TEMPE – One year ago, Brent Brennan said he felt miserable how his first season as Arizona’s head coach went after the UA lost the Territorial Cup in a 49-7 blowout.
A year later, Brennan is in a much different place, and so is the Arizona football program. The Wildcats toppled ASU 23-7 in Tempe, giving the Wildcats nine wins on the season and bringing the Territorial Cup back to Tucson.
It’s been an all hands on deck journey for Arizona to get back on track, and Brennan was plenty grateful in his postgame press conference.
“I really think I’m fortunate to be surrounded by awesome people,” said Brennan. “I think it starts with like, alignment with our administration, our president, our athletic director, all the people that are helping us build it, but just the coaches are fantastic.”
Our recap of the game can be found here. Below is what Brennan, defensive backs Dalton Johnson and Treydan Stukes and offensive lineman Chubba Maae had to say.
Brennan on what Arizona did to win the game: Alright wow, Bear Down. What a what a great night here. I think all of our fans that came up from Tucson and our fans and alums here in the greater Phoenix area got what they paid for. All week we talked as a team about like this game was going to turn on our physicality and our discipline, and I thought that showed up tonight in fantastic ways. Offensively, in the first half, we had some struggles, but our defense kept playing that complimentary football. They could get stops, they kept forcing turnovers, and right before half, we were able to get three points, which I thought was really big. And then in the second half, I thought we played great team football. That’s the thing I feel about this group, is that this is an awesome football team. It’s really, really special, this Arizona team. And you know, the offense in the second half had a bunch of sustained, long drives that kind of kept the ball out of ASU’s hands, and our defense kept answering and just coming up with big plays and takeaways. And so just an absolute team win. I could not be more proud of us. And as you guys know, this game, this game means more. This game means more to everybody than any other game. It is more important to our players and our coaches, it’s more important to our university, to our fans, our community, and so to come up there and get the win was just incredible. And I’m excited because now the Territorial Cup gets to come back to Tucson, Arizona, where I think all of us Wildcats feel like it belongs. So Bear Down.“
On Arizona’s alignment creating success: “I really think I’m fortunate to be surrounded by awesome people. I think it starts with like, alignment with our administration, our president, our athletic director, all the people that are helping us build it, but just the coaches are fantastic. You know Coach Gonzales and Coach Doege along with the rest of the assistant coaches put together good plans. You know everyone’s gonna be like all talking about our special teams because Michael missed kicks today, but like, our special teams have been damn good all season, and I feel really good about that and and I believe in Michael. We’ll get that worked out for our next one. But I think that when you have a great alignment from top to bottom, and everybody is all in moving the same direction, you can do incredible things. And I think that’s what’s happening for our program right now. Jason and then
On the defense’s performance: “I’m really proud of those guys. I think for them to show up the way they did, especially kind of the way the game was going, and we knew this game was going to be a bloodbath, man. It’s this game, It’s Arizona, ASU. It is always a super physical back and forth. And we just felt like we had to just keep playing and keep responding and keep answering the bell. And our players did that. And that’s why this, I have so much love for this team, because the way they continue to show up for each other, play in and play out, is really special.”
On why he thinks Arizona has been so good in the second half: “Because I think this team doesn’t quit. I think this team knows it’s a four quarter game. That’s why you play four quarters. We’ve got great crew with Cullen Carroll and our strength and conditioning staff, and our team is well conditioned and ready for it. And then this team practices their ass off every day, and that’s something you know, as we break down practice, that’s a huge emphasis for us in practice, is halftime and the fourth quarter. And so I think, you know, I think you see that show up, or you have seen it show up the last few weeks.”
