Brent Brennan Reacts to Arizona's Huge Win Over Baylor
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The Arizona Wildcats cruised their way to a fourth consecutive victory over a physical Baylor Bears team, shutting them out in the second half and scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter on the way to a 41-17 win.
The Wildcats' defense was suffocating in that same quarter, forcing a fumble and an interception that led to points.
The added depth of Arizona also stood out. Starting right tackle Tristan Bounds was unable to play due to an injury and Matthew Lado stepped up in a big way. Right guard Michael Wooten filled in for Alexander Doost, who was unable to play in the second half.
Head coach Brent Brennan was elated after Arizona's fourth consecutive win on Senior day, showing his enthusiasm for the program and the team that he has coached. Here are five interesting quotes he said in the post game press conference.
On what Treydan Stukes means to Arizona
"Treydan Stukes is literally one of the best football players I've ever been on the field with. His awareness, just his technical excellence, his smarts. It was so awesome... He's in his sixth year. He went through the ACL, he talked about just that long road back for him, what that was, and how hard that was and just what a special night for him with the interception and obviously, he had a bunch of tackles."
On the depth of Arizona
"That has been critical. And I mentioned Gaezka Crowley and Fletcher Kelly, but the people that are helping us build the roster. Then the coaches that are part of the evaluation process and part of the recruiting process to get them here, I think for those pieces to come in, the offensive line, they had to believe in Josh Oglesby, they had to believe in Seth Doege.
On Kris Hutson's development
"I think Kris is a player that we were hoping would have this kind of impact every week. All year, I think he's finally healthy and I think he's getting really comfortable and his chemistry with Noah is developing in game, and so you're seeing that ball start to find him more often... He's an awesome young man. And I think Coach (Bobby) Wade, and I think our program has been a good thing for him and I'm excited to see what he's gonna do with our last two games."
On the defense's adjustment in the second half
"There's always a little bit of feeling-out process like that. But I also think coming out of halftime, the big message in the locker room at halftime was we needed to elevate our collective physicality. It had to show up in all three phases. And I felt like it did... And I think, when we play with that kind of physicality, it's a lot of fun to watch.And I think that was the biggest difference, you know, 10 tackles for loss. I mean, there's lots of things you can point the result to, but I think it's a combination of all those things that happen."
On what Dalton Johnson has meant to Arizona
"Dalton is one of those guys that chose this thing and he had lots of people trying to talk him into leaving. I think that's really, really special. He's an awesome Wildcat. He talks about coming here because he was signed by or recruited by, I think Kevin Sumlin's staff. So he went through that transition and goes through the transition with me.
Obviously, last year wasn't fun, I promise you sure as hell wasn't fun for me. But not him either. So his choice, his belief in coach Arce, his belief in coach Gonzalez, his belief in the U of A, he's one of those awesome, awesome guys that chose to stay."
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.