In just two days the Wildcats (4-6, 2-5 Big 12) will gear up for their road trip finale in which they'll find themselves in Fort Worth, Texas to take on a TCU (6-4, 4-3 Big 12) team that's won three of it's last four.

Bowl season will continue to heat up if the Cats come out with a victory only needing one more, but with a loss they're eliminated altogether.

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan spoke to the media on Thursday regarding the matchup and here are the five takeaways from what the Wildcats' head coach had to say.

The Houston game was the first time in five games that Arizona didn't let a quick start from the opposing team dictate the final outlook.

In four of those five games, the Wildcats found themselves behind by two or more scores going into halftime and the Texas Tech and West Virginia games were the only ones amended by late comeback aspirations from Arizona before ultimately losing the ballgame.

"I think that's critical, especially because you know with that crowd ... what their fanbase is and just how rowdy that can become," Brennan said on starting fast. "You would like to get a good start in the game and that you feel good about where you're at and try to keep that from becoming a frenzy."

He mentioned how the Cats have experienced the "good and bad side" of a raucous atmosphere such as the loud Utah crowd that Arizona battled against to go out and win that game and then the lows of such scenario where the BYU and UCF crowds each kept piling UA's woes on top of it.

The deal is that Arizona has mightily struggled as of late to get things going early in the game which lets the opposition stack points and make the Wildcats one dimensional.

Starting off hot is a key to victory when Arizona takes on TCU.

In the last two road trips for Arizona, taking care of the ball has been a big point of struggle that has led it to fall behind in those games.

Against BYU, Noah Fifita accounted for four turnovers to the Wildcats one takeaway which consistently gave the Cougars more opportunity in a game they won 41-19.

Then against UCF, Arizona only had one turnover to no takeaways, but that one play which was a fumble from Quali Conley had set back what looked to be a promising drive and gave the Knights all the momentum from there on forward taking a 28-0 lead at halftime.

"That's one of those statistics that always leads to the outcome," Brennan said. "Noah [Fifita] needs to do a great job with where he goes with the football, we got to do a great job of protecting him against a really good defensive front, and then anybody that carries it needs to be strong with the ball."

A positive from the Houston game was that Arizona forced three turnovers along with forcing four turnovers on downs compared to one giveaway that came from a Fifita tipped interception late in the game when it was out of hand anyways.

It has to be emphasized to keep good control of the football as that poor ball control has really lost the Wildcats many of their games in 2024.

Along with starting fast out of the gate, an aspect that goes hand in hand with that is the run game.

Arizona has played it's best football and won it's games when it has run the ball efficiently, and when the score is piled onto any football team they immediately are forced to abandon the run game and pass to get all of it's gains back in short time.

"Finding some [runs] that we're comfortable with depending on what we're seeing from them," Brennan mentioned as an area of emphasis. "They had a bye, so is there any new stuff or anything we go unscouted looks that we have when we get into our run and pass game? That'll be a lot about what those first few series are all about."

This couldn't be more evident than in the last two games Arizona has played.

Against UCF, the Wildcats had an embarrassing five yards rushing and the Knights putting together seven-straight touchdown drives will essentially remove the run game in it's entirety.

However Arizona was way more efficient it's game against Houston, where Conley rushed for 107 yards on 11 attempts and had a massive 50-yard touchdown run to eclipse the century mark.

The difference? Arizona getting blown out 56-12, or pummeling a team itself on route to a 27-3 victory.

When Arizona had undergone it's five-game losing skid, there was a presence around the team and fans that couldn't help but witness the once highly-anticipated season come crumbling down.

Every loss moved UA down in it's College Football Playoff odds, it's Big 12 Conference Championship odds, and even the chance to make a bowl game sitting at six losses with no room for another.

"For us, we're just in a one week season right every week," Brennan said. "I think when we get so focused on the outcome, when we get so focused on down the road, that's the worst place for us to be because we're missing the importance of what's happening right now."

Arizona's head coach has been hard at work to prioritize the present among the players and staff to not get complacent in what's happening right now.

Everyone knows about the Territorial Cup creeping it's head around the corner with a white hot No. 21 Arizona State (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) team coming to Tucson for rivalry week.

But the simple fact is that a good Horned Frogs team waits before the Cats and it's important to not look too far ahead and be blindsided before rivalry week even begins.

Going into the season, star wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan had goals of shattering every receiving record possible in Arizona history and with two games for certain left, there's a big record he's inching closer to beating.

Former Arizona wide receiver and current wide receivers coach Bobby Wade is the current receiving yards holder with 3,351 receiving yards across a four-year span and McMillan is just behind him with 3,240 receiving yards finishing up his third year.

Being so close to achieving that great accolade that's been held since 2002, Brennan was asked if the team's had conversations around the record.

"Not really, I think [McMillan's] such a great player and obviously we missed him the other night on a couple that would've been big plays for him," Brennan said. "He's one of those guys that's going to make plays and we just have to give him a chance to make those plays."

Instead of forcing the issue and potentially risking the result of a game, Arizona is well aware that T-Mac is capable of breaking the record on his own and when he gets his plays thrown his way, that he'll be ready to capitalize on them.

> DISCUSS the article with other Arizona fans as the Wildcats continue Building The Tradition

> WATCH the latest videos from GOAZCATS.com and subscribe to our YouTube channel

> FOLLOW us on Twitter (@goazcatscom, @MattRMoreno, @THutch1995, @RyanYoungRivals)

> FOLLOW us on Instagram (@goazcats)

> LIKE us on Facebook

> SUBSCRIBE for all the latest Arizona Wildcats team and recruiting news (subscribe now)