Arizona football notebook: Noah Fifita nominated for Polynesian Player of the Year, Danny Gonzales snubbed by Broyles Award

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During Jedd Fisch’s tenure as head coach he re-established Arizona’s Polynesian pipeline, a trend that has continued under Brent Brennan. And for the second year in a row the Wildcats have a finalist for an award given to the sport’s best player of Polynesian descent.

Quarterback Noah Fifita is one of 10 players up for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year.

Fifita, one of two QBs on the list along with USC’s Jayden Maiava, became the first UA quarterback since 1975 to be named First Team All-Conference when he landed on the Big 12’s all-conference team last week. He’s thrown for 2,963 yards and 26 touchdowns (two off the school record) with only five interceptions, and for his career has thrown a school-best 70 TD passes.

A participant in the 2022 Polynesian Bowl high school all-star game, Fifita is aiming to be the second consecutive Wildcat to win the award. Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan won it in 2024.

The winner will be announced Dec. 16, with an award ceremony scheduled for Jan. 17 at the Polynesian Hall of Fame dinner.

Gonzales misses cut

Despite having a Top 20 defense, including one of the best pass defenses in the country and the second-most takeaways of any team in the country, Danny Gonzales was not named one of the five finalists for the Broyles Award given to college football’s top assistant coach.

The finalists are Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, Miami defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman and Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and Texas Tech defensive coordinator Shiel Wood.

In his first season as defensive coordinator, Gonzales has led a unit that has forced 28 takeaways and has held 10 opponents to below 200 passing yards including the last eight. The 18.9 points allowed per game is lowest since 1998.

Early portal departure

The NCAA transfer portal doesn’t officially open until Jan. 2, the same day Arizona plays SMU in the Holiday Bowl, but hundreds of players have announced their intentions to transfer over the past few weeks. And that now includes a Wildcat.

Offensive lineman Michael Wooten will enter the portal next month in search of his third school. He began his career at Oregon before spending the last two seasons with the UA.

Wooten appeared in 20 games for Arizona with five starts, including the first two this season when he started at left guard before Chubba Ma’ae took over. This season Wooten played 230 snaps on offense, allowing two sacks and eight pressures, and also logged time on special teams on field goals and extras points.

Tight end Keyan Burnett, who left the team during the season, is also expected to be in the portal.

Holiday Bowl ticket update

Arizona has announced it has sold out its allotment of tickets to the Holiday Bowl but plenty of seats are still available via Ticketmaster.

For those who do plan to make it out to San Diego for the game, the first 10,000 fans into Snapdragon Stadium will receive a free 1-day admission to Sea World.

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