On Arizona’s five turnovers and Stukes’ interception: “Going into the game, winning the turnover battle was job number one. So that was a huge part of it. And I think Treydan Stukes is just such a special football player and such a special kid. You don’t need to spend much time with him to get a feel for just how amazing of a young man he is, and to think about like his journey here at the U of A, walk on, scholarship, torn ACL last year, game three or four. The road back. You know, early in the season, he couldn’t play much. Everyone’s on my ass because, ‘how come Stukes isn’t playing?‘ Like, dude, he’s coming back from an ACL, you know? But he just kept working and he’s an incredible leader. And what I saw in that play was I saw him playing in the back door of a vertical off a heavy play action. He’s exactly where he’s supposed to be, and then as that ball got launched, I saw him climb up the back of that guy and play it off the top of his head. It’s one of the best football plays I’ve ever seen.”
On the seniors going out with a win in the Territorial Cup: “Well, I think it’s obviously because of the just the magnitude the rivalry and what that means for them, but for those seniors to go out with a win up here is incredibly special. I also think it’s special that, you know, Dalton and Genesis and Stukes chose to come back and play together, you know. So to see them kind of make plays for each other and show up for each other that way is magic. Man, like some special part about being being part of a fun team, a great team.”
On the impact of this game on in-state recruiting: “I think we’re starters. Like, I should say this, like, I got a lot of respect for Coach Dillingham and that staff. Those guys are good football coaches, and they’ve done a hell of a job up here. And I think for us, recruiting the state of Arizona is always going to be job number one. Like, that’s going to be the most important thing that we do. So I thought it was awesome that coming into this game, you got two Arizona teams that are in the top 25 playing each other, you know. And I think that’s awesome. And so they got to see a good game, like I said at the beginning, like the fans got what they paid for.”
On Arizona’s offensive play calling: “I thought Coach Doege called a great game. They’re good on defense. They’re really damn good on defense. And Coach Doege called a great game, and trust me, I would like every play to score, and so would coach Doege, but football is not like that. When you’re playing against a good team in a robbery, it’s going to go back and forth. You’re going to trade punches. And I thought the way we finished that game, especially in that moment, was so huge.”
On the frustration of early missed opportunities: “I think this team is resilient. I think they believe in each other. You know what I mean. So if I did see any long faces, I was pretty aggressive calling it out on the sideline, because we said, coming into this thing that it was going to be bloody and messy and nasty. Like, that’s what this game is, you know. So, like, we just had to stay in the fight, which in the first half, our defense gave us a chance to then obviously, in the second half, I thought our offense responded incredible way. So, like, that part of it, I think you’re never out of any game unless you believe you believe you are.”
On what Coach Tomey would have thought of this game: “I think Coach Tomey would have loved this game, especially the way we played defense. He pretended to care about all three phases, but he was really a defensive guy. He would have love it, especially because the result ended up with the Wildcats on top.”
On what’s next as Arizona prepares for bowl season: “It’s funny because someone asked me that a little while ago. I think the coaches might need a little sleep. This coaching staff is really special. Great people. They love their players. The players love them. Everyone is so committed and work so hard to get us to this point. We’re sitting here 9-3 in one of the best conferences in the country is pretty special. And so this week we’ll have a little bit of downtime, hopefully we can heal up and get our bodies a little bit fresh and healthy, and then we’ll find out where we’re going pretty soon thereafter. But I couldn’t be more proud of this team. I couldn’t be more proud of the coaching staff, more appreciative of them and the effort they put into helping us just build something that’s really special, and I think we’re just getting started. Bear Down, baby.”
Stukes on his interception: “Yeah, they had a fast receiver in there. We knew they wanted to take him vertical. Just having to lean on the post, knowing that it might not be help. Quarterback launched a pretty deep ball, but I felt like I got a good jump on the trajectory, and I was able to make a play jump on time and use the hands, finish it.”
On how this Territorial Cup compares to the first one he played in: “Significantly different. For those who don’t know, my first territorial cup was 2020. Wasn’t fun, but it felt good to go out with a group of guys like this and just end my college career in this way. It’s fantastic.”
