Arizona football kicks off the third season of the Brent Brennan era — and the final season with quarterback Noah Fifita — against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Saturday night at Casino Del Sol Stadium.
Northern Arizona (1-0) vs. Arizona (0-0)
When: Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Casino Del Sol Stadium
TV: ESPN+
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM, 92.5-FM (Spanish), 1490-AM (NAU broadcast)
NAU Lumberjacks
2026 record: 1-0 (1-0 Big Sky)
WHEN NAU IS ON OFFENSE (PROJECTED):
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[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
WR | 4 | Myseth Currie | 6-2 | 205 | Sr.
TE | 89 | Jeter Purdy | 6-3 | 235 | R-So.
LT | 71 | Camden Jury | 6-6 | 320 | R-So.
LG | 65 | Brady Bakke | 6-5 | 310 | R-So.
C | 75 | Corey Johnson | 6-1 | 275 | R-So.
RG | 56 | Jefferson Giles | 6-2 | 290 | R-Jr.
RT | 74 | KT Carter | 6-4 | 295 | R-Jr.
WR | 11 | Deuce Zimmerman | 6-0 | 190 | R-Sr.
WR | 3 | Joey Stout | 5-9 | 180 | Sr.
QB | 6 | Ty Pennington | 6-2 | 220 | Sr.
RB |10 | Quran Gossett | 5-11 | 215 | Jr.
Arizona defensive lineman Chase Kennedy gets pressure on Northern Arizona quarterback Ty Pennington in the fourth quarter.
WHEN NAU IS ON DEFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
DE | 90 | Jordan Pigram | 6-3 | 275 | R-Jr.
NT | 98 | Braeden Kaczmarek | 6-3 | 295 | R-Jr.
DT | 0 | Jackson Murray | 6-1 | 285 | R-Fr.
DE | 11 | Ziggy Loa | 6-3 | 235 | R-Sr.
LB | 22 | Bryson Torre | 6-0 | 225 | R-Sr.
LB | 8 | Jaiden Letua | 6-1 | 240 | R-Sr.
NB | 5 | Deliyon Freeman | 5-10 | 180 | R-Jr.
CB | 4 | Michael Beresford | 5-9 | 165 | Jr.
SS | 7 | Braylon Singleton | 5-11 | 195 | So.
FS | 1 | Shoes Brinkley | 5-9 | 195 | R-Sr.
CB | 3 | Jahaad Fort | 5-11 | 180 | R-Jr.
NAU 2026 SCHEDULE
August
29 | EASTERN WASHINGTON | W, 34-27
September
5 | at Arizona | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN+
12 | INCARNATE WORD | 2 p.m.
19 | at Utah Tech | 5 p.m.
26 | at Montana State | 7:30 p.m.
October
3 | at Idaho State | 5 p.m.
10 | MONTANA | 7:30 p.m.
17 | PORTLAND STATE | 4 p.m.
31 | at Southern Utah | noon
November
7 | at Cal Poly | 3 p.m.
14 | WEBER STATE | 2 p.m.
21 | NORTHERN COLORADO | 2 p.m.
Home games in Bold
NAU 2026 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
Pennington | 16-27-1 | 164 | 2 | 34
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | YPC | YPG]
Gossett | 21 | 103 | 1 | 4.9 | 103
Pennington | 8 | 61 | 0 | 4.4 | 61
Stone | 10 | 38 | 0 | 3.8 | 38
Bakke | 1 | -1 | 0 | -1 | -1
RECEIVING
[Name | Rec. | Yards | TDs | YPC | YPG]
Purdy | 7 | 105 | 1 | 15 | 105
Daugherty | 2 | 28 | 0 | 14 | 28
Currie | 2 | 21 | 0 | 10.5 | 21
Zimmerman | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5
Stout | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Brinkley | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Torrie | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Murray | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Singleton | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Freeman | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Arizona Wildcats
2026 Record: 0-0 (0-0 Big 12)
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON OFFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
WR | 12 | Tre Spivey III | 6-4 | 212 | Sr.
