Arizona Wildcats Star Considered Team's 'Main Heisman Contender'

An Arizona Wildcats star is a player to keep an eye on entering the 2024 college football season for the Heisman trophy.

Nov 25, 2023; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (11) celebrates a touchdown against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the first half of the Territorial Cup at Mountain America Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Wildcats are a team people need to be paying more attention to entering the 2024 college football season. Just like in 2023, this is a team getting overlooked once again.

Not many people could have predicted the last year's outcome.

Arizona had a 5.5-win total entering the season and ended up going 10-3 with a convincing victory over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl.

A big reason why the Wildcats surpassed expectations was the performance of quarterback Noah Fifita. In the fourth game of the year, starting quarterback Jayden De Laura injured his ankle and the rest is history.

Fifita took over from that point and wowed everyone with his performance. In 12 appearances, he completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 2,869 yards with 25 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

Entering the 2024 season as the unquestioned starter, Fifita will be looking to cement his status as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation.

That is something David Kenyon of Bleacher Report believes he has already achieved. In a recent piece, Kenyon ranked the top players to watch for the Heisman Trophy race entering Week 1 of the season.

26 different players were mentioned as he broke his list up into five different tiers. Highlighted in Tier 3, titled "Familiar Names, Good Teams" was the Arizona star.

“With a nod to teammate Tetairoa McMillan—one of the nation's top receivers—Fifita is Arizona's main Heisman contender,” Kenyon wrote.

There will be some people who believe that Tetairoa McMillan should receive some recognition for the award himself. If Fifita is going to find the kind of success on the field that a Heisman candidate does, McMillan is going to play a huge role in that.

This offense has the tools to be one of the best in the country in 2024. There will also be plenty of opportunities to prove themselves on big stages.

If Fifita is going to remain in the running for the Heisman Trophy, matchups against Kansas State and Utah provide chances to show that 2023 wasn’t a fluke and that he and the Wildcats are here to stay as contenders.