get beat by a better player…like sometimes that happens in football. You just can’t, you’re playing against someone better than you. But I don’t think that’s the case these last two weeks. I think we showed we can play with these people. We’re right there.

And so with the team, I was like, ‘okay, let’s fix what we can fix. Let’s stay together and not let the outside world and social media and whoever pull us apart. And let’s do the right thing for each other right now’, because they play hard for each other. There’s no question about that. That shows up every week, and the way they responded late in this game was fantastic. And a week ago, we were down two touchdowns in the first quarter and they came roaring back. So these kids are fighting their ass off. We’re going to have a good football team.”