By winning convincingly on Saturday night, Arizona has guaranteed the 2026 season will consist of at least one extra game. But 13 might not be enough for this group.
“It’s exciting, but I think for this football team, that’s not enough,” UA coach Brent Brennan said following the 39-3 victory over Iowa State on Homecoming. “We’re going to celebrate the hell out of this one because the goal this week, the mission this week, was to win this game, and we did. And so we’re going to have fun, and enjoy it for 24 hours, and then we’re going to get on to the next one.”
Arizona is guaranteed a bowl bid in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2014-15. Between 2016-23 it had two bowl appearances.
“It’s always a goal to get to the postseason,” Brenna said. “Okay, now we’re there. Now is that going to be good enough for us? Are we going to be okay with that, or are we going to attack this next opportunity and the one after that and the one after that.”
Our game recap can be found here. Below is what Brennan, linebacker Dash Fifita and tight end Henry Gabalis said after the victory.
Brennan on the gameplan: “Such a huge part of our conversation was physicality, intention, red line, and I think we saw that tonight coming into this thing. We had a plan, and that plan was really based in a physical football game. We knew it was going to be that, and I think that physicality showed up all night.”
On Noah Fifita: “Noah Fifita continues to be just unbelievable, and more people need to talk about him. His 12th 300-yard passing game, his 79 percent completion percentage, just fantastic. The deep ball to Mizell two plays in was like—I’m an old receiver guy, I’m an offensive guy. There’s nothing prettier than a completed deep ball for a touchdown. In the world. Besides my wife. Sorry, Courtney. It was a beautiful throw and a beautiful finish. It was awesome to see Isaiah Mizell continue to grow and mature into the player we know he can be.”
On the defensive performance: “I thought our defense was lights out in physicality. I thought they were awesome. 3 for 14 on third down. That is just an awesome number.”
On the success of the portal pickups in the secondary: “I think it’s a combination of our staff doing a great job evaluating players that we think can help us, and then doing a really good job developing them when they get here. That’s also part of it. You can’t just go out and get a good player. It’s not that seamless. And I think Coach Arce and Coach Viney do an incredible job teaching those players in the back end. You saw that a year ago because a year ago we had Michael Dansby, J Cole was new, and Aiden Garnes was new. And two of those three are playing the NFL, and the other one is still playing for us. He’s the best one in the Big 12, so I think those guys do a fantastic job of coaching and teaching those players.”
On what went into the decision to go for 2 on the first TD: “There was no decision. We were just going for it. We’re just like, we’re here to play, and we’re in full attack mode, and that’s it.”
On Gabalis throwing the 2-point pass: “It was Cole’s play until Cole (Rusk) got hurt. I think Henry’s another one of those young players that we’re really excited about. You can see his process of development. Late in the game, the big touchdown, another incredible throw from Noah. But we have a lot of confidence in him. He’s a super conscientious young man.”
On the trust he has in the defense: “When I’m thinking about going for it on fourth down or not, like I get Danny (Gonzales) on the headset, I’m like, hey, I’m about to do something crazy. Can you stop them? And he’ll be like, yes or no. And so we just have excellent communication.”
On taking care of business with so many upsets in college football: “I think that’s the hardest thing for any team because the young people that that we’re coaching, there’s so much more access to them. There’s so many more distractions. Maybe that’s the best way to say it. And so, how do you help those young people manage that outside noise? Whether it’s media, ranking, opponent, fans. Agents, other programs, like all the stuff that’s happening in college football right now, and so that’s the challenge. I promise you, it’s a challenge for every program in America. And so the the fact that the Big 12 turned upside down today, great. Let’s play the next one.”
On if he’s surprised by Dash Fifita’s play: “I’m not surprised after being on the practice field with Dash. I mean, that’s one of those things is thatm when you meet Dash Fifita, you’re like he’s not a very big dude, right? But then practice starts, and you’re like, hey, we’re having trouble blocking this guy. And so I’m just excited for him. I think he’s a guy that just has an incredible future here. He plays so hard, it’s so important to him. He’s very, very tough. I think that’s just like in the genes. Like you can’t be a Fifita if you’re not tough as hell. And Dash and obviously Noah demonstrate that every day.”
On the value of the bye week to freshmen: “I think the more those guys get to play, the more practice reps they get. I mean, that’s why you practice, right? Like the more opportunities they get, the the faster they develop. It accelerates their development. Because you guys were asking about all of those guys early on the season. And like, when are we going to see so and so? When are we going to see so and so? But there is a process to development. There is a process for those players, and they’re all just 18 years old. You know, half of them were prom six months ago, right?”
On dealing with an opponent changing quarterbacks: “It’s more of conversation on the headset. It’s more of like, what is this guy good at?”
On the run game: “My favorite thing about a running back group—I think Coach Moevao did an awesome job with them—but they are unselfish and they’re great team guys and they run and they block and they play on all the special teams and they just find multiple ways to contribute to our team and I think that’s really special. You don’t see that all the time in college football from from the running back position. There’s just some inherent selfishness to that position sometimes. You know they want the rock, which I respect and I get, but I also know that when you play in a league like we play, it’s incredibly physical and the season’s really long. You need good players. You need guys that are willing to share snaps and willing to go in there and run through the face of a 240-pound linebacker and do those kind of things. And so I think the balance of all those guys being able to contribute in multiple ways to our success is so important for us.”
On the Homecoming crowd: “That was just an awesome atmosphere here tonight. The code red, the third/fourth quarter transition, is just fantastic. Like if you don’t like that, there’s something wrong with you. It is special.”
Fifita on what has led to his early success: “I would definitely say my belief in myself, and that starts at the top with Coach G. He’s believed in me since I was in high school. To come in here and play for a coach that believes in you, along with him and Coach Bringuel, they believe in my talent, they believe in my abilities. So to know that they believe in me, it instills a lot more confidence in myself to go out there and play the game I know I can, but that they know I can. So it’s been a lot of fun to play for them, and play with a lot of boys flying around and having fun.”
On playing alongisde his brother: “It’s been a dream come true. I’ll say this, this thing is flying by so fast. So I just got to cherish every night, every day, every practice and enjoy while it lasts. To be on this level, living out my dream, but on top of that, playing with him, this is something you could have never even dreamt of or dreamed about. So it’s been a dream come true.”
On benefitting from the bye week: “We for sure got a lot of more rotation and a lot more reps. So it was definitely beneficial for us to get in there, get those meaningful and valuable reps, and I think it showed out tonight for a lot of the young guys who got in there and got their number called.”
On if his size helps him: “I guess you could say that being smaller gives you a little bit of leverage, natural leverage. So you’re able to be a little more twitchy, a little more quick, and use your speed. But I think Coach G is the best defense coordinator in the nation, so for him to utilize my abilities and scheme it up to where I could benefit, it’s been great.”
Gabalis on his breakout game: “It was awesome. Coaches believed in me, the whole team believed in me. All the tight ends believed in me. It was a good time on special teams, we were doing our stuff. We were just having a good time.”
On the 2-point pass: “I was rolling with it. I was like, let’s go, let’s do this thing. I was excited. I was like, ‘all right, I get my moment.’ I saw (Tyler Powell) wide open. I’m like, ‘here we go.’”
On learning from the older tight ends: “I remember when I first got here, TP and Cole, especially they were the older guys, and I saw what they were doing, how they were doing stuff, and I decided I needed to do the same thing. I was up early with meetings and stuff.”
On being bowl eligible: “My freshman year, like I couldn’t ask for anything better.”