What Jedd Fisch said at press conference ahead of Pac-12 home opener against No. 7 Washington

With Arizona coming off of its first win at Stanford since 2006, not turning over the ball was part of the recipe for success.

“Offensively there were some good, some not so good,” Jedd Fisch said Monday. “We were balanced, a no turnover game. I was just listening to coach (Bill) Belichick in his locker room after they beat the Jets 15-10. The first thing he said was offense, no turnovers and that is a formula for winning."

The Wildcats' next challenge will be at home against No. 7 Washington (4-0 1-0 Pac-12) on Saturday night.

Here’s what Fisch had to say during his press conference to open Washington week:

On the injury updates following Stanford: “Don’t have much injury updates on the; (Jayden) de Laura, (Michael) Wiley, (Raymond) Pulido, (Martell) Irby, Ta’ita’i (Uiagalele)i. All of those guys we’re still waiting to see, and it’s still Monday, so we’ll have no real idea if they’re going to be clear to play or not until later on in the week.”

On going on the road and winning a Pac-12 game: “We just went back and reviewed the game against Stanford and there were a lot of positives in that game. Well, we talked to the team about this night, obviously, the idea of going on the road and winning a Pac-12 game was a big deal. The fact that we haven’t done that (at Stanford) in 17 years is a big deal. To play Stanford and win, that was really a hard environment to win in and we were able to do that. You go back and look and I think Oregon was number three in the country two years ago, and went to Stanford and lost the game. I know how hard it is for all sports to go up to Stanford and play and we’re really proud of our guys showing the resiliency that they did to win that football game.”

On not scoring points on the first three drives last game: “Number one thing we need to get better at is on those first three drives, we had a delay of game on the first drive on third and seven, after missing a read on second down. Should have had a nice easy conversion on the left side to Montana. And then through the next drive, we went down to the 36-yard line and decided that rather than take a long field goal, we decided to punt. Then, the next drive went down to the 26-yard line and got stopped, three plays in a row, second and two, third and two, fourth and two. to third to fourth and two. Before the fourth drive, we scored a touchdown and so moved the ball pretty well pretty easily there. And when you’re inside the 36 twice, you have to walk away with points. Probably had a chance to make it a 17-3 game at the end of the first quarter rather than a 7-3 game.”

On preparation for the potential start of Noah Fifita at quarterback: “We’ve had him the same amount of time as we’ve had Jayden. They both got on campus the exact same day, which would have been January of a year ago. They’ve learned the offense the exact same way, they’ve been at the exact same meetings and they have very similar skill sets, in a lot of ways so nothing changes. The only thing that would potentially change would be practice reps based upon Jayden’s health. So, if the practice reps go more to Noah and less than to Jayden because he’s unable to go, that would be the only difference but in regards to the game plan in regards to preparation regards to what we do, zero difference.”

On de Laura holding the ball too long: “We just can’t hold the ball, we don’t need to do that, we need to trust our reads. We need to get the ball out there quicker. There’s plenty of opportunities to not hold the ball and not have to. There’s a couple of times that he did have to for one reason or another but I think there’s part of the game that you’ve got to play with great rhythm and timing. And if you’re not playing with great rhythm and timing and you’re late or you’re holding the ball, you’re waiting for things to happen, you’re going to miss things. It’s going to feel like it’s lasting forever, obviously, there’s no excuse for ever drifting back 30 yards to throw the ball away on a third and ten on the plus 36-yard line and risk the possibility of a major negative play.”

On Jordan Morgan potentially being a first-round pick: “I think Jordan is a first-round tackle. I’ve been saying that all year And last year. He’s got the size and athleticism, he can really handle an end on his own without having to worry about necessarily providing a lot of chip help with the backs and tight ends. He’s able to get to the second level of blocking where that means that he can go block not just the defensive line but he’s athletic enough to go block linebackers and defensive backs in space. That’s a big part of being an offensive line, he has a nastiness that he’s not afraid to play 75-80 plays and get physical each play and he has great poise. And when you look at those contributing factors; great feet, great poise, a toughness or nastiness about yourself and the ability to play in space. That’s what separates the offensive linemen that are in that second to fourth, round, third to fourth round based on just size and one of those trades versus the first Rounders with all of those traits.”