Arizona Football

No. 17 Arizona and SMU expected to be close to full strength for Holiday Bowl

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Few known opt-outs make No. 17 Arizona’s Holiday Bowl game Friday night with SMU more appealing than most postseason affairs other than the College Football Playoff games.

The game kicks off at 6 p.m. at SnapDragon Stadium in San Diego and will be televised on FOX with Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt as the broadcasters. Brian Jeffries and Lamont Lovett will call the action on Wildcats Radio 1290-AM.

Arizona’s only known loss of a player of note with the team in recent months is reserve guard Michael Wooten, who has entered the transfer portal. Chester Burnett, a tight end, left the team in midseason.

The Wildcats are also healthy. Defensive lineman Tia Savea could make his return after missing the final three games of the regular season with a leg injury.

The lone SMU player who has opted out is outside linebacker DJ Warner, who has entered the transfer portal.

Arizona has 10 players in the transfer portal, with safety Jack Luttrell joining the list Friday (the first official day of the portal opening).

It’s not known if Luttrell will be in uniform Friday. Arizona coach Brent Brennan mentioned in a press conference earlier this week that reserve quarterback Braedyn Locke is the “only one who’s going to be ready to play,” out of the players previously who announced they were headed into the transfer portal.

Potential NFL players such as defensive backs Treydan Stukes, Dalton Johnson and Genesis Smith, and receiver Kris Hutson have not announced publicly an opt-out. Brennan said Arizona will not announce the opt-outs before the game.

These teams playing considerably at full tilt could create an interesting strength-on-strength matchup when the Wildcats (9-3) and Mustangs (8-4) meet in the Holiday Bowl.

SMU has the No. 11 passing offense in FBS at 283.5 yards per game, led by Kevin Jennings’ 3,363 passing yards and 26 touchdowns.

Arizona counters with the nation’s fourth-ranked pass defense, which allowed only 155.9 yards per game and nine total passing touchdowns during the regular season.

Jennings and Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, both veteran starters who began their careers at their schools, are returning next season.

Listing of top plays in each of Arizona’s bowl games ahead of Holiday Bowl vs. SMU

Jennings was the Mustangs’ quarterback when they reached the ACC championship game and earned an at-large College Football Playoff berth last year. He reportedly was considering opting out of the Holiday Bowl to concentrate on the NFL draft, but that was put to rest when he announced his return to the program next season.

“We’ve not had an issue with opt-outs yet,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said earlier in the week. “If players decide to transfer now, they probably won’t be with us for the game. But in terms of opt-outs, I don’t expect that.”

Arizona finished the regular season on a five-game winning streak, including road triumphs over ranked opponents Cincinnati and Arizona State. One more victory would give the Wildcats their fifth 10-win season in program history, and their second in three years.

“Since we got bowl-eligible we’ve been talking about this extra life that this team gets by getting to go to a bowl game,” Brennan said. “And that means this extra time this special group of people gets to be together.

“We always talk about at the beginning of the year, like in January, that every football team has a lifespan. It’s either 11 months or 10 months or nine months, but the longer the better, right? And so I think they’ve done a great job of enjoying those moments.”

Fifita has amassed 2,963 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and only five interceptions. He also has run for three touchdowns.

Fifita was an All-Big 12 first-team selection, along with Johnson and Stukes (four interceptions apiece).

SMU safety Ahmaad Moses led his team with five interceptions (one returned for a touchown) and 91 tackles. He and offensive lineman Logan Parr were All-ACC first-team honorees.

The Mustangs have not won a bowl game since the 2012 Hawaii Bowl, losing in their last five appearances. It’s the program’s second appearance in the Holiday Bowl, with the other a loss to BYU in 1980.

Arizona is making its third trip to the Holiday Bowl, having won 23-20 in 1998 against Nebraska before losing 33-0 to the Cornhuskers in 2009. It is the Wildcats’ fourth postseason appearance in San Diego overall. They lost their first postseason game there in 1921 against Centre (Ky.) in what was called the East-West Christmas Classic Bowl.

The fourth trip to San Diego for a postseason game for Arizona matches the most in one area. The Wildcats have played four bowl games in the Phoenix area with a Salad Bowl appearance in 1949 and Fiesta Bowl games in 1979, 1994 and 2014.

NOTES

  • Arizona and SMU have faced off twice previously, with each team winning a game. The Mustangs won the first matchup, 29-7, played in Dallas in 1938. The Wildcats upest No. 6 SMU, 28-6, in Tucson in 1985.
  • The Holiday Bowl will be Arizona’s 23rd bowl appearance, with the Wildcats holding a 10-11-1 mark in the previous 22. SMU has a bowl record of 7-12-1 (two were cancelled due to COVID in 2020 and 2021).
  • Stukes has earned multiple All-America selections, including third-team recognition from the Associated Press and second-team honors from The Sporting News.
  • Fifita’s 70 career touchdown passes are the most in program history; his 68th TD pass at Cincinnati on Nov. 15 broke the record previously shared by Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama.
  • Fifita is also top five in program history in passing yards, ranking third all-time with 8,918 yards. He is 294 yards of moving past Tuitama for second in Arizona history.
  • Brennan has won nine games for the first time in his head coaching career. His victory total is tied for the most by an Arizona second-year head coach in program history. Jim Young was 9-2 in 1974.
  • The Wildcats dominant Territorial Cup victory over Arizona State in late November wrapped up an undefeated 5-0 November for Arizona, marking the first five-win November in program history (records from 1899–1930 do not include game dates).
  • Arizona forced five turnovers against the Sun Devils and now has 28 turnovers on the year, its most in a season since the 2000 team caused 33.
  • The Mustangs have recorded 14 offensive scoring drives that have resulted in touchdowns in under two minutes.
  • The SMU defense has been opportunistic in 2025, ranking fourth in FBS for turnovers gained (27), sixth in red zone defense (0.705), seventh in passes intercepted (17), seventh in fumbles recovered (10), 10th in defensive touchdowns (three), 18th in team sacks (2.83) 19th in rushing defense (105.9).
  • The defensive line of the Mustangs has been a force this season with Isaiah Smith (2nd, 8.5 sacks), Terry Webb (T-15th, 5.5) Cameron Robertson (T-16th, 5.0) and Jeffrey M’ba (T-16th, 5.0) ranking in the top 16 in total sacks in the conference.
  • Jordan Hudson ranks fourth in the ACC in receiving yards per game (76.8), fifth in receptions per game (5.6), tied for seventh in receiving touchdowns (4) and tied for ninth in total receiving yards (691).
  • The Mustangs have started fast in games this year, outscoring their opponents 184-114 in the first half of games.
  • SMU’s 62 wins in the last six years are the most by any FBS team in the state within Texas. In addition, the Mustangs have won 27 of those on the road, tops for any team in the state since 2019.
  • The Mustangs are 28-8 in their last 36 games, and 27-5 in their last 32 regular-season contests.
  • SMU has posted a record of 32-4 during Lashlee’s four seasons when they score 30-or-more points in a game.
  • The Mustangs have had at least seven receivers catch a pass in 40 of the past 43 games.
  • Lashlee boasts a 27-5 conference record in his career, best in program history.
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