Everyone thought 2024 was going to be the year the desert finally caught fire. Honestly, look at the names on that Arizona football roster 2024. You had Noah Fifita, the kid who looked like a mini-Patrick Mahomes the year before. You had Tetairoa McMillan, a 6-foot-5 vacuum who catches everything within a three-mile radius. And then there was the move to the Big 12—a fresh start, a tougher stage, and a chance to prove the Jedd Fisch era wasn't just a flash in the pan.
But football is never that simple.
Brent Brennan walked into a situation that was basically a high-stakes balancing act. He had to keep a roster from fleeing to Seattle while installing a brand-new "Veo and Shoot" offense under Dino Babers. It looked great on paper. It didn't always look great on the field. The Wildcats finished 4-8, a far cry from the top-25 aspirations fans were shouting about in August.
The Core That Stayed (And the Production They Left Behind)
If you're looking at the Arizona football roster 2024, you start with the "Big Three." Fifita, McMillan, and Jacob Manu. Most people expected them to just pick up where they left off in the Alamo Bowl.
McMillan was, quite literally, the best thing about the season. He didn't just play; he broke records. In the season opener against New Mexico, he put up a staggering 304 receiving yards. That isn't a typo. He finished the year with 1,319 yards and 85 catches. He surpassed Bobby Wade to become the all-time leading receiver in Arizona history. When the offense stalled—and it did, often—the plan was basically "throw it to T-Mac and pray."
Fifita's year was... complicated. He threw for nearly 3,000 yards, but the efficiency dipped. Last year he was a surgeon; this year, he felt the pressure. He tossed 12 interceptions compared to just 5 the previous season. Part of that was a shaky offensive line that let him get sacked 26 times. You've got to feel for a guy who's 5-foot-10 and constantly has 300-pounders in his lap because the pass protection became "a polite suggestion" at times.
The Defensive Anchors
While the offense grabbed the headlines, the defense had its own set of heroes trying to hold back the tide.
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- Jacob Manu (LB): The heart and soul. He was everywhere until injuries slowed the unit down.
- Tacario Davis (CB): A preseason All-American who stayed loyal when he could have cashed a massive NIL check elsewhere. He still broke up double-digit passes, even if teams stopped throwing his way.
- Tre Smith (DL): The San Jose State transfer who actually lived up to the hype. He led the team with 4.5 sacks.
The Transfer Portal Musical Chairs
When Jedd Fisch left for Washington, the roster could have imploded. It sort of did, but Brennan patched the holes with guys he knew from his SJSU days.
Quali Conley was the biggest "win" in the backfield. With Jonah Coleman gone to Washington, Conley stepped in and rushed for 745 yards and 8 touchdowns. He was a violent runner, the kind of guy who doesn't mind initiated contact. Beside him, we saw flashes from Kedrick Reescano, the Ole Miss transfer who looks like the future of the backfield.
But let's be real—the loss of Ephesians Prysock in the secondary and Jordan Washington in the backfield hurt. You can't just lose NFL-caliber corners and expect a 43-year coaching veteran like Duane Akina to fix it with magic dust. Akina is a legend, but the depth just wasn't there. By the time they hit the meat of the Big 12 schedule, the defense was gassed.
Why the 2024 Roster Felt Different
There was a weird energy this year. In 2023, Arizona was the hunter. In 2024, they were the hunted.
The transition to the Big 12 was a wakeup call. Teams like Kansas State and UCF didn't care about the hype. They saw a team with a superstar wideout and a creative QB and they just bullied the lines.
The offensive line, led by Jonah Savaiinaea and Josh Baker, was supposed to be a strength. Savaiinaea is going to play on Sundays; he's a monster at tackle. But the unit as a whole struggled with the "Veer and Shoot" tempo. There were games where the timing between Fifita and his receivers just looked off. Dino Babers eventually moved away from primary play-calling duties, handing the reins to Matt Adkins after a brutal 34-7 loss to Kansas State.
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Special Teams: The One Constant
If there's one guy on the Arizona football roster 2024 who didn't let anyone down, it was Tyler Loop. The senior kicker was a machine. He hit 18 of 23 field goals, including a 54-yarder. He did miss his first-ever extra point this year, which felt like a sign from the universe that things were just going to be weird in 2024.
Roster Breakdown by the Numbers
It’s easy to get lost in the names, so let's look at who actually did the heavy lifting during this 4-8 campaign.
The Offensive Engine
Noah Fifita ended up with 260 completions on 430 attempts. His 18 touchdowns were respectable, but when you compare that to the 25 touchdowns the opponents' quarterbacks were puting up, you see the gap. The run game averaged 3.8 yards per carry—basically a "get what you can" situation. Conley was the workhorse with 150 carries, while Reescano chipped in 78.
The Receiving Room
Behind McMillan, it was a steep drop-off. Chris Hunter emerged as a solid second option with 35 catches, but he only had 323 yards. That’s a massive gap between WR1 and WR2. Jeremiah Patterson and Montana Lemonious-Craig were in the mix, but they never really became the deep threats the offense desperately needed to take the double-teams off McMillan.
The Defensive Stats
Opponents averaged over 175 yards rushing per game against the Wildcats. That’s where the season was lost. You can have the best cornerbacks in the world, but if the other team is getting 5 yards a carry on the ground, those corners are just spectators. Dalton Johnson and Gunner Maldonado (the captains in the back) combined for a ton of tackles, but mostly because they were cleaning up messes that started at the line of scrimmage.
Lessons from the 2024 Campaign
So, what did we actually learn?
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First, continuity is a myth in the portal era. Brennan did a "good" job keeping the core, but a "good" job in the Big 12 gets you four wins. The gap between the top-tier talent and the depth players was a canyon.
Second, the "identity" of Arizona football changed. They went from a team that won with swagger and explosive plays to a team that was constantly playing catch-up. They were outscored in the second half of almost every Big 12 game.
Third, the roster was top-heavy. When you have guys like McMillan and Savaiinaea, you expect to win. But football is a game of 22 starters and 40 contributors. The 2024 roster lacked the "middle class"—the redshirt sophomores and juniors who provide the grit.
What's Next for the Roster?
The 2024 season is in the books, and the fallout has already started. We’ve seen coaching shifts, with Duane Akina moving to a secondary/special teams role and Danny Gonzales taking over the defense.
If you're a fan or an analyst looking at where this goes, the focus has to be on the trenches. You cannot survive in the Big 12 with a revolving door at defensive tackle. The addition of transfers like Kevon Darton and Chubba Ma'ae was a start, but they need more "big humans" as Brennan likes to say.
Next Steps for Following the Wildcats:
- Monitor the 2025 Portal: With McMillan likely heading to the NFL and several seniors graduating, Arizona needs to find an alpha receiver immediately.
- Watch the O-Line Development: Keep an eye on guys like Rhino Tapa'atoutai and Raymond Pulido. They are the massive bodies that need to take a leap if Fifita is going to stay upright next year.
- Check the Defensive Scheme: Under Danny Gonzales, expect a more aggressive, high-pressure look that might suit the returning athletes better than the 4-3 base they leaned on this year.
The Arizona football roster 2024 will be remembered as a "what if" group. A group with elite individual talent that just couldn't find the collective rhythm to navigate a brutal transition year. It wasn't the ending anyone wanted, but the foundation of stars like Fifita means the cupboard isn't completely bare. It’s just going to take a lot more than one or two superstars to win in this new version of college football.