Noah Fifita made leaps and bounds in his development this season with Arizona.

Fifita led his team to a 38-24 win over Oklahoma in the Alamo Bowl on Thursday to close out 2023. He ended the night with 354 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception.

At the post-game press conference, Fifita was asked about what he’s learned since first seeing the field earlier this year against Stanford and eventually becoming the team’s starting quarterback. The unwavering support from coaches and teammates throughout the year really benefitted Fifita, even when things were tough.

“I think the biggest thing for me and the thing that I’ve been emphasizing the most is trust, and the biggest blessing this year is my coaches, my teammates trusting in me the way they did,” said Fifita. “There was a lot of times that I was struggling and our offense was struggling because of me and nobody flinched, nobody doubted me, so I really appreciate that.”

The amount of faith that Fifita had in coach Jedd Fisch really made the difference as well. Fifita said that was a huge point of emphasis once he was named the starter.

“Being able to trust Coach Fisch, trust play calls, trust our preparation, that’s the biggest thing I’ve been emphasizing since I’ve taken over the job.” said Fifita.

Fifita will be with Arizona next season as the Wildcats move to the Big 12.