5 Key Things Brent Brennan Said Ahead of Houston Battle
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The Arizona Wildcats fought hard in a physical, rainy game last Saturday against the now No. 15-ranked BYU Cougars, but their efforts weren't enough to achieve the upset as they fell 33-27 in double overtime.
Arizona's attention is turned towards the 5-1 Houston Cougars, aiming to take them down and regain some momentum for the season.
Head coach Brent Brennan assessed his team and what needed to be done differently, along with what Houston brings to the table and how Arizona can leave TDECU Stadium with a win under its belt.
Here are five things that Brennan had to say in the press conference.
On taking a knee with 19 seconds left in the game and two timeouts
"I've been extremely aggressive this year on fourth down, and I was extremely aggressive on Saturday night, we went for it on fourth down six times, and we converted four of them right to me, in that situation, you know, you're playing against an excellent defense with an active front, okay, they're going to play some sort of big coverage, which is going to make it challenging to throw the football, and their kicker is already hit from 60 (yards) this year. Their kicker is a surefire NFL Tyler loop type guy. And so to me, I felt like we were playing with confidence. I like the way our defense was playing. I just said, 'Let's go win it in overtime. Let's not let there be an opportunity for that.'"
On Seth Doege and the play calling
"I think Coach Doege has been an awesome addition to our program, his leadership, his play calling, his organization. I understand everyone's upset about Saturday night. I also know that we had 400 yards of offense and scored 27 points against the eighth-ranked defense in the country that had previously given up 12."
On the confidence of the wide receiver corps
"That's a talented group. They have made plays for us this year and I think Bobby Wade does an incredible job of coaching that group. And so that's when we have an opportunity to make the plays in the past game, you have to make them. I mean, that's the nature of that position. And I was encouraged, because I felt like we had the best game out of Kris Hutson that we've had all year. And that was, that was a that was improvement. You know, I feel like he's healthy, he's starting to see his speed again, his playmaking. And that was encouraging, and so I still have a lot of confidence in that group."
On not letting losses "snowball"
"The good thing is that we saw that not happen after Iowa State. And so the important thing to me is how we show up tomorrow. Today is a player's day off. And really, do we have guys trickling in today, looking for extra opportunities to improve and get better on their own? Tomorrow, how do we show up? What kind of energy do we show up with that meeting? Have we put that BYU thing behind us? And are we ready to attack this next opportunity or not? And I'm confident in this team. I love how we're playing."
On defending Houston's physical wide receivers
"You're always gonna have matchups like that in most every game. The kid we played last week was 6-foot-5, 215 pounds. I have a lot of confidence in that secondary group. I think they're playing good football. And I know it's a challenge, but that's you're playing big-time college football. This is the big 12. You're going to play against good receivers. You're going to have to defend good people. And so that's what it is, week in and week out."
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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.