Arizona’s Big 12 home opener vs. Cincinnati ‘a huge football game’ for Wildcats

Cincinnati is 4-0 and is one of four teams in the Big 12 with an unblemished record, along with No. 10 BYU, No. 12 Texas Tech and No. 13 Utah.

The Bearcats have wins over Boston College, Western Carolina, Miami (Ohio) and Kansas State, the latter to start Big 12 play.

“Of course we talk about that,” Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said of Cincinnati’s undefeated record. “I think it would be foolish not to. This is a very good football team coming in here. They’re undefeated, they just had a big win over Kansas State and they’re coming here to Tucson. It’s a huge football game, it’s a Big 12 football game so, absolutely, we talk about that.”

Cincinnati took down Kansas State, 31-26, at home last week — and much like the Wildcats, the Bearcats fell down early the last two games and rallied to win. Kansas State had a 10-0 advantage over Cincinnati last week, and Miami (Ohio) led the Bearcats, 28-7, at halftime before Cincinnati overcame the deficits to win both games.

“Nobody thought Kansas State was going to go in there and lose,” said Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales. “The bettors didn’t and the guys who set the gambling lines and all of those things. Give Cincinnati credit, they’re 4-0 and won every single game they played. It doesn’t matter who you play, you get 12 opportunities and they protected those four. We’ve got a great opportunity with them coming in here.”

“They’re coming up here with a lot of momentum.”

Arizona (3-1) upset the Bearcats in Cincinnati last season, which marked the second road win over a ranked opponent under Brennan; the UA beat No. 10 Utah in Salt Lake City in 2024.

UA quarterback Noah Fifita’s touchdown pass to Giovanni Richardson, who is questionable this week with a leg injury, moved Fifita ahead of Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama for the career passing touchdowns record at Arizona. Fifita’s touchdown to Richardson gave Arizona a 27-17 lead at the start of the final period, and even though the Bearcats answered with a touchdown to pull within a field goal, kicker Michael Salgado-Medina canned a 51-yard field goal to give Arizona a one-touchdown lead. The Wildcats won, 30-24.

Cincinnati had 140 rushing yards in the first quarter — running back Tawee Walker had over 100 yards on just four carries — but the Wildcats only surrendered a combined 50 rushing yards in the final three quarters. After giving up 14 points in the first quarter, Arizona only allowed 10 points from Cincinnati.

“You can never go into a football game and assume the plan you had last year is going to be good, because guess what? They practice it,” Gonzales said. “All of the stuff you gave them a hard time with, you might be able to use it once or twice, but they’re going to have a great plan for whatever you did. … We gotta have a different plan, a better plan, to be able to stop them.”

Cincinnati ran the ball effectively in the first quarter against Arizona, and it could happen again this season considering the Bearcats are averaging just over 270 rushing yards per game this season, which ranks second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally. Arizona is only allowing an average of 80.3 rushing yards per game this season, which is third in the Big 12 and 13th nationally.

“If they come in here and run for freaking 270 yards, then we’ve failed,” Gonzales said. “We have to do a great job of preparing, because they are more than capable of doing that.”

Despite losing Walker and Evan Pryor, Cincinnati’s top two leading rushers in 2025, the Bearcats added “very physical” and “violent runners” via the transfer portal in Notre Dame transfer Gi’Bran Payne, Stanford transfer Cole Tabb and Louisiana transfer Zylan Perry, with Payne and Tabb making up nearly half of Cincinnati’s rush attempts this season.

The 5-10, 208-pound Payne has 51 carries for 368 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 7.1 yards per carry, and the 5-8, 200-pound Tabb is “faster than the three (running backs) they had last year,” according to Gonzales, and has 28 carries for 311 yards and six touchdowns this season. Tabb is averaging 7 yards per carry after contact, according to Pro Football Focus.

Tabb and Payne have 10 runs of 10-plus yards apiece this season and combined for 25 first-down runs in four games.

“They’re both incredibly explosive, and obviously they want to run the football,” Brennan said. “They have a big offensive line and their quarterback (JC French IV) adds an element of run game to their scheme, which is something you have to prepare for. That’s a little bit different than a week ago.

“Even though Washington State’s quarterback could run, it wasn’t what he intended to do. This guy definitely has more of a designed run game as part of their package. Both backs are explosive, physical and they play a physical brand of football. We know that and that’s going to be a great challenge for our defense.”

Arizona’s defense returned several injured players to its lineup last week, including linebacker Chase Kennedy, who has the third-most sacks (3.5) in the Big 12 this season — and the best sacks-per-game average at 1.17, just ahead of Kansas State’s Darien Whitaker and Colorado’s Lamont Lester Jr. Arizona also returned starting defensive lineman Mays Pese and Memphis transfer linebacker Everett Roussaw, who made his UA debut against Washington State and forced a sack-fumble.

“Having those guys back last week gave us a shot in the arm,” Brennan said.

With essentially a full deck on defense for Arizona and Cincinnati’s rushing attack gaining momentum through four games, gang tackling will be at a premium this week.

“Going into a game like this, where there is such an emphasis on their ability to run the football, we have to be great tacklers and we have to get lots of population to the football,” Brennan said. “It’s a simple thing, and it sounds so elementary, but it’s critical for us to have a good night on Saturday night.

“Absolutely critical.”

Extra points

— Arizona tight end Cole Rusk, who suffered an undisclosed injury in the Wildcats' nonconference home finale against Northern Illinois, is out for a second straight game. Richardson, backup tight end Shane King and linebackers Myron Robinson and Jabari Mann are questionable, according to the Big 12 availability report.

— The Arizona-Cincinnati game is a “white out,” so fans attending Casino Del Sol Stadium on Saturday are encouraged to wear white.

— Saturday’s game is Pacific Islander Heritage Night, which honors Polynesian culture. Arizona has over 20 players and staffers who hail from Polynesian heritage. Said Brennan: “That’s a huge part of our program, the history of our program and so many people from that part of the world have contributed in incredible ways.” Former UA and 10-year NFL veteran tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, one of the most prominent Polynesian players in Arizona history, will be the honorary captain on Saturday.

— Arizona will have roughly three dozen recruits from the 2027, ‘28, ‘29 and ‘30 recruiting classes on campus for the Arizona-Cincinnati game, including six quarterbacks. UA 2027 quarterback commit Caden Jones will be in attendance, along with Crean Lutheran (Irvine, California) teammates and Arizona commits in wide receivers Ty Johnson and Braylen Ross and cornerbacks Jacob Whitehead and Evan Mack.

— Four of the quarterback recruits this weekend are from the 2028 cycle: Star Thomas III (Orange, California), Hudson Tomcheck (Southlake, Texas), Jaxson Sculley (Chandler) and Ty Isaiah (Murrieta Valley, California). Sculley is a junior at Hamilton High School and has 4,237 passing yards, 52 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his career. The Wildcats are also hosting 2029 three-star quarterback James Shumway from Orem, Utah.

— Ten of the 34 recruits on campus this weekend are in-state products.