Coaches love their cliches, and at this point in a college football season a commonly used one is about teams showing the biggest improvements between the first and second game. Defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales eluded to it earlier this week, in the middle of a detailed, 20-minute breakdown of his unit’s defensive possessions that saw him point out numerous mistakes made despite how good the overall numbers looked.
Arizona’s season-opening 40-6 win over Hawaii was a great first step for 2025, but it will mean nothing if the Wildcats don’t built off it on Saturday night against Weber State. Look no further than a year ago when, after scoring 61 points in Brent Brennan’s debut the UA followed that up with a listless effort against NAU.
“We beat Northern Arizona, but it didn’t feel the way we wanted it to feel,” running backs coach Alonzo Carter said Tuesday, using air quotes when he said ‘beat.’
For a program trying to get back on track after a disappointing season, nothing should be taken for granted.
“I think when you get to be a really good program, I think there’s an understanding of that, and I think we’re building towards that,” Brennan said. “That’s what we want to be. We want to be consistently in that headspace where it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, because in college football, you only get to play 12 guaranteed. So every everyone’s like, oh, well, it’s not a conference game, who cares? It’s the most important game of the year, because it’s the only game we get to play this week. We only get 12 of them, we only get one this week.”
Here’s what to look for the when Wildcats host the … Wildcats for a 7 p.m. PT kickoff at Arizona Stadium:
While Arizona scored 40 points against Hawaii and had 50 percent more rushing yards than it combined for in the last two games of the 2024 season, the offense was far from crisp. Noah Fifita was just 13 of 23 for 161 yards and a touchdown, adding a rushing score, not the kind of numbers expected from a veteran quarterback despite the new system.
“I think last week there was some stuff where first game (you’re) trying to do too much, or trying to make plays instead of just executing the offense,” Brennan said. “So there’s been a drill down on everybody just doing their job and executing and doing their job with red line. There have been very few players in my lifetime that prepare as hard as Noah Fifita does.”
Arizona was only 3 for 11 on third down, with two of those conversions coming on TDs. Last season the Wildcats converted on 42.9 percent of third downs, which ranked 43rd nationally, but went 0 for 10 against NAU a week after being 8 for 12.
It also twice had to settle for red zone field goals.
“The improvement on the execution side, like that that needs to be visible for me, and for our staff and for our team,” Brennan said. “I think there were too many opportunities in that game where we didn’t get done on third down what we wanted to get done. We didn’t have the percentage of touchdowns that we wanted in the red zone.”
Continued running back rotation?
Taking out sacks, Arizona rushed for 214 yards against Hawaii with 199 coming from the trio of Quincy Craig (125), Kedrick Reescano (51) and Ismail Mahdi (23). Each scored a TD, and with Fifita also getting a rushing score it was the first time Arizona had four players find the end zone on the ground since 2019.
Reescano started and got the most carries, with 10, while Craig’s output came on just seven touches and included a 54-yard TD run and Mahdi had five rushes. Only two of Arizona’s 12 offensive possessions saw it give carries to multiple backs, and Reescano ended up with the fewest snaps (17) of the three.
“I’m not trying to sound arrogant, but I told you guys three weeks ago about the versatility of the room,” Carter said. “We have a chance to use all three guys, depending on who has the hot hand, how’s it going within the flow of the game.”
Last season Quali Conley ended up playing nearly 70 percent of the offensive snaps, though that imbalance was partly due to Jacory Croskey-Merritt sitting after the first game and Rayshon ‘Speedy’ Luke opting to take a medical redshirt after four contests.
An opponent not to be overlooked
Weber State lost 45-10 at James Madison last week and will be a major underdog when a spread comes out about 24 hours before kickoff. But Arizona was a 37.5-point favorite against NAU last season and only won by 12, and we don’t need to bring up what happened when the UA faced the Lumberjacks in 2021.
FCS schools pulled off two road upsets in Week 1, with Tarleton State beating defending American Athletic Conference champ Army and Austin Peay crushing Middle Tennessee by 20. There were six total FCS upsets in 2024 while in 2021 there were 12.
Weber State’s last win over an FBS team was in 2022 at Utah State.
“Every time I played against an FCS team, they come in they know that this is a big opportunity for them and that you get their best shot in every way,” said Brennan, who went 5-1 against FCS opponents at San Jose State. “I’ve been through this coaching football a long time, and I’ve had good days and bad days in this situation, and so we’re working our tails off to make sure that we play our best football on Saturday night and keep moving in the direction we want to move as a football program.”
Arizona’s student section was by far the most vocal part of the crowd for the opener, and it may have accounted for close to half the actual attendance compared to the announced figure of 42,423. Brennan praised the students afterward and again Thursday, noting that the Zona Zoo should be in contention weekly for the Big 12’s new award for top student section.
“I’m excited to see how the Zona Zoo shows out,” he said. “I’m excited to see how our fans show out for these players. I’m excited to see what the Wildcat Walk looks like, that was just such a great scene a week ago, and I hope we can double down on that and continue to make that something that is an epic component of Arizona football. The players getting off that bus and just feeling that energy and that excitement from the fan base, with our cheerleaders and the Pride of Arizona, is just a really special moment.”
The announced crowd for the opener was down more than 2,400 from the 2024 opener, which itself was down considerably from the first crowd in 2023. The second crowd last season was 47,746 before peaking with a sellout for the Colorado game.
Arizona was without a handful of projected starters for the opener, and a few could make their debut against Weber State.
Gonzales said he expects linebacker Riley Wilson, a transfer from Montana, to play, as could cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew after he returned to practice Tuesday. Defensive back Treydan Stukes, who is coming back from knee surgery, could have played against Hawaii and is a “unique case” because Gonzales doesn’t want to rush him back.
“We’re going to make sure the Treydan is 1,000 percent ready to go, and he looks really good practice,” Gonzales said. “And Gavin (Hunter) has given me this luxury.”
Offensively, Brennan said tight end Keyan Burnett and receiver Kris Hutson could be in action after missing the opener. No word on offensive tackle Rhino Tapa’toutai, who like Stukes had knee surgery last fall.
Confirmed to be out, though, is tight end Tyler Powell, who was hurt on the first offensive snap against Hawaii. Brennan said the redshirt junior will miss the rest of the season.
