Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Chris Hunter takes off during Saturday’s game against the Houston Cougars. Hunter said his team stayed positive during their recent bye week. (Photo by Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – Funny what a convincing victory can do for a team’s mentality.
Before last Saturday’s 27-3 win over the Houston Cougars, Arizona football had lost five straight and sat near the bottom of the Big 12 standings. Now coach Brent Brennan’s 4-6 Wildcats are two wins away from bowl eligibility with games against TCU and Arizona State remaining.
The Wildcats found themselves in a tough position before last Saturday’s matchup against Houston but had a bye week as it aimed to finish the season on a high note.
“I say going into that week with a bye week and everything, you would have never known how we were trending,” sophomore wide receiver Chris Hunter said. “Going into this week, the energy was always high, the whole week of practice, meeting rooms, all of that. You would have thought we were undefeated at this point so no one had any doubt or anything.”
The bye week did better prepare the Wildcats as they posted their best rushing performance against Houston compared to the previous five losses. Additionally, the Wildcats held the Cougars offense to 191 receiving yards, the lowest amount of receiving yards allowed by Arizona in the last six games.
The Wildcats also scored the most points since week one against New Mexico, when they scored 61. The performance against the Cougars was much needed in light of their recent struggles. Players and coaches often say lessons can be learned in losses, but a win was a much-needed mental break for Brennan’s team as the remaining two games will prove crucial in how this season is viewed.
“It means everything. Winning is the best,” senior offensive lineman Joey Capra said. “Because it really brings your team together. You can learn in both scenarios (winning and losing), but being able to accomplish the goal you work so hard for so many hours on a day-to-day basis, it’s very rewarding to have that with such a close group.”
As the team looks ahead to matchups on the road at TCU, and at home versus in-state rival Arizona State, the Wildcats’ only hope of playing a postseason game is to win out. Who’s to say the Wildcats cannot win as TCU is only one game above .500. And then Arizona will host its biggest rivalry game at home where anything can happen.
Arizona returned many players from last year’s 10-win squad which finished third in a very competitive Pac-12 Conference. Players include quarterback Noah Fifita, who was named Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2023, and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who this week was named a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist for the nation’s top receiver.
“We knew the expectations,” said Alonzo Carter, assistant head coach/running backs coach. “They’re not sneaking up on nobody anymore. You’re in a new conference, so you got to play football. And like I tell people, you can’t talk your way through football.”
With an opportunity to end the season on a positive note by spoiling their in-state rival’s hopes of a conference championship and College Football Playoff appearance, a plan is in place to “block it out” and focus on what can be accomplished in the next two weeks.
“When we say ‘block it out,’ block it out and be able to stay on the task at hand,” Carter said. “We have this saying called ‘right now.’ All we can control is what’s right now.”