There are roughly 930 Heisman Trophy voters, and 13 are in Arizona. When the UA announced its "Heisman campaign" for senior quarterback Noah Fifita last week, it seemed like quite a stretch because it is.
Since the Heisman Trophy was created in 1935, the highest-finishing Wildcat was linebacker Scooby Wright, who was ninth in the 2014 balloting. A year earlier, running back Ka'Deem Carey was 10th. Both Wright and Carey were as good as anyone in college football in those years, but they just didn't get the coast-to-coast support or attention from those 930 voters.
When ASU reached the 1997 Rose Bowl, QB Jake Plummer, in a career performance, finished third in the voting. When former Sahauro High QB Rodney Peete had the year of his life, 1988 at USC, he found Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders in his way. Peete finished second.
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Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita against the Baylor Bears in the first half at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson on Nov. 22, 2025.
I do feel that UA coach Brent Brennan deserves credit for pushing Fifita's name and giving him more attention that he might have ever received — unless the Wildcats somehow go 10-2 or 12-1 or something unworldly. A year ago at this time, Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza was unknown outside of a few Big Ten schools. He won ’em all, which is about what Fifita must do to join Scooby and Ka'Deem as Wildcats who finished in the Top 10 of the Heisman voting.
