Wildcats Return from Bye Week to Host Houston

TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats (3-6, 1-5) return to action this Friday night against the Houston Cougars (4-5, 3-3) at Arizona Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 8:15 p.m. MST on FS1.

Trent Rush (play-by-play) and Petro Papadakis (analyst) will have the call for the national television broadcast on FS1.

Arizona enjoyed a bye last week and look to use the well deserved rest week as an opportunity to jump back into the win column against Houston.

Friday's game will serve as the program's Community Day.

For more information on Friday's game, continue reading below.

Arizona Notes and Numbers

• The Arizona Wildcats host the Houston Cougars for the fourth time in series history. Trent Rush (Play-by-play) and Petros Papadakis (Analyst) will be the broadcast team. Kickoff on FS1 is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. MST.
• This is the fourth matchup in series history with the Wildcats trailing 1-3. The only win in the series was a 37-3 lopsided result in Tucson on Sept. 6, 1986. Arizona last faced Houston on Sep. 8, 2018, on the road. The Wildcats are 1-2 at home and 0-1 on the road against the Cougars.
• Despite dropping their fifth straight game, quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan continue to climb the program record charts. Fifita has thrown 39-career touchdowns which is 10th in program history.
• Fifita is 11th in program history with 5,321-career passing yards. He is 104 yards from passing Ortege Jenkins (5,424 yards, 1997-00) for 10th in program history.
• McMillan has 3,170-career receiving yards which is the fourth-most in program history. He is 62 yards away from passing Mike Thomas (3,231 yards, 2005-08) for third in program history. McMillan has 11 100-yard receiving games in his career. He is tied with Mike Thomas (2005-08) and Juron Criner (2008-11) for third all-time with 11-career 100-yard receiving games.
• T-Mac is second the nation with 1,066 receiving yards this season, trailing only Nick Nash (1,156) with San José State. He is one of three receivers in FBS with over 1,000 receiving yards this season. McMillan is the first player in program history to record 1,000-plus receiving yards in back-to-back seasons.

By The Numbers…

AGAINST HOUSTON: The Arizona Wildcats (3-5, 1-4 Big 12) host the Houston Cougars (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) for the fourth time in program history. Arizona is 1-3 all-time against Houston with the last matchup taking place in 2018. Arizona fell 45-18 in that matchup at Houston. In the 2018 defeat, Khalil Tate threw for 341 yards on 24-of-45 passing and rushed for one touchdown. Darrius Smith accounted for 55 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown rushing. The Wildcats only win of the series was 37-3 to open the 1986 season. A season that finished with a 9-3 record and included four straight wins to open the season, capped with a 30-21 win over North Carolina in the Aloha Bowl. During the 1986 season, Arizona was ranked as high as No. 10 nationally and finished the season ranked 11th by the AP Poll. That team was led by David Adams’ 1,175 rushing yards with seven rushing touchdowns and one TD reception. Chuck Cecil led the team with six interceptions for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

LAST TIME OUT: RJ Harvey rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns and new starter Dylan Rizk threw for 209 yards and a touchdown to help UCF snap a five-game losing streak, defeating Arizona 56-12 on Saturday. UCF (4-5, 2-4 Big 12) looked refreshed and energetic for their annual Space Game after the team fired defensive coordinator Ted Roof and switched offensive play calling duties from head coach Gus Malzahn to offensive coordinator Tim Harris Jr. earlier in the week. The Knights tallied 602 yards of offense, their most since the first game of the season against FCS opponent New Hampshire. The switch to Rizk paid dividends as the team got the ball out quicker and moved the ball down the field. That was most evident at the end of the first half when Rizk completed a 48-yard Hail Mary pass to tight end Randy Pittman Jr. It was the senior's first touchdown reception of the season and just his 17th reception of the season. Pittman added another touchdown late in the game for five catches for 80 yards, all season highs. After UCF struggled to spread the ball around throughout the season, Rizk completed passes to seven different receivers. That included a 40-yard touchdown throw to Jacoby Jones, who had five catches for 106 yards, his second straight game with at least 100 yards receiving. He had only two catches for 29 yards before his breakthrough last week. The Knights still relied heavily on their ground game, rushing for 308 yards. Harvey accounted for 184 yards on 22 carries, scoring touchdowns of 17, 18 and 19 yards. Arizona (3-6, 1-5) struggled to get much going offensively to match UCF's newfound firepower. Arizona finished with 261 total yards and only five rush yards. Quarterback Noah Fifita completed 24 of 33 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns. Star receiver Tetairoa McMillan finished with six receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown. Chris Hunter had seven catches for 102 yards. But Fifita was sacked four times and the Knights' often-struggling defense recorded 10 tackles for a loss. Adding an early hurdle, the Wildcats' Quali Coney fumbled the ball on their second possession as rain set in on the stadium, setting up Harvey's first touchdown run of 17 yards and a 14-0 Knights lead. The defeat was Arizona's fifth straight loss. Closing in on school records: Tetairoa McMillan continues to close in on several all-time receiving marks at Arizona. With six receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown, McMillan eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for the second straight season. He became the first player in Arizona history with back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He also closed in on Dennis Northcutt for third all-time in receiving yards in Arizona history with 3,170 for his career. Bobby Wade holds the school record with 3,351 receiving yards. Additionally, RJ Harvey passed Alex Haynes for second on UCF's all-time rushing yards list. He has rushed for 3,416 yards in his career at UCF. Kevin Smith holds the school record with 4,679 career rush yards.

