To get ready for the upcoming Arizona football season, All Sports Tucson offers a countdown, which will include history notes and a look ahead to the season — a good way to keep Arizona football on the mind in the summer months leading up to fall camp in early August and then kickoff against New Mexico on Aug. 31 in the start of the Brent Brennan era.
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS PREVIOUS DAYS IN THE COUNTDOWN
A LOOK BACK — NO. 46 FRED ENKE JR.
With it being the 46th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player to wear No. 46 for Arizona is quarterback Fred Enke Jr., who starred with the Wildcats post-World War II in 1946 and 1947. He was a Tucson-raised athlete, a standout at Tucson High School, who led the NCAA in total offense in 1947 (1,406 yards passing and 535 rushing) and went on to a seven-year stint in the NFL. That ranked as Arizona’s longest tenured quarterback in the NFL before Nick Foles played 11 years in the NFL from 2012 to 2022. He graduated from Tucson High as a three-sport star (football, baseball and basketball) in 1943 after starting a 52-game winning streak for the school as quarterback. He was a two-time all-state quarterback leading the Badgers to the state championship in all three sports during the 1942–43 school year. Enke was also very accomplished in tennis, becoming the No. 1-ranked player in his age group in the Southwest Region. After high school, he entered the Navy as a WWII Naval Aviator, serving from 1943-46. Enke Jr. was the son of Arizona Hall of Fame basketball coach Fred A. Enke Sr. After retiring from the NFL, Enke Jr. returned to Arizona, farming cotton in the areas of Maricopa and Casa Grande. Enke Jr. suffered from dementia and passed away at his Casa Grande home at 89 years old in 2014.
NO. 46 IN 2024 — DE TA’ITA’I UIAGALELEI
Uiagalelei, 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, is a junior who appeared in all 13 games last season, making one start against UTEP. Made career-high 21 tackles (eight solo, 13 assists) with 4.5 tackles for a loss of 19 yards and one sack for a loss of nine yards last season. In 2022, he appeared in eight games, starting the final five games of the regular season. He was one of two freshmen to make five or more starts on the defensive side of the ball (linebacker Jacob Manu was the other). An edge rusher out of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei High School, he also had offers from UNLV, Utah State and Washington State. He was recruited to Arizona by former defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen and Ricky Hunley.
NOTE
Arizona junior receiver Tetairoa McMillan is the No. 14-rated player overall in EA Sports’ College Football ’25 that was released on Monday. Arizona cornerback Tacario Davis is No. 34 and right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea is No. 89. QB Noah Fifita is not ranked among the top 100 players. Fellow Big 12 quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders of Colorado (No. 17) and Jalon Daniels of Kansas (No. 77) are among the top 100-rated players in the video game.
That @thenoah_fifita1 to @TMAC96795 connection
Never gets old pic.twitter.com/wdmam8JNBS
— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) July 16, 2024
THEY SAID IT
“A former five-star recruit, Tetairoa McMillan was immediately productive at the collegiate level, and in 2023, he registered 90 catches for 1,402 yards and 10 scores. At 6’5″, 210 pounds, size is an obvious strength — but he’s also an incredibly flexible route runner.” — Ian Cummings, Pro Football Network
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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