WR | 5 | Giovanni Richardson | 5-10 | 180 | So.
LT | 73 | Matthew Lado | 6-6 | 320 | Jr.
LG | 59 | Rhino Tapa’atoutai | 6-5 | 320 | Sr.
C | 58 | Zach Henning | 6-4 | 310 | Sr.
RG | 63 | Alexander Doost | 6-7 | 335 | Sr.
RT | 71 | Tristan Bounds | 6-8 | 320 | 6th
TE | 14 | Cole Rusk | 6-5 | 245 | 6th
WR | 11 | Chris Hunter | 6-1 | 195 | 5th
QB | 1 | Noah Fifita | 5-10 | 190 | 5th
RB | 3 | Kedrick Reescano | 6-0 | 215 | Sr.
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON DEFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
DL | 3 | Tre Smith | 6-5 | 265 | 6th
DL | 95 | Leroy Palu | 6-3 | 295 | Sr.
DL | 99 | Mays Pese | 6-3 | 290 | So.
Arizona defensive lineman Mays Pese (99) and safety Malcolm Hartzog (15) high-five during fall football practice at Tomey Field, Aug. 6, 2026.
LB | 7 | Chase Kennedy | 6-3 | 235 | 5th
LB | 6 | Taye Brown | 6-2 | 230 | Sr.
LB | 48 | Cooper Blomstrom | 6-2 | 245 | Sr.
NB | 15 | Malcolm Hartzog Jr. | 5-8 | 190 | 5th
CB | 8 | Jay’Vion Cole | 5-10 | 190 | 5th
CB | 12 | Dwight Bootle II | 5-9 | 175 | Sr.
BS | 23 | Gavin Hunter | 6-2 | 208 | Sr.
FS | 35 | Quinn Olson | 6-3 | 205 | Jr.
UA 2026 SCHEDULE
September
5 | NORTHERN ARIZONA | 6:30 p.m. | ESPN+
12 | at No. 14 BYU | 12:30 p.m. | Fox
19 | NORTHERN ILLINOIS | 7:30 p.m. | TNT
26 | at Washington State | 4:30 p.m. | CBS
October
3 | CINCINNATI
10 | at West Virginia
24 | IOWA STATE
31 | at No. 12 Texas Tech
November
6 | TCU* | 8:15 p.m. | ESPN
14 | No. 21 UTAH
21 | at Kansas State
28 | ARIZONA STATE
Home games in Bold; *=Friday game
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita points skyward after scrambling for a touchdown vs. Hawaii during the third quarter of the season opener, Aug. 30, 2025.
UA 2025 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
Fifita | 275-429-6 | 3,228 | 29 | 85
Locke | 5-15-1 | 68 | 0 | 40
Bray | 1-2-0 | 22 | 0 | 22
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | YPC | YPG]
Mahdi | 133 | 853 | 4 | 6.4 | 65.6
Reescano | 83 | 396 | 9 | 4.7 | 39.6
Craig | 65 | 364 | 2 | 5.6 | 30.3
Fifita | 115 | 222 | 3 | 1.9 | 17.1
RECEIVING
[Name | Rec. | Yards | TDs | YPC | YPG]
Hutson | 60 | 764 | 4 | 12.7 | 63.7
Whatley | 41 | 490 | 5 | 12 | 37.7
Spivey | 23 | 381 | 7 | 16.6 | 29.3
Hunter | 27 | 372 | 2 | 13.8 | 28.6
Richardson | 21 | 299 | 2 | 14.2 | 24.9
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Johnson | 97 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1
Brown | 93 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 1
Harris | 78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1
G. Smith | 77 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2
Stukes | 52 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0
Head to Head
Arizona running back Kedrick Reescano gets mobbed by his teammates after ripping off a long run for a score against Northern Arizona in the fourth quarter on Sept. 7, 2024, at Arizona Stadium.
