Jedd Fisch breaks down how Arizona’s mindset flipped this season

Arizona is bowl-eligible and ranked in the College Football Playoff Rankings for the first time under third-year head coach Jedd Fisch.

Riding a three-game win streak against ranked conference opponents entering Week 11, Fisch joined On3’s Andy Staples to explain what has changed for the Wildcats this season, and why they should be judged by their losses instead of their wins.

“We went down 14-0 to Mississippi State and we went down 14-0 to Washington,” Fisch told Staples. “And both times we came back and outscored both teams after that in the second, third and fourth quarters. We finally realized that we are a good team. I was trying to convince them of that all year. Then when you realize that and you feel confident being able to go out and play games — I think they really got excited about the next opportunity.

“After the game against USC when we lost 43-41, they couldn’t wait to get out of practice. There was just a different bounce in their step. We knew that we had three opponents ranked in the top 20 coming up on our schedule, which would have been five in a row, and the guys wanted to really kind of turn the corner. They were excited about it and they started playing some really good ball.”

To pace any SEC team on their home turf is impressive and despite losing in overtime — was a precursor to how they’d play in big games from that point on. Washington is a College Football Playoff contender and in hindsight, USC is lucky to have escaped with a win against the Wildcats.

Since losing back-to-back against the Huskies and Trojans, Arizona has outscored Washington State and UCLA 71-16 and was able to knock off Oregon State at home after building a two-score lead in the final quarter of the game. Wins like that will get any team jacked for whatever the next week brings.

“It starts flipping when you get to a point where you’re confident in your team,” Fisch continued. “You’re confident in your buddies, your locker mates, the people that are next to you. You’re confident that the defense is going to make a stop. You are confident the offensive will get a score and you’re confident your special teams will make a play.”

Fisch and his Wildcats will look to continue their momentum heading into Week 11 on the road against Colorado. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET live on the Pac-12 Network.