Noah Fifita sets Arizona’s career passing yards record in Wildcats’ rout of NIU

In Arizona’s 42-17 win over Northern Illinois Saturday night at Casino Del Sol Stadium, the UA quarterback set Arizona’s career passing yards record, passing Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said it was “a special night for Noah Fifita.”

“We don’t go into the game saying, ‘We’re going to get him the record tonight,” Brennan said. “We’re focused on doing whatever we have to do to win the football game. … As a program, we owe him a chance for him to do that here.”

Fifita set the record with just over six minutes left in the game, completing a 7-yard pass to receiver Isaiah Mizell. Fifita also owns Arizona’s career passing touchdowns record, which he set last season, passing Foles. Fifita has the single-game passing yards record (527), which he set in the 2023 Territorial Cup.

Mizell described the record-setting moment as “ecstasy.”

“I was just super happy for him,” Mizell added. “Straight up. I was just super happy for him. He’s so about his business, he wasn’t even worried about that going through the week. He really just wanted a W.”

After Fifita set the Arizona passing record, he was taken out of the game with the Wildcats ahead 42-10. The video board at Casino Del Sol Stadium played a congratulatory video sent in from Foles and Fifita high-fived Arizona coaches and players while walking off the field.

“What an incredible young man, how cool that was, having Nick Foles on the jumbotron, just celebrating that with him, becoming the all-time passing leader,” Brennan said.

Added Mizell: “We were all hype for him, because we know what type of person he is, the type of work he puts in. It was just a special moment. It doesn’t really get any bigger than that.”

Fifita ended Saturday night completing 31 of 34 passes for 325 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. On the same drive Fifita set Arizona’s passing yards record, he scored a 30-yard rushing touchdown — the second rushing touchdown of the season for the Arizona quarterback.

The Wildcats scored 42 straight points following a flat first quarter — a start that included Northern Illinois running the ball effectively and picking up three first downs on the opening drive, kicking a 38-yard field goal to go up 3-0.

Arizona’s first offensive possession was a three-and-out that included two sacks. Punter Chase Ridley’s first attempt was a 32-yarder out of bounds, setting up NIU’s second possession on the 48-yard line. NIU took a 10-0 lead following a 52-yard deep shot from quarterback Taron Dickens to Cam Thompson. Arizona cornerback Tyrese Boss, who stepped in for the injured Dwight Bootle II, broke down in coverage.

“The first two drives, we didn’t come ready to go and they came and attacked us,” said Arizona strong safety Lee Molette III. “(Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales) told us that we gotta be locked in from the jump and we can’t let a team like that have two good drives back-to-back, so he was on us, for sure. … We locked and kept battling, redlining.”

Brennan said the biggest adjustment after NIU’s first two drives “was our overall physicality.”

“When we play with that edge and we play a physical brand of football that we’re capable, we’re tough to deal with,” Brennan said.

Fifita had four passing touchdowns to four different pass catchers. Wide receiver Chris Hunter scored on a 38-yard post. Arizona’s second touchdown was a 14-yard throw to Mizell, who scored his first-career touchdown. Arizona wide receiver Tre Spivey scored his first touchdown of the season on a play-action pass in the second quarter. Spivey, despite smothering coverage, made an Odell Beckham-esque one-handed catch while falling down in the end zone.

Tight end Tyler Powell, who has spent the last year recovering from a season-ending knee injury he suffered on the first play from scrimmage in the season opener against Hawaii last season, caught his first-career touchdown at the UA in the third quarter — Fifita’s final touchdown pass of the night.

“I was so happy for him to get that touchdown,” Brennan said of Powell. “Just to see the smile on his face and how incredibly rewarding it must’ve been for him.”

Arizona out-gained the Huskies 441-341 in total yards. Arizona had 11 different pass catchers on Saturday — six receivers, three running backs and two tight ends. Spivey had a team-high six catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. Hunter was right behind Spivey with five catches for 73 yards and a touchdown, while Mizell had five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown.

