Arizona's Head Coach Brent Brennan Assesses His Team
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It is officially game week for the Wildcats with its season opener on Saturday against Hawaii. It was announced that Arizona’s honorary captains will be Jonah Savaiinaea and Tyler Loop.
Tetairoa McMillan and Randy Robbins will also be at Saturday's game to be inducted into the Ring of Honor.
Arizona coach Brett Brennan spoke to the media on Monday ahead of Saturday's game.
Opening Statement:
"It is game week. We're finally here. It has been an awesome training camp and a busy and in my opinion exciting offseason. I think finally getting to this moment where we actually have one week to prepare, we have a clear opponent and it's not just beating each other up on Tomey field, I think it's going to be exciting, said Brennan.
"Class started today, so it's an exciting time here. This game Saturday night is our first opportunity to own the night, which we've been talking about all offseason. That starts when we get to the start of the Wildcat Walk so for all of our students and fans, let's show up at 5:00 and let's make that thing rocking. Let's make that an incredible atmosphere because it's a great opportunity for our guys to engage with the fans. It's a great opportunity for our fans to be close to the players and to be honest with you, I think it gets them fired up for the game."
On scouting report on Hawaii QB Micah Alejado
"He is tough. I give him all kinds of credit. He took some shots, but he kept getting up, kept coming back and kept playing. He made plays when he had to and made throws when he had to. He looks like an accurate passer who also has some good ability to use his legs. He is a big challenge."
On Michael Salgado-Medina at top of depth chart at kicker and punter
"That was not the plan going into the season, but that's how it played out in training camp. Everything that we do is decided on the field. That's how it played out in training camp, so credit to Michael... He did a really nice job in camp, and so did the other guys... The good news is that we do have competition which is going to keep the pressure on those guys to continue to achieve and continue to compete."
On over half the starters on the depth chart being transfers
"I think that speaks to where we're at in college football right now. I don't think that's going to be unique at the University of Arizona where somewhere between 25-50 percent of your starters are new players. I would also guess that at other places, that might look like 80-100 percent. I think every program is different. That's what we needed to do to give us a chance to field the best football team this season. This offseason was critical and the portal was critical."
On what the team accomplished in the mock game last Saturday
"The mock game was a great opportunity for us to get into some situational football. Because we had a Big 12 officiating crew here, we were able to do everything from some two-minute situations, substitutions... One of the challenging things about football teams is just the rosters are bigger and in the game of football, there are so many start and stop moments and so many moving pieces at the same time... We wanted it to feel exactly like game day. With 61 new players, there's a lot of guys that have never come out of the tunnel at Arizona stadium on game day. They don't know what that feels like. They don't know what that process is, so giving everybody a chance for a dress rehearsal of what this Saturday is going to be when we play Haw
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Ari Koslow is a sports writer covering the University of Arizona athletics at On SI. Koslow has been covering Arizona sports for several years. Born and raised in Seattle, he is a diehard Seahawks fan and a longtime sufferer of the Mariners. He is a huge fantasy football fanatic. Koslow is a graduate of Arizona’s School of Journalism.