LAST GAME INDIVIDUAL NOTES:

• With 84 receiving yards, WR Tetairoa McMillan crossed the 1,000-yard mark on the year. It is the 12th 1,000-yard receiving season in Arizona Football history, and the second for McMillan.
  • His 1,066 yards this year are currently the eighth most in program history.
  • He is the only player in Arizona history with multiple 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
• Saturday's game in Orlando marks the 26th game of McMillan's career with 50+ receiving yards. He has pulled in 50+ yards in 7-of-9 games this year.
• McMillan's two-yard score in the third quarter was the 24th touchdown reception of his career, moving him into a tie for third place in program history.
• TE Sam Olson hauled in a 23-yard touchdown reception to open the scoring for Arizona. It was his second touchdown grab of the year after pulling in his first last week against West Virginia.
• QB Noah Fifita moved into 11th place on the Wildcats program passing yards leaderboard.
• WR Chris Hunter recorded the first 100-yard game of his career. His performance was the first 100-yard game by a Wildcat other than Tetairoa McMillan since Jacob Cowing pulled in 152 yards in the 2023 Alamo Bowl.
  • Hunter set career-high marks in receptions (7) and yards (102) against UCF.
• DB Jack Luttrell led the Arizona defense with a career-high 14 tackles, a dozen of which were solo stops.
• DL Ta’ita’i Uiagalelei recorded a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss at UCF.

LAST GAME TEAM NOTES:

• The Wildcats dropped their fifth consecutive game and fall to 1-5 in Big 12 Conference play.
• Saturday was Arizona’s first game all-time against UCF; they fall to 0-1 in the series.
• The 56 points allowed by the Wildcats marked the most since falling to ASU 70-7 on Dec. 11, 2020.

TRACKING HISTORY:

• WR Tetairoa McMillan has 24 career receiving TD, tied third most all-time with Dennis Northcutt (1996-99). He is six receiving TD away from tying Theopolis Bell (1972-75) for second in program history with 30 career receiving TD.
• McMillan has 3,170 career receiving yards, the fourth most in program history. He is 62 yards away from passing Mike Thomas (3,231 yards, 2005-08) for third in program history.
• McMillan has eleven 100-yard receiving games in his career. He is tied with Mike Thomas (2005-08) and Juron Criner (2008-11) for third all-time with 11 career 100-yard receiving games.
• McMillan entered the day ranked third in the nation, and first in the Big 12, with 982 receiving yards this year.
• QB Noah Fifita has 39 career passing TD which ranks 10th all-time. He is three TD away from moving up the leaderboard into a tie for eighth with Keith Smith (1996-99) and Ortege Jenkins (1997-00) at 42 career passing touchdowns.
• Fifita is currently 11th in program history with 5,321 career passing yards. He is 104 yards from passing Ortege Jenkins (5,424 yards, 1997-00) for 10th in program history.
• K Tyler Loop has 309 career points, the fourth most in program history. He is 4 points shy of passing Ka'Deem Carey (312 points, 2011-13) for third all-time.
• Loop currently boasts an 84.00% (63-of-75) career field goals made percentage, which would be the best mark in program history (min. 30 made FG).

