Arizona Football

Effort, execution and accountability all there on Saturday night for Arizona

Posted on
Share

You into style points?

Arizona had plenty on Saturday night in its 40-6 cruise over visiting Hawaii.

I write that because did you really think the Wildcats had 40 points in it in Game 1 of the 2025 season? And limit its opponent to just two field goals, one coming in the last second of the first half?

Arizona outscored Hawaii 24-0 in the second half. After last season, points and more points are welcome.

“We’re excited about the start and excited to where we are going,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said.

After a season that looked aimless and uneven, Saturday night was a welcomed sight. It beat an FBS team with ease and looked relatively dominating in doing so. It needed it.

Is it a sign of things to come? Probably not – or maybe for another week – but the schedule won’t be like this after week 2, but Saturday night was enjoyable for the Wildcat faithful.

The defense turned the Rainbows over five – yes, five – times and had no turnovers of its own. It also scored on four of its first five possessions.

Hawaii should be on the schedule every game.

Still, Arizona had a lot to do with that.

Brennan talked about “effort, execution and accountability.”

“On the effort side, I think we played really hard,” he said. “I think that was visible. Sure there were mistakes, but we played hard in all three phases.”

Offense, defense and kicking game.

As Brennan, who has now won his season opener for the second consecutive time, said, it was “a special night at Arizona Stadium. The crowd and team celebrated the return of Tetairoa McMillan and Randy Robbins as they were inducted into the Ring of Honor.

The team honored their presence by playing well.

“The execution piece, I think we have a little bit of work to do,” Brennan said. “I’m excited to look at this film, go to work and we’ll be accountable for where we want it to be and the level we want it to be at.

“But at the end of the day, this was a win for our football team, it was a win for our fans, and it was a great night at Arizona Stadium.”

Beats the alternative.

It helped that Arizona was efficient and effective with just about everything. It had five sacks, it had more yards (334-290) and produced 24 points off turnovers.

“I think we should have put up at least 60,” said Quincy Craig, who ran for 125 yards and a touchdown.

He did try to do his part, give the yards and the toughness of those yards. He gave UA what it lacked a season ago – a stout running game.

“I don’t think Quincy’s success surprised any of us,” Brennan said. “… He had an incredible week of practice. (he) really, really attacked the work and showed up on gameday. And that’s one of those examples where preparation leads to opportunity, and he made the most of it.”

They all did, including Arizona’s must-have Noah Fifita, who didn’t have a great game but was good enough in the opener to help get the win.

“I think he missed a couple throws,” Brennan said. “It didn’t look like timing. It just looked like he sailed two of them … I think that will tighten up the more we play.”

Then there was kicker Michael Salgado-Medina, who did his best Tyler Loop impression by hitting a 50-plus yarder.

“It was great to see him drill that 52-yarder, that was so exciting for him,” Brennan said. “This is his first time kicking field goals in a game, and I thought he did a great job. And he also did a nice job punting. I think we had one of those ones on the punt that I think we got some work to do, we need to fix that on the protection piece, but otherwise I think he kicked the ball well.”

Not all was perfect, but it was perfect enough to celebrate the win.

print
Related Items:,

Recommended for you

Comments
To Top