The stakes are high for Brent Brennan.
Arizona’s second-year head coach is preparing to clash with No. 18 BYU this weekend, which very well could be the biggest opportunity of his Wildcats tenure thus far.
A win over the Cougars would put Arizona at 5-1 and loudly legitimize both the Wildcats’ hot start and potential to hang around in the Big 12 title chase.
“We know (BYU) really well and they have a great program,” Brennan told reporters Monday. “Any time you have a chance to play a great program coming off a win, let’s go. It is going to be a big-time football game. I am excited to see the city of Tucson show out. … We are looking for Arizona Stadium to be the No. 1 game-day venue in college football in the whole country next Saturday.”
While attendance at Arizona Stadium was uninspiring in last week’s victory over Oklahoma State, Brennan expects — and is asking for — much more intensity in Tucson when the Cougars come to town.
“My challenge to our fan base and to everybody that loves the University of Arizona is to show up,” Brennan told reporters Monday. “Let’s sell out Arizona Stadium. Let’s make this thing the hostile environment we know it can be and make it really challenging for our opponents when they get here.
“That’s something I know we experience every time we go on the road in the Big 12. We experienced it two weeks ago at Iowa State, sold out, rocking, loud, hard to deal with. I think that’s something that we are absolutely capable of here.”
But Brennan made an important distinction with his call for a raucous stadium atmosphere.
“When we do that, you know, I would also ask our fans, let’s be respectful in this thing,” Brennan said. “... We’re better than (being disrespectful). Let’s be here and let’s see a great game. Let’s cheer on the Wildcats with everything we got. Let’s make it incredibly hard on BYU, but let’s be respectful in the process.”
The request for respect comes following the Big 12’s decision to fine Colorado $50,000 for vulgar chants directed at BYU during the two schools’ football game on Sept. 27.
Additionally, when BYU’s basketball team visited Tucson this past February, Arizona’s student section engaged in similar chants and slurs after the Cougars’ 96-95 win, prompting an apology statement from UofA athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois.
As for Saturday’s game, Brennan knows BYU will be a handful, especially considering the strong recent play of Cougars freshman QB Bear Bachmeier, who received Big 12 Freshman of the Week honors Monday for the third time this season. Against West Virginia this past weekend, Bachmeier threw for a career-best 351 yards.
“We’ve known this kid for a while, we watched him playing in high school and he’s obviously a dual-threat guy and a real dual-threat guy,” Brennan said of Bachmeier. “He’s their second-leading rusher on their team, or (has the) second-highest carries anyway. He’s really effective throwing the ball, too.
“I think that’s one of those deals where when you have a young player and you can get him comfortable and get him to flow like they have and then also play good defense behind it, it gives him a chance to play with real confidence, and he’s doing that right now.”
Bachmeier’s quarterback counterpart for the Wildcats will be veteran Noah Fifita, who is coming off his own 376-yard, five-touchdown effort against Oklahoma State to earn Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week recognition.
The Cougars are plenty familiar with Fifita, having intercepted him three times last year in Provo. The redshirt junior has improved considerably since then, however, already racking up 1,341 passing yards and 16 total touchdowns in 2025.
“I’m excited for Noah, I just think he’s one of those young people who has consistently shown up for the University of Arizona, consistently shown up for his teammates, consistently shown up for our coaching staff, and we love him for that,” Brennan said. “And I think, you know, he would even tell you there’s probably more plays for him to make in that game on Saturday than he made. But it was great to see him have a big game.
“He’s one of those players that we’re gonna have to lean on as we get deeper and deeper into Big 12 play, especially this weekend when you have a top-10 defense coming to town and a top-25 football team. We’re going to need Noah to play at a level he’s capable of playing at.”
Of course, Brennan had plenty of nice things to say about Kalani Sitake, with whom he holds a unique relationship.
The pair were together on Oregon State’s coaching staff in 2015, and Sitake has since defeated Brennan head-to-head on two occasions — in 2017 when Brennan was at the helm of San Jose State, and last year in Provo during Brennan’s debut campaign with Arizona.
“Kalani is a great human being. We had a lot of fun together when we were coaching (at Oregon State),” Brennan said. “We lived in the same neighborhood. Our kids ran around together in the neighborhood at all hours of the day and night. It was really fun when we were together.
“I always thought he had just incredible command with the team when he was our defensive coordinator. He just had a great way about him and he has a great ability to be honest with people but also be demanding, and that showed up in our time together.
“It’s been fun for me just watching the success he’s had and continuing to have our friendship over the years. He’s also been a guy that we’ve talked about stuff that we were dealing with within our program or within college football or whatever. He’s just a really good football coach and an even better human being.”