SWARM TO THE BALL: The Arizona defense limited West Virginia to just 198 yards passing, marking the third time this season they held an opponent under 200 yards through the air (also: NAU, 109 yards; Kansas State, 156 yards). At the time, Arizona’s defense was the first unit to hold BYU scoreless in the first quarter this season. BYU was outscoring opponents 49-10 entering the game. The Wildcats allowed 10 points to Utah, which marked the fewest points allowed to a top 10 team since shutting out #10 Miami 29-0 in 1994 Fiesta Bowl. The Wildcats held the Utes to just 10 points, marking the fewest first half points by Utah since scoring seven against Northwestern at the 2023 Las Vegas Bowl. Ten points is Utah’s lowest scoring output against a conference team since losing 6-35 to Oregon in 2023. Arizona limited the Texas Tech offense to 28 points, the Red Raiders average 39.3 points per game this season. Texas Tech managed just 14 first downs in the contest, threw two interceptions, and fumbled twice. The Wildcats held the Red Raiders to 2-of-11 on third down conversion attempts.  The Wildcats defense held the Red Raiders to just 118 rushing yards, their lowest output on the ground since going for 110 yards against then No. 7 Texas in 2023. The Wildcats are fifth nationally in fourth down conversion defense (6-for-20, .300). Defensive back Genesis Smith is tied for third in the Big 12 with six passes defended (6). Smith leads the Wildcats in that category. Against Colorado (10/19), DB Jack Luttrell made his first career interception in the second quarter to stop Colorado on Arizona’s 11-yard line. He made his second career interception — and second interception of the game — in the fourth quarter to stop Colorado’s drive at the Arizona 14-yard line. He is the first Wildcat to have two interceptions in a game since Anthony Pandy had two against Colorado in 2020. Luttrell recorded a career high 14 total tackles at UCF (11/2).

ONE THOUSAND CLUB: Tetairoa McMillan became the first Arizona wide receiver to record back-to-back 1,000-plus-yard receiving seasons (2023: 1,402, 2024: 1,066). He is also climbing up the career receptions list in program history with 192 (5th).

ARIZONA’S BEST WIDE OUT: Tetairoa McMillan gained 202 yards receiving on 10 receptions against West Virginia (10/26). McMillan’s 202 yards were the 11th most in a single game in program history. He now owns three of the top 12 receiving performances in program history. He caught a touchdown in back-to-back games for the first time this season. McMillan is seventh among active FBS wide outs in receiving yards.

T-MAC: Tetairoa McMillan is tied for 4th in program history in career-receiving touchdowns (24), 4th in career-receiving yards in program history (3,170). He has now recorded the most receiving yards in a single game (304) and the third-most receiving yards in a single game in program history in 2023 (266; at ASU, Nov. 25, 2023). McMillan pulled in 202 yards for his 11th 100-plus-yard receiving game of his career against WVU. He finished with 161 receiving yards on eight receptions against Texas Tech (10/5). His 11 100-yard performances are tied for third in program history. T-Mac is third nationally in receiving yards (982). He leads the Big 12 in receiving yards and tied for fourth in the conference in receiving touchdowns (4). McMillan has caught a pass in 22 straight games. With 84 yards receiving at UCF (11/2), McMillan crossed the 1,000-yard mark on the year. It marked the 12th 1,000-yard receiving season in Arizona Football history and second for McMillan.

CONSECUTIVE LOSSES: The Wildcats lost their fifth straight game and six of the last seven games since rattling off nine straight wins between 2023 and the start of 2024. This marks the longest losing streak since the Wildcats dropped five straight during the 2022 season and finished that year 5-7.

FORCING TURNOVERS: Against Colorado (10/19), Arizona forced multiple turnovers in a game for the fourth time this season. That matches the same number of games with a turnover forced that Arizona has had in both 2023 and 2022. Arizona’s last season with more than four games forcing two-plus turnovers was 2017 (eight). The Wildcats forced three fumbles at UCF (11/2) but were unable to recover a fumble. It marked the most fumbles forced this season.

CHRISTMAS CATS: Arizona defensive back Genesis Smith has stated the Genesis Smith Foundation. The first building block for the nonprofit Genesis Smith Foundation: “Christmas Cats,” an initiative to donate presents to Tucson- and Phoenix-area families during the holidays. Family nominations and monetary donations can be made through the Genesis Smith Foundation Instagram page (@genesissmithfdn) or the Christmas Cats website. In the following weeks, the Genesis Smith Foundation will pick families and create an “Amazon Wishlist,” which will be revealed on Friday, Nov. 29. The genesis of Smith’s foundation and generosity during the holiday season is the foundation “One Last Chance,” founded by his late grandmother, Tonia, who “was really big in the Phoenix area,” said Smith, a Chandler native and Hamilton High School product. “She had a bunch of food shelters where she would store the food, and we would go out and give out food after church during Christmas time and Thanksgiving,” Smith said. “Growing up, we would go out and drop off turkeys. Most of the time, we went out out to church and then go out to give out food during Christmas time. That was always a tradition of ours.”

