What Brent Brennan, Noah Fifita and Tre Smith said after Arizona's loss to BYU

Any realistic hopes that Arizona football could compete for a spot in the Big 12 championship game were dashed Saturday with the Wildcats' 41-19 loss to BYU.

What's more important for Arizona right now is how to get the offense going again and especially how to turn around the quarterback Noah Fifita's season around.

“Nobody cares about this team more than Noah Fifita,” Arizona coach said Brent Brennan said after the defeat. “We absolutely love him and we will train him with all our might and help him get back to achieving what we know he can do.”

Our recap of the game, as well as our grades for each of the team's sessions, can be found here. Below is information on Brennan, Fifita and the defensive lineman Tre Smith had to say after the defeat.

Brennan on the cause of the loss: “I think there was a lot in here. I think coming in here we knew the revenue thing was going to be a big deal. And you know, we didn't handle that very well. I think at the end of the first half we beat Keyan in that one play. But I think in terms of where we were on the field, maybe there wasn't enough verticality for that route, for the outside route, and there were a lot of collisions there, so we had two guys kind of too close together. That got the ball there. So the ball loss thing was a big deal, and especially after halftime, you keep regaining possession of the ball by losing the ball. Then I think there were periods where we played good football, but just not enough. And you're not going to come here and beat a team like that. If you don’t play cleanly and don’t protect the football.”

If there is a common theme in sales: “Those were four very different turnovers, right? One is a tip pick, one is a fumble, one is a corner route down there with an outside release, vertical and it's in the same space, you know, and so it was like a three-by-one Formation. So I think they are all different. The other was a pressure or sack fumble. I think they are all different. I think that's something that I have to look at as a head coach in terms of what we call where we're at with our sequence of things like that. When we came out of halftime and called the play, we got a perimeter screen, which is usually a really safe throw. They run into the corner and drive in. That's a tip, the guy cuts a damn good figure with looks like that. That's one of the situations where we would probably hope (Fifita) fouls the ball on the screen player. But he's usually skilled enough with his arm angle to get the ball around people. But here too I think there is a lot to it. They are different.

On the loss of Jacob Manu at the start of the game: “I think it's impressive because I think Jacob Manu is one of the absolute leaders of this football team. He is an emotional leader. He is also an excellent football player. And I think that was effective.”

Among the impact injuries that affected Arizona's performance: “I think injuries are making it a little difficult for us at the moment.”

On the question of whether Fifita's tendency to run wide on his dropbacks is intentional or pressure: “I think it’s a combination of those two things. It's also one of the things that makes him really effective is his escape ability and his ability to throw off the run like you've seen several times today where he was able to escape and still get the ball downfield accurately. So most of the time it has to do with the pressure or how I get the ball away. I know no one cares more about this team than Noah Fifita, and we absolutely love him. We will train him to the max and help him get back to achieving what he knows he can do and what he is capable of.”

What causes the offense to stall on drives: “That's a good question. … I think the harder part is that when we get to either the rim or the high red (zone), we haven't opened the door there yet, you know what I mean? That's what we've tended to suppress. And because Tyler Loop was so effective so often. We decided to shoot field goals from then on, but we all know that shooting field goals isn't going to win you in this league and we have to find a way to put ourselves in the best position to getting first downs there and scoring touchdowns.”

What was the message to the team after the game: “The message to the team is that we are halfway through the football season. And we still have a lot of football to play and a decision to make, right? We still have so much football to play. My father is no longer here, but one of his thoughts was, “Nothing in the world is less important than the score at halftime.” But we are halfway through the football season. And what do we do with it? What do we do with these next six options? And that’s what our team needs to make a strong, clear decision about which direction we’re going to move.”

How to get back on track this season: “This team has a lot of heart. There are a lot of great young people and really, really good players in this team and we need to regroup. And I think that's one of the things that's going to be difficult. When you have a couple of losses like that, both of which are hard, the challenge is to stick together. And the challenge is not to let the external forces of the world tear us apart. And I think one of the things that really sets these young men apart is that they're a real brotherhood, and I'm excited to see how we get to work.”

Regarding the question of whether the crime is trying to force something: “That’s not how I feel. What were we today? I felt like we were really less effective when we were in that high red zone, as I mentioned, at 25, maybe it's 20 to 30. There's some people working there. I think Noah did a great job early in the game and he started to get a little hotter and I think that part of that we as coaches have to take away from him. We have to protect him from those moments, whether it's through strong protection or relying on the running game. At the same time, BYU's defense is pretty stingy and their front line is really, really good. And on that running game it was four, six yards a pop in the first half, right, the thing got a little clogged and that looked a little more like two. And now we’re sitting there and it’s second and eighth and we have to make bigger decisions about how we’re going to try to get to third and manageable.”

Fifita on his performance: “It’s just another week of us doing the same things. It's just starting to get old. I have to fix a lot of things. I have to get better individually. I think I’m just not even close to where I want to be individually, not close to where we need to be offensively.”

On what he sees in the interceptions: “I think I'm just trying to force, anticipate and enforce a few things. I think I need to keep my eyes better in certain places to somehow ensure safety there.”

What causes the offense to be successful on the first drive and then stall: “I'm not entirely sure. I think as soon as we come out of the gates we already have our first play, our drive, planned. We were lucky enough to just start quickly in a lot of situations. Now we just have to figure out how to keep that momentum going, like I said, it starts with getting the ball to my guys.”

Among the causes of the offense's problems in the red zone: “I think everything is tighter in the red zone. So you have to be precise in every respect. You have to be able to throw the ball to the narrow windows in a timely manner. The receivers have to be in exactly the right place. So I think it kind of comes down to being able to get the ball where I want it in a timely manner, being able to anticipate things and letting my guys win one-on-one.”

On whether BYU did anything defensively that surprised Arizona: “No, I think we were pretty well prepared for what they were going to give us. They gave us a lot more looks, they did a really good job of alternating them. Give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and players on defense. They did a really good job. Outdid us tonight, but overall I don’t think they gave us too many mixed looks.”

How second-half turnovers put Arizona behind: “I mean, they got it to a 10-point swing, I think, in two minutes. Two really bad turnovers on my part in a critical part of the field put our defense in a really difficult position. And then you can just see our defensive resilience, which allowed us to not lose hope in our offense and keep it to three points in the second half. So our defense is playing fantastic. I have to figure it out to help our offense.”

How to get the team back on track: “At the end of the day, we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. In a week another good, great opponent is coming to our house. It’s an opportunity to bounce back and as Coach B says, the best way to feel better about this loss is to get back to work and try to get a win next week.”

Smith on how Manu's injury changes the defense: “Of course he is a very important player for us. He's a very vocal guy. He is a great leader. But at the end of the day, we all know as individuals that no matter who goes out or what happens, we all have to step in.”

On the new defensive backs in the rotation: “It was fine. We have things to work on. And I don't just say them. I want to say upfront that each and every one of us on this team has something to work on. So we get better. We’re going to get better all around.”

On whether Smith is frustrated because of injuries: “I mean obviously, I don't want anyone to get hurt, but no, we'll just play the next round no matter what happens.”