3 Kedrick Reescano vs. 1 Shoes Brinkley
The fourth-year running back is expected to make his second start at the UA since joining the Wildcats in 2024. Last season, Reescano led the Wildcats with nine rushing touchdowns, the most by a UA running back since Zach Green in 2017. Seven of Reescano's touchdowns were inside the red zone. In the 10 games Reescano appeared in, he scored a touchdown in seven of them. Reescano’s first-ever touchdown as a college player was a 56-yard run against the Lumberjacks in 2024.
Brinkley has been a college football journeyman since ending his career as the leader of high school football national powerhouse Mater Dei in Southern California. The Philadelphia native started his high school career at Northeast High School in Philly before finishing at Mater Dei. He led the Monarchs in tackles and interceptions. The safety played at Delaware for the 2022 season, then transferred to East Los Angeles College and then played two seasons at McNeese State. Brinkley had a team-high nine tackles in his NAU debut last week.
Arizona linebacker Taye Brown, right, and running back Kedrick Reescano battle during fall football practice at the Dick Tomey Practice Fields, Aug. 22, 2026, in Tucson.
6 Ty Pennington vs. 6 Taye Brown
In two-plus seasons at NAU, Pennington — who Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales called “a savage” — has 5,598 passing yards, 34 touchdowns and seven interceptions with 691 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. Pennington completed 15 of 27 passes for 164 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the Lumberjacks’ come-from-behind win over Eastern Washington last week. Pennington, who is a top-10 passer in NAU history, also had 61 rushing yards and displayed the ability to maneuver outside the pocket.
Brown, a Chandler native, is one of many in-state products starting for the Wildcats on Saturday, along with wide receivers Tre Spivey and Giovanni Richardson, right guard Alexander Doost, left tackle Matthew Lado and defensive end Tre Smith — who are all Phoenix-area natives. Brown will handle the responsibilities of coach-to-player communication and will don a specialized helmet marked with a green decal. Brown, who had the second-most tackles for the Wildcats last season, is entering his third season as Arizona’s “Mike” linebacker.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita gestures skyward as he and the Wildcats celebrate his touchdown run in the first quarter vs. Kansas State, Sept. 12, 2025, at Arizona Stadium.
The matchup
When Arizona has the ball …
Arizona returns All-Big 12 quarterback Noah Fifita, who’s playing in his final season opener at the UA. Fifita’s top three targets at wide receiver are Tre Spivey, Giovanni Richardson and Chris Hunter, but the Wildcats could potentially rotate eight-plus receivers this season, including second-year receiver Isaiah Mizell, who was one of Arizona’s most improved offensive players this offseason. After an up-and-down run game in 2025, Arizona’s stable of running backs could be a positive dimension this season.
When NAU has the ball …
The Lumberjacks are led by Pennington, who rarely forces errors and has just eight career interceptions since starting his career at Pittsburg State. Not only does Pennington take care of the ball, but NAU’s offense is balanced with an effective rushing attack led by running back Quran Gossett, who had 21 carries for 103 rushing yards and a touchdown last week. The Lumberjacks had 201 rushing yards against Eastern Washington. Keeping the offense on schedule and testing Arizona’s defense on third-and-short plays could keep NAU in the game.
College Football 27 prediction: Arizona 30, NAU 10
If EA Sports’ “College Football 27” video game has anything to say about how Saturday night will go down, the Lumberjacks are covering the 30-32-point spread. In our simulation of the Arizona-NAU game, the Wildcats got off to a 2-0 start following a safety on a blitz by safety Gavin Hunter, who had a game-high nine tackles. Fifita completed 24 of 32 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns. Fifita’s passing touchdowns were to Spivey and Illinois transfer tight end Cole Rusk, and the Wildcats averaged 6 yards per play. Arizona continued its trend of shutting teams out in the fourth quarter. After the Wildcats outscored their opponents 96-36 in the fourth quarter last season, they shut out NAU in the final period.
Contact Justin Spears, the Star's Arizona football beat reporter, at jspears@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @JustinESports
Justin Spears
Sports Reporter
