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Noah Fifita Named Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year, 13 Wildcats Earn All-Conference

by arizonawildcats.com
Dec 5, 2023

TUCSON, Ariz. – Arizona Football quarterback Noah Fifita has been named Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year to lead the Wildcats 13 all-conference selections.
 
Fifita becomes the 2nd Arizona player to lock in the Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year since the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award was split into the Offensive and Defensive awards before the 2009 season. Fifita finished the regular season second in the Pac-12 in completion percentage (73.6), a mark that is currently the best single-season completion percentage in program history. The first Wildcat to earn this honor was running back J.J. Taylor in 2017.
 
The redshirt freshman from Huntington Beach, California earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors a conference-record five times after outstanding performances against Arizona State (527 passing yards, 5 TD), UCLA (300 yards, 3 TD), Oregon State (275 yards, 3 TD), Washington State (342 yards, 34-43 passing), and USC (303 yards, 5 TD).
 
Fifita by the Numbers:

  • 6-2 as the team's starting quarterback, leading the team on a 6-game win streak to end the regular season.  It's the longest win streak for Arizona since 1998. 
  • Arizona is 9-3 this season, the most wins since going 10-4 in 2014.
  • 4th in FBS with a 73.6 completion percentage this season, tops among freshmen QB nationally.  Looking to become the 1st quarterback in school history to complete over 70% of their passes in a season (minimum 100 attempts).  The current Arizona record is 69.1% by Nick Foles in 2011 (387-of-560).
  • 23 pass TD this season is tied for the most of any FBS freshman (USF's Byrum Brown).  It's tied for the 7th most in Arizona single-season history and 2nd most by a Wildcat freshman (Anu Solomon with 28 in 2014).
  • 2,515 pass yards this season is currently the 12th most in Arizona history and 2nd most by an Arizona freshman (Anu Solomon with 3,793 in 2014).  Fifita is currently 5th among all FBS freshmen this season in passing yards.
  • School-record 527 pass yards in win over Arizona State to also set the record for passing yards by a player on either team in Territorial Cup history. He matched his career high with 5 passing touchdowns, set earlier this season against USC.
  • Record 5-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week winner this season, all coming over the final 8 weeks.  The previous high was 4 times by former Arizona State QB Jayden Daniels in 2019, the first season the conference had a weekly award for freshmen.
  • Finalist for the national Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award.



The 13 All-Conference honors are the most for the Wildcats since 2008 (14). Over the last three seasons under Head Coach Jedd Fisch, the Wildcats have taken home 28 all-conference honors including one All-Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, four first team, four second team, and 19 honorable mentions. That is more than the previous five seasons combined (2016-2020: 25 total).
 
All-Pac-12 First Team
The Wildcats earned two All-Pac-12 First-Team selections in Jordan Morgan and Jacob Manu. Morgan allowed only two sacks in 787 snaps posting an overall grade of 83.2 (per PFF), sixth in the conference. His pass-blocking grade of 89.9 is third in the Pac-12 and he recorded one of the lowest defeated rates (8.7%) among the top three in the conference.
 
Morgan, a senior from Marana, helped the Wildcats to the 12th-ranked passing offense, 18th-ranked total offense, and 22nd-ranked scoring offense in the nation.
 
Linebacker Jacob Manu earns First-Team All-Pac-12 honors after finishing 1st in the conference with 108 tackles and leading the conference in tackles per game (9.0). He is the first Arizona linebacker with an interception since Anthony Pandy and Kenny Hebert in 2021 to record an interception in a game after his second-quarter pick in the win over Utah.
 
The Santa Ana, California sophomore is the first Arizona linebacker to record more than 100 tackles since Colin Schooler (118) in 2018.

All-Pac-12 Second Team
Arizona solidified two Second-Team All-Conference members with Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and kicker Tyler Loop earning the honors. McMillan takes home this award after recording the fourth-most receiving yards (1,242) in a single season in program history. His 10 touchdown receptions were tied for the sixth-most in a single season in program history.
 
The sophomore from Waimanalo, Hawai'i finished 8th in the nation and 3rd in the Pac-12 with 1,242 receiving yards. He closed the year 5th in the Pac-12 and tied for 14th nationally in receiving touchdowns (10).
 
Kicker Tyler Loop earned Second-Team All-Pac-12 after finishing sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (76.2, 16-of-21). He made the fourth-longest field goal in the conference, 52 yards at Colorado, and then booted the game-winner to give the Wildcats a 34-31 win on the road over the Buffaloes.
 
Loop, a junior from Lucas, Texas, is 11th among active kickers in Power-5 conferences with an 85.2 field goal percentage during his career. Among active Pac-12 kickers, he is second in career field goal percentage.
 
All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention
Arizona has eight players selected Honorable Mention by the Pac-12 including running back Jonah Coleman, tight end Tanner McLachlan, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, defensive lineman Taylor Upshaw, defensive backs Tacario Davis and Ephesians Prysock, wide receiver Jacob Cowing, and defensive back Treydan Stukes.
 
Pac-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year
Noah Fifita
 
1st Team (2)
OL - Jordan Morgan
LB - Jacob Manu
 
2nd Team (2)
WR - Tetairoa McMillan
K - Tyler Loop
 
Honorable Mention (8)
RB - Jonah Coleman
TE - Tanner McLachlan
OL - Jonah Savaiinaea
DL - Taylor Upshaw
DB - Tacario Davis
DB - Ephesians Prysock
WR – Jacob Cowing
DB – Treydan Stukes

 

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