For just over a week following the win over ASU in Tempe, Arizona has been awaiting its bowl destination and opponent. Today the Wildcats found out that San Diego will be the destination and the SMU Mustangs will be the opponent.
Arizona will have a chance to earn its tenth win of the season. It would be the second ten win season in two years, and the fifth in program history.
Here is what head coach Brent Brennan had about his team playing in the Holiday Bowl:
Brennan’s overall thoughts on being selected for the Holiday Bowl: “Obviously, it’s been a great day for us. We’re really excited about the Holiday Bowl. It’s obviously one of the best bowl games in America. We’re going to have a big time opponent in SMU. Our team has worked incredibly hard, and they’ve played some really good football this season. I think it’s just an awesome reward and the experience of going to plan a big time bowl game versus a big time opponent, especially being in California, the proximity to the state of Arizona for our fans and our alums, and then also with so many alums living in the state of California, you combine that with so many of our players being from California. So it seems like a home run to me. We had a great morning getting the announcement with our team. Just had a great team bonding event, just little fellowship, little good times, some laughter, some smiles, some good food. Everybody’s really excited about this opportunity. So we can’t wait to get going on practice and get everything scheduled out and planned out. We’re excited. We can’t wait to get to San Diego. We can’t wait for this big time football game.”
On his experience with the 1998 Holiday Bowl that Arizona and his brother Brad played in: “It was awesome, like it was just a super hard fought game. We had a huge crew of family and friends there for the game. Obviously, Arizona had just a magical season up to that point, Nebraska was a big time opponent coming in there ranked, Crouch was their quarterback, right? Heisman Trophy winner. At that time, that was like, you know, that was when Nebraska was rolling at a crazy level, right? So, just a big time football game, and it was fun. Brad made a handful of catches in that game, scored a touchdown, and had one called back. It’s just really, really fun. It’s a great memory for me. It’s a great memory for my family. So it’s just kind of fun to remember that. What a special time that was.”
On what it means to the fanbase for the bowl game to be in San Diego: “We can’t wait. It’s such a cool thing because lots of people that live in the state of Arizona, vacation there, have homes there or spend time there. So that part of it’s just an incredible kind of pairing for us. Not to mention we have so many alumni living in San Diego County and LA and so that part of it is exciting, because we know our fans are going to show up for the game, and they’re going to make that environment awesome, and we can’t wait to see it.”
On what it means to guys like Dalton Johnson and Treydan Stukes to get one more month with their teammates: “I think it’s really special. We talked all year about just how connected this team is, how much they care about each other. Obviously, when you’re talking about those guys, they played so well as a secondary and as a defensive side of the ball together, but those guys were also incredible leaders for us, right? Just those guys have been here their whole career. They haven’t jumped around, they haven’t transferred 100 times. Those guys are Wildcats through and through. I think that part of it makes it special where this team gets another month of life and gets to practice together and practice in the facility and watching film and going through the preparation for a game together, then getting the opportunity to play. So I don’t think you can say enough about how special it is.”
On the significance of playing in a bowl when other teams are declining bowl bids: “I think it’s critical for us. I think it’s critical for us in a lot of different ways. Number one, I think it’s important because we had a really good football team this year, and we’re getting a great matchup with SMU. So we’re getting the opportunity to play against another really good opponent from a part of the country that really respects football, where football is very important. They’ve done a great job there. They’re a playoff team a year ago. So like, we get another opportunity to play a really good opponent, and then I think it’s critical for the development of your team. We’ve got a lot of young players on this team. We felt great about our recruiting class a year ago. A lot of those guys are young and they’re maturing and they’re growing and developing, and so these extra practices are going to give them a chance to get coached and to be on the field. That developmental piece, I see that as absolutely critical.”
On the anticipation of waiting for the official bowl invitation: “I found out four hours ago, you know what I mean? So, that part of it, it’s just been hectic. We’ve been working on schedules and all that kind of stuff. We’ll get to game planning tomorrow. I think the Notre Dame thing, that’s kind of like, you know, those players get to make those decisions, or those programs get to make those decisions. So they had their reasons, and whatever they were is what they were, but for us, it definitely caused a delay in us finding out. So we had kind of all been together at the main event over there, and everyone was kind of bowling and hanging out and eating pizza and playing video games and just having a great time. We’re kind of like waiting and waiting and waiting, you know, but when we found out where we were going, everybody was fired up. The team went crazy. So that part was pretty special.”
