Jedd Fisch shares feeling of entering Alamo Bowl on hot streak

Arizona has not lost a football game since Oct. 7 and heads into the Alamo Bowl vs. Oklahoma as the best version of themselves with all of the momentum in the world behind them.

On top of their win streak, the Wildcats have the prospect of closing out the 2023 campaign with a 10-win season for the first time since 2014, and just the second time since 1998. While winning is their No. 1 priority, head coach Jedd Fisch wants to make the most out of this opportunity for not only himself but for his players, too.

“We’ll do our best to make it an incredible experience. We only have eight players on our roster that have ever played in a bowl game. That’s out of 110 players,” Fisch revealed. “All eight of them are transfers. This is a brand-new experience for a majority of our team. It’s a brand-new experience for our players.

“We want to make sure that our players understand it is a privilege to play in a bowl game. It is a celebration of a job well done. To be able to be at this bowl game, the Valero Alamo Bowl is a wonderful opportunity for our guys to experience San Antonio, to experience some of the great joys of being here, the history of the Alamo, to be able to learn a little bit about a new area. We’re going to try to do our best to really show them the culture here the best we can.”

Not only does his roster have incredibly limited bowl experience. Historically, so does his program.

Ever since 2014’s 10-4 season, Arizona has qualified for a bowl game twice. Once in 2015 and another in 2017 — both finishing 7-6. The second of which was the final season of Rich Rodriguez’s tenure as head coach. Kevin Sumlin never led the Wildcats to a bowl game in three years, and the start of Fisch’s tenure was terrible with a 1-11 season, the worst in modern Arizona history.

That is all to be said — the Wildcats have a massive opportunity on their hands against Oklahoma. A win would send the Sooners to the SEC with a bad taste in their mouth while they ride into the Big 12 as a ready-made contender for the conference title in 2024.

“In the end, we’re here to play a football game,” Fisch continued. “We’re here to play a football game against a team that has historically won seven national championships. We understand and recognize this great challenge. We’re going to try to balance the challenge of competition with the balance of joy. During that time, hopefully, we can get them both done.”

Arizona will play Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Thursday, Dec. 28 inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Kickoff between the two programs is set for 9:15 p.m. ET and will be aired live on ESPN. The Wildcats have opened as three-point betting favorites over the Sooners, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.