On stopping a running quarterback after being told they couldn’t earlier in the season: “Yeah, no, Coach G has made that an emphasis for us. I thought we executed our plan to to a pretty good, pretty good standard. The guys up front did a fantastic job fighting those lanes and making them run sideways, and then everyone swarming to the ball. So that’s, that’s how you play great defense. And I think Coach D puts in a great position to make those plays.”
On whether Arizona has a bowl game preference: “We don’t have a preference. Anywhere we go, we’ll have a good time. This group of guys can can click any anywhere. So I think we’ll have a good time anywhere we go.“
On how the seniors are going to approach the next month: “Gonna soak it in You know, our last few weeks as an Arizona Wildcat and with this special group of guys, you know, these moments are going to be the days we look back on. And, you know, these were good old days, like that Office quote. So, you know, we’re going to soak it in as much as we can for this last month for sure.”
On how this run compares to 2023: “I mean, you can definitely find some similarities with the way the season went in ‘23, but you know, it’s just because of this group of guys that we put so much hard work in to get to this point. And you know, we just kept attacking week after week, and team kept getting better and better. And, you know, I think that’s something we had in common that 23 team, like every week we just kept improving, and we kept finding ourselves more and more each week. So I think this team has done a great job doing the same.”
Johnson on what Arizona’s defense has shown over the last few week: “I just think that no matter how the outcome of the game is going, we came to play, you know, we didn’t come to watch. So we’re here to get out there. And I think the front seven back and the back five is just clicking really well. I was just flipping really well, you know. So we love being on that field together as a unit, and we trust in Coach G and we trust in each other. So it makes it easy and fun.”
On getting beat by ASU’s Jeff Sims on a touchdown and then later forcing Sims to fumble: “On that (touchdown) play, yeah, it happens, you know, there’s a lot of open field, and he’s a great athlete. It happens. But you know. Are you talking about the punch out when that came? Yeah, you know, I knew the play was coming because they ran it three times, so I just got to jump on it. And, you know, I was hoping he would come outside, but once he stayed inside and kept that ball on the outside hand, I decided to take a shot. And it worked out.“
On Arizona’s experience playing close games: “Finishing games is super important. You know, we always talk about starting fast. We also say you gotta finish wrong, you know. Whether we’re in a close game or not, we just we gotta finish the game out and we did a great job with that. Offense came out in that fourth quarter explosive and just taking time off the clock but getting four or five yards of pop on each play. As a defense, we love that. Offense, you know, I’m sure they’re, they’re falling and they’re clicking. Both sides just react off each other and just play great.“
Maae on what it means to his final regular season game on this note: “Special, to say the least. Just thankful to the opportunity just to be here with these special guys. You know, we’ve been saying that all year. This is a special group. Every week we’ve continued to get better and better. Thank the Lord.”
On how satisfying it is to finish the regular season on top: “I mean, it’s rewarding. All the work you put in beginning of the year, brand new team, 30 new guys on team, not knowing what to expect each other, building a relationship across both sides. It’s not clicky. It’s very rewarding. You love it for everybody in the room. We’ve been through a lot together.”
On the offense’s identity: “All year, our main thing was that nobody could stop us except for us. Whenever things weren’t going our way, it was cause of little mess-ups of things we did. So just being able to slowly march down the field, and do what we want to do, it nice to see, it was satisfying just being able to punch the ball in, and I hear that crowd go silent and hear our little corner go of. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
On how this season compares to 2023: “The start of the season you kind of gotta find your identity. And I believe we did a great job finding that. U of A is kind of looked at like little brother sometimes or just bottom tier. So I think we just go into each week hungry, practice that way that we want to come out on top, and so when you got that momentum and your team is playing as one, you’re going to get on the run like we are. Yeah, there’s some similarities you can find, but this team is special and it’s its own.”
Unknown Speaker 7:49
That’s coach Jesus. Thank you guys. Appreciate everybody.