Jedd Fisch gives backstory behind Jayden de Laura, Noah Fifita victory formation
Jedd Fisch met with reporters on Monday afternoon for his weekly press conference.
Fisch, fresh off a big upset win over Washington State in Week 7, was asked about Arizona’s final play of that win. The Wildcats trotted out quarterback Jayden de Laura to take the final kneel of the game. Noah Fifita, who started in place of de Laura as he continues to recover from an injury, was also part of the victory formation.
Here’s how that play came to be, according to Fisch:
“With about three and a half minutes left, I said, ‘do you want to go in and take a knee?’ And his face lit up. He said ‘I’d really appreciate it if you’d let me do that. So then I told Noah that Jayden was going to go in to take the knee. And Noah said, ‘only if I can be the receiver in the back’ … Because Noah wanted to make sure he was the first person to huge Jayden after we won the game.”
It was a cool moment for de Laura, who began the season as Arizona’s starter. Fifita has fully taken advantage of his opportunity over the past couple of weeks and looks to be the future at the quarterback position for the Wildcats.
Fifita threw for 342 yards in Arizona’s 44-6 drubbing of Washington State this weekend. Fisch told reporters this week that de Laura didn’t start because he didn’t think he was healthy enough to “protect himself in the pocket.”