QB1: Quarterback Noah Fifita’s career-completion percentage is 66.3% (447-674 for 5,321 yards and 39 touchdowns) which is second in program history behind Super Bowl Champion Nick Foles (66.8%, 360-for-531). Fifita’s season high was 422 yards passing and four touchdowns against New Mexico (8/31) to open the season. He has passed for more than 300 yards twice in nine games this season.

TEAM IMPACT: The Arizona Wildcats spend valuable moments outside of preparing for each contest with Braxton Larowe from Team Impact. Larowe has spent the better part of two years with the Wildcats and inspired members of the team beyond the lines on the football field. "He has been at every game I can think of," offensive lineman Grayson Stovall said. "The support from him and his family is unreal. The only we can thank him is by giving it back to them. That's what we try to do. I say we're 120 big brothers to him. That's part of the program, giving him guys to look up to.” Stovall continued. “Seeing someone Braxton come in everyday, we see him with a positive smile. He has been through a lot, but you can't see it. He's a blessing to have around. He is super happy. I think we've all learned how to be appreciative of what we have." Read more about Larowe and the special day he spent with the Wildcats here.

LACES OUT: Tyler Loop set the program record for most consecutive extra-points made (119-of-119) prior to missing his last two extra-point attempts to fall to 120-for-122 for his career. He is chasing down the top-career field goal percentage (84.0%, 63 of 75) in program history. He is fourth in career-scoring in program history (309; 2022-present). He booted a career-long 54-yarder against New Mexico on Aug. 31. He also made two-of-three field goal attempts against NAU, booting a long of 48 yards against the Lumberjacks. Loop made a 53-yarder among three made field goals at Utah in the 23-10 win. He set a program record with five made field goals against Texas Tech (10/5), marking the most field goals made (5) and attempted (6) in a single game in program history. Loop is sixth among active kickers in FBS in field goal percentage (84.0%, 63-75).

WELCOME TO THE BIG 12: The Arizona Wildcats embark on a new journey in a new conference after joining the Big 12 in Aug. 2024. The Wildcats end an era of Pac-10/12 that began in 1978 and finished with a 277-256-7 record, including a 171-202-6 Conference record over 45 years in the conference. The legendary Dick Tomey led the Wildcats through 13 years of the Pac-10/12 Conference and recorded the most wins of any head coach in program history (95). Arizona has dropped five straight games to fall to 1-5 in the Big 12 its inaugural season in the conference.

FORCING FUMBLES: DB Owen Goss has introduced himself to the Big 12 as a new member of the conference who has the second most forced fumbles among Big 12 foes with three. He averages 0.38 forced fumbles per game over eight games played which are fewer games than the leader Antwan Peek Jr. (Cincinnati) with four forced fumbles. He is tied for second in the Big 12 with one fumble recovery.

WILDCATS IN THE NFL: Arizona currently has 10 players on NFL rosters during the 2024 season. Former offensive lineman Jordan Morgan was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round (25th overall) following the 2023 season. He was the first first-round selection since Antoine Cason was picked 27th overall in 2008. He joined a list that includes Cason (2008; 27th, San Diego), Trung Canidate (2000; 31st, St. Louis), Chris McAlister (1999; 10th, Baltimore), John Fina (1992; 27th, Buffalo), Chris Singleton (1990; 8th, New England), Anthony Smith (1990; 11th, Oakland), Rickey Hunley (1984; 7th, Cincinnati), Mike Dawson (1976; 22nd, Arizona), Bill Lueck (1968; 26, Green Bay), and Walt Nelson (1939; 10th, New York Giants) to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Wide receiver Jacob Cowing was picked in the fourth round (135th overall) by the San Francisco 49ers and became the highest wide receiver selected since Mike Thomas in 2009 (4th Rd, 107 overall by Jacksonville) and the first wide receiver since Juron Criner (5th Rd, 168th overall by Oakland) in 2012. Tight End Tanner McLachlan was the third Wildcat selected in the 2024 NFL Draft when the Cincinnati Bengals picked him the 6th round (194 overall). The three draft picks matched the most selected in one draft since 2014 when Ka’Deem Carey (4th Rd, 117 overall), Shaquille Richardson (5th Rd, 157th overall), and Marquis Flowers (6th Rd, 212 overall) were picked in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Current Wildcats on NFL Rosters (as of 10/13/24)

*Practice Squad