On his experiences in bowl games: “Well, I think it really depends on, there’s a couple things. It depends on what kind of team you’re playing with, is it a fun team to be around? How connected are they? Our guys are really excited about the process of going and playing somewhere different, playing against a new opponent. That’s one of the cool things about the bowl system, is it you get to play opponents that you don’t really play very often, right? The matchups are totally unique. So, I think that part is really a special part about it. I think when we found out it was SMU, that’s a program that all of our players respect, that’s a program that all of us know how good they are. So we know that we got a big time football game happening in San Diego in a month, right? So that part of it’s great, but every bowl game is different because it’s different locations, different venues, different opponents. I think they’re all special. I really do. I think they’re all special.”
On travel logistics: “So the players will go home for Christmas, and so they’ll have a couple day break there in the middle. Then I believe we will go out there on the 29th. I think that’s what we’re scheduled to do right now. They will practice here that morning, and then fly out that afternoon, kind of like we normally do when we’re playing a road game.”
On managing signing day, bowl preparation, and the holidays: “Honestly, I don’t think it’s any different than the season. During the season, we’re trying to finish a recruiting class too, like recruiting never stops. That part of it. So for us, it doesn’t feel that different, so the preparation is going to be all based on like we need to do everything we can to build the best plan and the best process to play good football against SMU on January 2, in the Holiday Bowl, right? That’s going to be the focus of the next three and a half weeks. I know there’s Christmas in there, and I know there’s a portal opening up and all that stuff, but at the end of the day, we got a job to do, and that happens on January 2. That’s where our hearts and heads need to be.”
On balancing fun and preparation with the bowl game: “I think with this team, I think they’ll understand that. This team has been about business from the beginning, and I think they’ll have a good time, and they’ll enjoy the experience, but they’ll also understand what got us there and what got us there is working our asses off every single day towards a common goal together. I don’t think that’ll be lost on them.”
On his past experiences with Rhett Lashlee: “So I know Rhett a little bit. He’s a really good guy, obviously, a really good football coach. Really have a ton of respect for him and that staff there, and just kind of what they’ve done in their time together.”
On the winning coach of the Holiday bowl being dumped with eggnog: “I would prefer the eggnog to the mayo. I promise you that, but that sounds great. We’re gonna do everything we can to make that happen.”
On Arizona’s five game win streak: “I think there’s just been a real focus on one week seasons for us. Every game was its own thing, and every process to play good football and win those games was what it was all about. That’s all that was. The coaches did a great job of echoing that, and all of our players had a clear understanding of what the expectations were and what we were trying to get done. So that’s what it was, more than anything. I don’t care who we play next week or two weeks from now, like we need to do everything we can to play good football this week, to give us a chance to win on Saturdays. So that was where our focus was, that just process driven focus.”
On the importance of coaching stability and retaining key support staff: “It’s absolutely critical. I think leadership is so important. It’s obvious that in the world of college football, it’s important too. When you look at what’s happened over the last two or three weeks, I think keeping our staff together is the most important thing I can do right now, and that’s what we’re working really hard at. I think we’re making really good progress of getting coach Doege and coach Gonzales here for a long time, and I’m excited about that. They’re tremendous coaches, tremendous human beings, and we’re making progress there. I think the consistency of messaging, the consistency of process, the consistency of leadership is so important in building high level organizations, and a football program is no different. I really think that’s one of the things that is absolutely critical for us here. We’re fortunate because we have good alignment with our athletic director and our president, and you have to have that consistency, it matters. They’ve been really supportive in this last couple of weeks and putting this stuff together. I like the way we’re going right now, and I’m optimistic about the future.”
On Noah Fifita, Stukes, and Johnson earning all Big 12 honors: “Those guys are just incredible human beings. Then their leadership is easy and consistent, and they’re not afraid to do it. I think to have a good football team, you have to have great leadership from your seniors. All those guys have been in the program a long time. Dalton and Stukes, obviously longer than Noah, but you know, when your best players are your best leaders, you got a chance to do something really sexy and fun, and that’s what those guys did. So when you saw the consistency of their play also followed up with their consistency of how they showed up in that leadership role, whether it was a voice, whether it was driving the team, whether it was dropping a hammer like it didn’t matter. Those guys carried us all the time, but there’s also lots of other people. Obviously, those guys are first team all conference, and they get a ton of recognition for that, but there’s lots of other seniors that were critical in terms of that leadership group on our football team that was really, really impactful to the success we had this year.”
Read the full article here
