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. 11 CHRIS MCALISTER
With it being the 11th day until kickoff between the Lobos and Wildcats, the best player for Arizona to wear No. 11 was shut-down cornerback Chris McAlister, who established his Jim Thorpe Award-winning career with the Wildcats from 1996-98 after committing to UCLA but played one year at Mt. San Antonio (Calif.) College instead. More accomplishments for the unanimous All-American in 1998: Third-team All-American by the Sporting News in 1997, won the 1998 Mosi Tatupu Award as the nation’s top special-teams player and was a first-team All-Pac-10 player in each of his three seasons at Arizona. He intercepted 18 passes in his three seasons at Arizona (third-best in school history). He was a first-round draft pick (10th selection overall) by the Baltimore Ravens in 1999. In his 11-year NFL career, he won a Super Bowl and was a three-time Pro Bowl selection with the Ravens. McAlister, 47, remains active as an Arizona football alumni, attending many reunion events and the annual spring game. McAlister has coached at Mt. San Antonio College while also spending time with NFL teams as a coach as part of the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellows.
NO. 11 IN 2023 — QB NOAH FIFITA & DE CHASE KENNEDY
Fifita, 5-foot-10 and 188 pounds, is a Heisman Trophy candidate as a junior at Arizona. His accolades after the season:
- 2023: FWAA Offensive Freshman of the Year
- 2023: Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year
- 2023: Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Finalist
- 2023: Shaun Alexander Award Freshman of the Week
- 2023: Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
- 2023: Manning Award Star of the Week
- 2023: Davey O’Brien Award Great 8
- 2023: Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
- 2023: Davey O’Brien Award Great 8
- 2023: Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
- 2023: Manning Award Star of the Week
- 2023: Davey O’Brien Award Great 8
- 2023: Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
- 2023: Shaun Alexander Award Freshman of the Week
- 2023: Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
- 2022: Pac-12 Fall Honor Roll
Named the Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year after making 12 appearances with nine starts during his first full season of action with the Wildcats as a sophomore. He posted the highest single-season completion percentage (72.4) in program history, completing 241 of 333 pass attempts for 2,869 yards and 25 touchdowns with six interceptions. Guided the Wildcats to a seven-game winning streak to conclude the season, tying for the longest single-season winning streak in program history. His 2,869 passing yards last season are the eighth-most in a singleseason in program history. His preseason honors include the Manning Award, Unitas Golden Arm Award, Davey O’Brien Award Watch List, the Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List, the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, Athlon Sports Preseason All-American, and Phil Steele Third-Team All-American.
Kennedy, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, is a redshirt-sophomore transfer from Utah who saw reserve action in six games last season. He made his first tackle as a Ute with an assisted tackle for loss at No. 19 Oregon State. He also contributed a QB hurry against the Beavers. He is a 3-star recruit out of The Episcopal School of Dallas, where Kennedy was a two-way player at edge and running back.
NOTE
College football begins Saturday with Week Zero. Arizona’s first opponent, New Mexico, will play host to Montana State on Saturday. The Lobos are a 10.5-point underdog to a FCS school. Arguments can go either way if it is an advantage or disadvantage for Arizona that New Mexico is playing a week ahead of its opener.
THEY SAID IT
“I look at it that they’re getting an opportunity to play a full football game and your most growth is between your first and second football game every year. They’re going to get an opportunity to see themselves play. The kids learn more from watching themselves than from watching others and they will have immense growth from whatever we see on that tape to what shows up in Arizona Stadium.” — Arizona offensive coordinator Dino Babers about New Mexico playing a week before visiting Tucson
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
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.
Recommended for you
