No. 21 Arizona opens the Brent Brennan coaching era on Saturday night in a nonconference game against New Mexico in Tucson, Ariz.
The Wildcats are ranked in the preseason AP poll for only the second time since 1999 – they were 22nd in 2015 – and the biggest reason for that is the internal recruiting Brennan did when hired in January to replace Jedd Fisch, who left for Washington.
Brennan, previously the head coach at San Jose State, held on to the bulk of the key players from Arizona’s 10-3 team, including wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and quarterback Noah Fifita.
“They made an incredibly unselfish choice,” Brennan said of the pair’s decision to turn down NIL opportunities at other schools. “They made the rare choice.”
Fifita (2,869 yards, 25 touchdowns, six interceptions) and McMillan, a preseason first-team All-American after catching 90 passes for 1,402 yards and 10 TDs last year), lead a potent offense that averaged 34.6 points per game last season.
New Mexico (0-1) has the benefit of having played a game, albeit with a painful result in head coach Bronco Mendenhall’s debut. The Lobos coughed up a 17-point fourth-quarter lead and fell 35-31 at home to FCS opponent Montana State.
New Mexico allowed 567 yards, including 362 yards rushing.
“Pretty consistently a gap off here, a gap off there, a missed tackle here, missed tackle there,” Mendenhall said of his team’s run defense. “But enough to where it was really inconsistent.”
Arizona could take advantage of that run defense with a revamped but deep running back group that includes Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who rushed for 1,190 yards and 17 TDs on 189 carries last season … at New Mexico. He and San Jose State transfer Quali Conley (842 rushing yards last season) figure to lead the backfield.
The Lobos’ offense is led by athletic quarterback Devon Dampier, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown against Montana State. He also scored on a nifty 34-yard naked bootleg that was one of the highlights from Week 0 of college football.
New Mexico receiver Luke Wysong caught six passes for 95 yards last week, while Eli Sanders ran 17 times for 87 yards.
“They look like they play hard. They’re definitely creative defensively. Offensively, they’ve got some weapons,” Brennan said of the Lobos. “I feel like they were one catch away from it being over. They’re going to be ready to play.”
In addition to Merritt, another tie between the schools is Danny Gonzales, who was New Mexico’s head coach from 2020-23, going 11-32. He is now Arizona’s linebackers coach.
Arizona might be a bit of a mystery with Brennan in charge, aided by longtime U of A assistant Duane Akina (now the defensive coordinator) and former Syracuse coach Dino Babers as the new offensive coordinator.
“It does take extra time,” Mendenhall said of the preparation for potential tweaks to Arizona’s schemes, “but, really, the personnel they have warrants so much of the attention.”
The programs are old rivals, dating to 1908, although they haven’t played since 2015. Arizona leads the series 44-20-3.
