Wildcats Have Faith in Quarterback Depth

Fifita was involved in 782 of the 803 offensive snaps laste season. He kept himself healthy and only came out of games when they were well settled on the fourth quarter. Other than that, he started every game. His season was comparable to 2022, when Jayden de Laura plays all but 26 offensive snaps. He yielded to a young Fifita only in mop-up situations.

However, in 2023, Arizona did have to yield to the backup quarterback to get them through games and the season. In the second half of the Pac-12 opener at Stanford, de Laura suffered an ankle injury and was replaced by a then-unproven Fifita, who calmly led the Wildcats on a game-winning touchdown drive.

The following week, Fifita was pressed into his first career start and played well against the Washington Huskies, who would go on to be the national runners-up that season. After going head to head with Michael Penix, Jr. in the game with Washington, Fifita led the Wildcats against the University of Southern California and quarterback Caleb Williams, who would ultimately be the first pick of the draft. Arizona would lose, but in triple-overtime as Fifita held his own against the Trojans defense.

Fifita would go on to start the rest of the year, winning seven in a row including over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl to cap an historic 10-3 season.

Locke, played for the Badgers his previous two seasons. He appeared in 16 games with 12 starts and hurled for more than 2,700 yards with 18 touchdowns. He was the backup quarterback, but stepped in for injured starters who could not go.

“This guy’s played Bama, he’s played Oregon, he’s played Penn State, he’s played at some big time moments and done well at times,” Doege said.

Locke opted to transfer to a program where he would be the backup again.

“It was just about timing,” Locke said. “Arizona came in at the right time for me. Coach Doege and I had just an established relationship, going back to when I was in high school, when he was at USC, that had a lot to do with it. I believe this team can be special and do special things. And I wanted to be a part of it.”