5 takeaways from Arizona football’s 42-17 victory over Northern Illinois | Michael Lev

Noah Fifita got the record. He got the moment he richly deserved.

There was some turbulence along the way. A bumpy start. A computer malfunction at the worst possible time.

Arizona left Casino Del Sol Stadium Saturday night with a 42-17 victory over Northern Illinois that was at times convincing, at times worrisome.

Fifita needed 320 yards to break Nick Foles’ UA career passing record. Fifita passed for 325. The ball rarely hit the ground when he threw it.

Starting with Fifita’s feat, here are my top five takeaways from the Wildcats’ win over the Huskies:

1. Delayed gratification

The record was within his grasp. Fifita completed one pass after another after another. He was right there.

Up in the press box, confusion reigned. The program that the stats crew uses malfunctioned. (This happens from time to time.) We thought Fifita had the record on a 6-yard pass to the left to Chris Hunter. But did he?

As the action continued on the field — including Fifita’s 30-yard run for a touchdown — the stats crew and the UA sports information department scrambled to sort it all out.

It was kind of like waiting for election results. I half-expected Steve Kornacki to drop by the box to give us a breakdown.

After the problem was fixed, the play-by-play repopulated. Fifita had 318 yards. He needed two more.

That information was relayed to the UA sideline. Conveniently enough, the Wildcats were about to start their next drive.

Offensive coordinator Seth Doege dialed up a pass play. Fifita fired the ball to Isaiah Mizell near the right sideline.

Mizell gained 7 yards. Fifita had the record. Brent Brennan called a timeout to allow Fifita to exit the game. A video message from Foles appeared on the scoreboard. It was a lovely scene and a fitting tribute.

Brennan had said during the week that he wouldn’t go out of his way to ensure Fifita broke the record at home. But the stars aligned. And Brennan knew it was the right thing to do.

“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. But we came out of that last drive, and somebody said he's 2 yards from the record. So I just felt that as a program, we owe it to him to give him a chance to do that here.”

2. Warm reception

Fifita completed passes to 10 of his teammates.

None of them was named Giovanni Richardson.

Arizona’s receiving corps failed to step up when Richardson went down in the first quarter the previous Saturday at BYU. It was a major talking point entering the NIU game, which Richardson missed because of a leg injury.

Where was Tre Spivey? Where was Chris Hunter? Where was the depth Brennan had touted throughout the offseason?

Spivey and Hunter showed up against the Huskies. The depth showed up. The receivers and Fifita were on the same page of the playbook from start to finish.

Spivey performed like the player we saw during spring practice who seemed headed for a breakout season. He snared six passes for 90 yards — both career bests — and a touchdown that looked like it was lifted from Tetairoa McMillan’s highlight reel.

Spivey ran a fade route toward the left corner of the end zone. NIU cornerback Marshall Washington had tight coverage. Spivey wasn’t “open” in the traditional sense. But Fifita threw the ball anyway. And Spivey rewarded him by making a leaping one-handed catch.

That’s a sign of trust.

“Any good quarterback-receiver relationship has some natural chemistry,” said Brennan, a former wideout and longtime receivers coach. “They've spent time together. They've thrown that ball 5,000 times in that stadium when no one's there.”

Hunter and Mizell also scored touchdowns. Brandon Phelps continued to look like he belongs in the rotation.

Can they do it against Big 12 opponents? TBD. But Saturday was a good start.

3. Trail position

The game itself did not start well for the Wildcats.

NIU drove for a field goal. Arizona went three-and-out — including a pair of sacks. The Huskies then scored on a 52-yard bomb on their next play from scrimmage.

Less than six minutes into a game in which they were favored by 34.5 points, the Wildcats trailed 10-0.

Talk about a code red.

Thankfully, Fifita found his form. Eventually, the offensive line gelled. Unsurprisingly, the defense responded.

Fifita seemed a little out of sorts on that first possession — as if NIU was showing something he didn’t expect. He held the ball too long. Three of the four sacks against Arizona — all of which occurred in the first half — appeared to be “coverage sacks.”

Once he figured it out, the offense started moving. But it was mostly through the air. Arizona had just 11 net rushing yards in the first half. I expected the Wildcats to dominate in the trenches, and they weren’t.

As the game progressed, the offensive line began to exert itself. Tailbacks Kedrick Reescano and Quincy Craig ran through arm tackles. They played with a physicality that needs to be a constant presence for the entire offense.

The defense, which was missing several regulars due to injury, settled in and didn’t allow another point until the final NIU possession. The Wildcats’ tackling remained erratic, but their effort was consistent. Once they got a bead on what NIU was trying to do, they swarmed to the ball with abandon.

4. Backup plan

The UA defense was down three starters — defensive lineman Mays Pese, linebacker Chase Kennedy and cornerback Dwight Bootle II — plus run-stuffing defensive tackle Zac Siulepa.

It showed early on as NIU ran through the defensive front and exploited the secondary.

While seizing control and gaining separation on the scoreboard, Arizona rotated liberally on that side of the ball. A ton of players played. Two who hadn’t played much before Saturday flashed their potential.

One was Cam Chapa, who platooned with Quinn Olson at free safety. I really liked how forcefully Chapa, a transfer from Northern Colorado, supported the run. He also covered and tackled well.

“I thought Chapa showed up,” Brennan said. “You saw him trigger with some violence ... like he knew exactly what he was doing. You saw him doing it with confidence, and that was exciting.”

The other player was freshman defensive tackle Keytrin Harris, who’s an enormous person (6-6, 305) with a huge upside. Harris came within inches of sacking Taron Dickens in the third quarter. Harris got him in the fourth, showing impressive athleticism by chasing down Dickens outside the pocket.

“I thought Keytrin’s sack late was just a great ‘redline’ play,” Brennan said. “(He) just kept chasing the quarterback, kept chasing, and was able to get him down in the backfield. I thought that was outstanding.”

Whether it was Harris, Chapa, freshman defensive tackle Kaisi Lafitaga or sophomore linebacker Myron Robinson, they all got reps in meaningful moments. That will pay dividends down the road — maybe as soon as Arizona’s upcoming game at Washington State.

“They say practice is the (same as the) game,” veteran safety Lee Molette III said. “But there's certain things that you'll see in the game that are different from practice. So I think that'll benefit them a lot going forward.”

5. Wazzu and beyond

Given the way Arizona played — about a B overall — and what else has transpired in the Big 12, is it time to recalibrate our expectations for the 2026 Wildcats?

Maybe.

I had them repeating last year’s 9-3 regular-season record. I’m now wondering if 8-4 might be more realistic.

The three games I projected Arizona to lose were at BYU (which already happened), at Texas Tech and at Kansas State. West Virginia is going to be a tougher out than I thought.

Rich Rodriguez’s Mountaineers upset No. 25 Virginia on Saturday, amassing 247 rushing yards. They just might be better, sooner, than anyone expected.

Utah also seems to have had no trouble moving on from Kyle Whittingham, although the Utes haven’t really played anyone yet (and haven’t played a game outside of Salt Lake City). The next five games aren’t exactly murderer’s row either; Utah easily could be 8-0 entering the Holy War on Nov. 7.

The Utes come to Tucson the following week — possibly vulnerable to a letdown. But it’s still a toss-up game at best.

I need to see more from this UA team against better opponents than the two the Wildcats have beaten (NAU, NIU). The offensive line still concerns me. The defense isn’t generating turnovers.

There’s still time to grow. The 2025 Cats were 4-3 before reeling off five straight wins.

We’ll see if this group has that in them.