Powell, wide receiver Brandon Phelps, tight end Cole Rusk and wide receiver Rodney Gallagher III had three receptions apiece for a combined 104 yards.

“I thought that was great,” Brennan said. “I felt like Noah was doing a great job of getting through his progression. We were getting a lot of pressure in the game, so we had to win one-on-one matchups and those guys did a great job of that.

“Spivey got hot early and you could see that momentum build. Same with Chris, he made some big plays. When we’re distributing the ball across the field to a bunch of different people, that makes us harder to defend.”

Turning point

After a three-and-out in the first quarter, Arizona scored six straight touchdowns.

Offensive MVP

Fifita had one of his most efficient passing performances as a Wildcat. It’s second behind his 92.7% performance at Houston last season. Fifita completed his first eight passes and had a streak of 19 straight completions.

“He was incredible,” Brennan said while looking at the stat sheet from Saturday. “How about that? How many games have you been a part of like that? That is my thing with Noah Fifita: the whole country should be talking about this kid, not just based on how he plays, but the choices he has made throughout his career here.

“That’s rare. So many other people have jumped ship and have taken the money and have gone somewhere different or looked for something new where the grass is greener. That guy stayed here and watered the grass here and made it into something truly special.”

Defensive MVP

Arizona linebacker and Georgetown transfer Cooper Blomstrom, one of Arizona’s latest discoveries from the FCS in the transfer portal, had 10 tackles and 0.5 sacks.

“Cooper plays his butt off,” Brennan said. “He is so fun to watch. It’s really cool. I think our defensive staff have done a really good job of evaluating players in the portal and those players are showing up for us. … When you talk about Cooper, he plays with a great level of physicality and redline and that’s exciting for us.”

Unsung hero

In the first half, Arizona freshman receiver and punt returner Caleb “Jet” Smith split two defenders, broke one tackle and returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown, the first touchdown of Smith’s Arizona career. The slot receiver from Allen, Texas became the first Arizona player to return a punt for a touchdown since Shun Brown in 2017.

“We were fired up,” Brennan said. “You could see the sideline just erupting when that play happened. We felt going into this game that if we gave him a little bit of space, he could get loose. He’s a really talented young player. He’s a very hard worker, incredibly diligent and it was so fun to see that excitement from everybody, because everyone loves him. The sideline just exploded when he made that play. It was pretty special.”

Availability report

Arizona wide receiver Giovanni Richardson was held out for a lower-body injury, which he suffered in the first quarter of Arizona’s loss to BYU.

The Wildcats were also without linebacker Chase Kennedy and defensive linemen Mays Pese, Zac Siulepa and Ezra Funa. Second-year linebacker Myron Robinson started in place of Kennedy.

“We’re hoping to get them back this week,” Brennan said of Kennedy and Pese.

Up next

Arizona (2-1) will face former Pac-12 foe Washington State (1-2) at Gesa Field in Pullman Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. on CBS.

It’s the first game of the home-and-home series between the Wildcats and Cougars, with Washington State coming to Tucson in 2027.

Washington State was one of two teams to stay in the Pac-12 in 2024 despite conference realignment, along with the Oregon State Beavers. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah bolted for the Big 12 in the year of conference realignment, while USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon joined the Big Ten. Cal and Stanford left the “Conference of Champions” to compete in the ACC.

Arizona is 28-19 all-time against Washington State since the first contest in 1963.

The Wildcats won the previous contest, a 44-6 drubbing in Pullman, which kickstarted Arizona’s seven-game winning streak to end the 2023 season. Arizona’s last game against Washington State was also Fifita’s first win as Arizona’s starting quarterback.

Washington State dominated Duquesne, 48-7, in Pullman on Saturday. The Cougars had back-to-back punt returns for a touchdown.

The Wildcats are looking to end nonconference play with a winning record for the fifth consecutive season.

Arizona opened as a 12.5-point favorite to win on Saturday, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.