Brent Brennan Challenges Arizona Wildcats To Respond Following Tough Stretch
Things have a chance to come off the rails for the Arizona Wildcats.
Entering the year ranked No. 25 in the country coming off their 10-win season, the thought was, with so many star players returning, they would be able to build upon that showing and compete in the Big 12 Conference during their inaugural campaign.
Through six games, that has not been the case.
Arizona sits with a 3-3 record, having been completely dismantled against Kansas State and BYU, dropping a winnable game at home against Texas Tech, while also looking incredible in their opener against New Mexico and during their upset over 14th-ranked Utah.
That's the most frustrating thing about this Wildcats team.
They have shown the ability to put together solid performances, but have also looked borderline horrible at times.
Arizona has a tough stretch ahead of them, facing an improved Colorado team and a solid West Virginia group, before going on the road to face UCF in a tough place to play.
Brennan knows his team is at a crossroads, and has challenged them to respond.
"We're halfway through the football season, and we have a ton of football left to play. We have a choice to make. We have so much football left to play ... What are we going to do with it? What are we going to do with these six opportunities? And our teams needs to make a strong, firm choice in which direction we're going to move," he said after the 41-19 loss against BYU per Justin Spears of The Arizona Daily Star.
The Wildcats have to win three out of their final six contests to become bowl eligible and play in the postseason in the back-to-back years for the first time since they accomplished that feat four times in a row from 2012-15 when Rich Rodriguez was the head coach.
It's going to be tough.
Noah Fifita has been one of the most disappointing players in the country, which has clearly affected his confidence. He addressed his struggles by saying he needs to improve, but until that happens on the field, Arizona will continue to have some issues.
Still, Brennan is confident in this group and thinks they can turn things around.
"When you go through a couple of losses like that, that are both hard ones, the challenge is to stay together and not let the outside forces of the world pull us apart. The one thing that is really powerful about these young men, is they are a true brotherhood. I'm excited to see how we come to work," he added.
They have a chance to do that at home against Colorado on Saturday in front of their home fans who are celebrating the homecoming game.
