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Fifita’s pocket prowess won’t change in new offensive coordinator Seth Doege’s system, but the third-year starter could give the Arizona Wildcats another dimension with his legs.

Doege “has more drawn-up runs for me than I’ve had in the past,� Fifita said.

“It’s not too much, but I feel like this offense fits me perfectly,� Fifita said. “That’s because he has things that get into space and it allows me to use my legs a little bit. He has definitely challenged me in that area, to use that and think of my legs as a weapon when I need to.

“I’ll always be a pass-first guy. I feel like that’s my job. We have so many weapons on offense that if I get the ball in their hands, they’ll be able to do things better than I can. But I definitely want to be more of a threat and when they allow me to run, I’ll be able to use them.�

Most of Fifita’s runs last season were improvised. Fifita had seven designed quarterback runs for 40 yards last season, according to Pro Football Focus. He had 29 scrambles (undesigned runs) for 179 yards, along with 12 explosive runs (10-plus yards) and 16 first downs. Fifita was also sacked 29 times.

In 2023, Fifita had four designed runs for minus-8 yards and 15 scramble runs — nearly half as many as the following season — for 88 yards, according to PFF.

For most of last season, Fifita utilized his legs because he had no other choice but to evade defenders. His only career rushing touchdown, which he scored against West Virginia last season, was a play-action rollout to his right and due to tight end Sam Olson, Chris Hunter and Devin Hyatt covered in the end zone, Fifita tucked the ball, juked WVU linebacker Ben Cutter and ran through three West Virginia defenders at the goal line for a touchdown.

“When you see Noah make that play and get in, it tells you what type of competitor he is,� Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said after the game. “That’s one of those things that makes him really special.�

It’s conceivable more of Fifita’s runs this upcoming season will be more quarterback draws and designed runs, especially under Doege, who mentored Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year in Braylon Braxton at Marshall; the quarterback had 610 rushing yards and four touchdowns in addition to 1,624 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns and two interceptions.

Arizona strength and conditioning coach Cullen Carroll “and his staff have done a great job in the offseason of really pushing him� as a runner, said Doege.

In offseason workouts, when the Wildcats used 1080 (10-80) sprint machines — a resistance device used to improve and test power and speed — and Fifita was “in the top 10 or five on their 10-yard sprints and 20-yard sprints,� Doege said. During fall training camp, Fifita was consistently among the top finishers in sideline-to-sideline sprints.

The demand for Fifita being a mobile quarterback probably won’t be as high as the dual-threat Braxton or former Arizona star Khalil Tate, but Fifita “has done a really good job of pushing himself in that role� and also making efficient throws and decisions while rolling out, Doege said.

“Now it’s a matter of being comfortable to take off,� Doege added. “I think he’s comfortable where he wants to create and buy time to throw the football, but there’s times where I want him — if he sees space — to take off, because he has more speed than he thinks he (has). I think he can hurt people when the pocket collapses. I’m excited to see what he does with that.

“I think out of the pocket he’s pretty special when he can create with his arm, but there will be some QB run game that we can do with him. ... I just gotta be smart. I don’t want him to get hit too much, just because he is our guy. We gotta protect him. But he is competitive and tough enough to where I can move him, for sure.�

MSM “a little ahead� in kicking competition

Arguably Arizona’s most intense position battle in training camp was placekicker.

Sophomore Michael Salgado-Medina, who started at punter last season, is “a little ahead� of walk-on freshman Tyler Prasuhn, Brennan said.

With Australia native and newcomer Isaac Lovison expected to start at punter, Salgado-Medina and Prasuhn went head-to-head in the competition for placekicker, except neither kicker created separation throughout training camp. Salgado-Medina and Prasuhn both had similar field-goal rates and displayed leg strength. Prasuhn made a 55-yard field goal last week.

In Arizona’s final training camp session, Salgado-Medina took every rep at kicker and was 5 for 6, with his only miss from 44 yards out. His makes were from 30, 32, 38, 48 and 45 yards. Salgado-Medina also hit a 55-yarder towards the end of practice.

“At the end of practice, he hit a big-time kick to finish a two-minute drive,� Brennan said. “It was great to see him run out there and pound it through the uprights. That’s been fun. Tyler has done a great job all of training camp and it’s been a lot of fun to watch. Those two competed and we’ll see how that goes. There’s no way to simulate the pressure of a game for a kicker until you’re in the game.�

Meanwhile, their predecessor Tyler Loop boomed a 61-yard field goal in his last preseason game with the Baltimore Ravens and solidified his starting role with his five-field goal performance against the Dallas Cowboys.

Brennan in favor of injury reports

Earlier this month, the Big 12 joined the other Power 4 conferences in requiring teams provide public injury reports for football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball conference games.

The Big Ten was the first conference to implement injury reports in 2023. The SEC added injury reports last year, followed by the ACC last month.

Big 12 football programs conference wide are required to submit daily reports three days before kickoff, and basketball programs will update their reports the night before each game. There will be a final report 90 minutes before kickoff or tipoff.

Football players will be listed as either available, probable, questionable, doubtful or out. Basketball players will have an available, game-time decision or out label in the injury report.

Brennan endorsed the Big 12 injury reports.

“I think it’s great,� said the Arizona head coach. “It seems like most people in college football are going to be in some kind of alignment with the availability report. I think it’s good for everybody. It’s good for the fans, it’s good for the media, I think it’s a relief for us as coaches. I think it’s going to be a good thing for everybody.�

Added Brennan: “I didn’t want to tell the opponent who was playing and who wasn’t. Because they didn’t force you to in previous years, that’s why we didn’t talk about injuries. ... I felt like when you had an injured player, that became so much of the story with the media and the good stuff wasn’t being talked about, like the good things the team was doing or the good things happening with the program. ... Everyone has the same rules and the same stuff it’s going to be done the same (way), so I think it’s going to be a good thing for us.�

Even though Arizona’s game against 17th-ranked Kansas State is a nonconference game, an injury report “wouldn’t bother me,� Brennan said.

Wildcats three-score favorites to win

Arizona kicks off its season Saturday night against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and the Wildcats are , according to DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, FanDuel and ESPN Bet. Arizona was previously 13.5-point favorites.

The over/under for total points is 55.5 points, according to Action Network.

Arizona’s season opener will be the seventh all-time matchup between the Wildcats and Hawaii. The Wildcats’ only loss in the series is a 45-38 defeat in 2019 in Honolulu. Arizona last played Hawaii in Tucson in 2016 before the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor; the Wildcats wore USS Arizona-themed uniforms for the game.

The Rainbow Warriors are in their fourth season under head coach Timmy Chang, who had an illustrious career as a quarterback at Hawaii. As a head coach, Chang is 14-25. Hawaii ended last season 5-7 and placed fifth in the Mountain West standings. Hawaii was voted seventh in the preseason media poll in June.

Hawaii won its season opener against Stanford, 23-20, on Saturday with a walk-off field goal. Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado suffered a leg injury, but remained in the game. Arizona has two former Rainbow Warriors on its roster: linebacker Riley Wilson and offensive lineman Ka’ena Decambra.

Arizona kicks off the season against Hawaii on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on TNT and HBO Max.