Streaking Wildcats Face No. 22 Bearcats in Cincinnati

TUCSON, Ariz. — The bowl bound Arizona Wildcats (6-3, 3-3) head out for their longest road trip of the year this weekend for a matchup against the No. 22 Cincinnati Bearcats (7-2, 5-1). Kickoff is slated for 10:00 a.m. MST.

Saturday's game is locked in for a national television broadcast on FS1 with play-by-play from Connor Onion. The game will also be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 featuring play-by-play from Brian Jeffries.

With wins in each of their last two games, the Wildcats are now bowl eligible for the first time under head coach Brent Brennan. The Bearcats are coming off a road loss at Utah, but prior to that had rattled off seven consecutive wins.

For more news and notes on Saturday's game, continue below.

Arizona Notes & Numbers

• The Arizona Wildcats venture east for their penultimate road game of the regular season, a Saturday morning matchup against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Nippert Stadium.
• Saturday’s game will be nationally televised on FS1 with Connor Onion (play-by-play) and Mark Helfrich (analyst) on the call.
• The game will also be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM featuring play-by-play from Brian Jeffries.
• This weekend will be the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and Bearcats. Cincinnati is the second of two programs that Arizona plays for the first time this season (also Weber State).
• With their last-minute comeback win over Kansas last weekend, the Wildcats reached bowl eligibility for the first time since 2023. Arizona has played in 22 bowl games with a record of 10-11-1.
• QB Noah Fifita has thrown for 67 career touchdown passes and is tied for the Arizona all-time program lead alongside Nick Foles (2009–11) and Willie Tuitama (2005–08).
• The Wildcats defense is among the top 25 units in the nation in total defense (17th), turnovers gained (10th), team TFL (17th), pass efficiency defense (2nd), passing defense (7th), interceptions (7th), and first downs defense (16th).
• This season, 11 different Big 12 players have notched a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in the same game. Three of them are Wildcats: Tre Spivey at Houston, Javin Whatley at Colorado, and Quincy Craig vs. Kansas.
• RB Quincy Craig was tabbed as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week following his two touchdown performance in last weekend's victory over Kansas.

SOME GAME THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats (6-3, 3-3) make their longest road trip of the season this week for a matchup against the No. 22 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats (7-2, 5-1)…Saturday’s game will be nationally televised on FS1 with Connor Onion (Play-by-Play) and Mark Helfrich (Analyst) on the call…The game will also be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM featuring play-by-play from the Voice of the Wildcats, Brian Jeffries…This weekend will be the first-ever meeting between the Wildcats and Bearcats...Cincinnati is the second of two programs that Arizona plays for the first time this season (also Weber State)...With their last-minute comeback win over Kansas last weekend, the Wildcats reached bowl eligibility for the first time since 2023...Arizona has played in 22 bowl games with a record of 10-11-1...The Wildcats have been bowl eligible just three times in the last nine years (2017, 2023, and 2025)...Entering this weekend the Bearcats are ranked No. 22 in the AP Top 25, making them the third ranked opponent for the Wildcats this season…Arizona is 0-2 against AP Top 25 teams this year and holds a 54-136-1 (.285) all-time record against AP Top 25 opponents…The Wildcats all-time road record against the AP Top 25 is 17-68-1 (.204) and their last road victory over a ranked team was at No. 10 Utah in 2024.

CRAIG TABBED AS BIG 12 OFFENSIVE POTW: Arizona Football running back Quincy Craig has been selected as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday morning. Craig, a junior in his first season with the Wildcats, picked up his first career Big 12 weekly honor. It is the fifth Big 12 weekly award earned by the Wildcats this season. The California native scored two touchdowns on just five touches for the Wildcats in last weekend's win over Kansas, including the game-winning score with 39 seconds left in the game. It was the third multi-score game of Craig's career, and his first with Arizona. Craig tallied 60 all-purpose yards against Kansas, 42 of which came on rushes on the Wildcats final two plays as they drove to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. Craig is one of 11 Big 12 players to score both a rushing and receiving touchdown in a game this year, and one of three Wildcats to have achieved the feat. His touchdown reception late in the second quarter was the 67th passing touchdown of quarterback Noah Fifita's career, tying him for the program record.

LAST TIME OUT: The Wildcats secured bowl eligibility for the first time since 2023 with a last-minute comeback victory over Kansas. RB Quincy Craig notched two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 39 seconds remaining. QB Noah Fifita moved into a tie for first in program history with a pair of touchdown passes, giving him 67 in his Arizona career. Additional highlights from the Kansas game includes…

Notable Postgame Notes

• This will be the third bowl game in the last four seasons for head coach Brent Brennan (also: 2022 & 2023 at San Jose State).
• Including his time as a player, head coach, and assistant coach, this will be the 10th career bowl game for Brennan.
• The Arizona defense held Kansas to just 199 pass yards, marking the seventh time they have held an opponent under 200 yards through the air, the most since 2009 (8 games).
• The Wildcats win over Kansas was their first when being out-gained by their opponent since winning at Utah in 2024 (Arizona 358 yards, Utah 364 yards).
• QB Noah Fifita’s two touchdown passes moved him into a tie for first in program history with 67 career touchdown passes.
• Saturday marked Fifita’s third consecutive game without an interception; he has six such performances this year, two more than last year and tying his career high from 2023.
• DB Dalton Johnson (2) and DB Treydan Stukes (3) both tallied multiple pass breakups on Saturday; both marks were career highs.

GRAB YOUR BOWLING SHOES: With last weekend’s win over Kansas, the Wildcats are now bowl eligible for the first time under head coach Brent Brennan. This marks the first time that Arizona is bowl eligible since 2023, and just the third time in the last nine seasons (also: 2017). The Wildcats have played in 22 bowl games in program history, with a record 10-11-1 in those games. Arizona’s most recent bowl appearance was in the 2023 Valero Alamo Bowl in a matchup against the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners; the Wildcats won the game, 38-24. Arizona remains tied to the Pac-12 legacy bowl affiliations: Alamo Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, Sun Bowl, LA Bowl. After those selections have been exhausted, they are eligible for Big 12 affiliated bowls: Pop-Tarts Bowl, Texas Bowl, Liberty Bowl, Rate Bowl, Independence Bowl.

NOAH'S ARC: Redshirt junior quarterback Noah Fifita, one of the most prolific passers in program history, returns behind center to lead the Wildcats offense in 2025. The California native has logged three-plus seasons and 36 games with the Wildcats since his true freshman campaign in 2022. Over that span he has etched his name into the Arizona record books and looks to cement his legacy even further this season. Fifita currently sports 67 career passing touchdowns and 8,155 career passing yards, marks that rank tied for first and third in program history, respectively. Fifita’s next passing touchdown will set the program record, while he sits 1,057 yards shy of moving into second place on the program leaderboard. The fourth-year signal caller was selected to a trio of watch lists this preseason, earning national recognition from the Maxwell Award, the Polynesian Player of the Year Award, and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. He was also added to the Manning Award watch list last month and has earned a pair of Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week nods.

PICK CITY: Arizona’s 12 interceptions this season are Top 10 in the nation. The Wildcats are currently on pace for 16 interceptions this season, which would be the most for the program since pulling in 19 during the 2017 season. The Wildcats defense is spearheaded by Defensive Coordinator Danny Gonzales, who has made led multiple INT-hungry defenses during his career. From 2011–16 while he served as the safeties coach at San Diego State, the Aztecs pulled in 100 interceptions, the third most in the country during that span. Across 12 games last year the Wildcats pulled in just eight interceptions. Seven different players have combined to pull in Arizona’s dozen picks: DBs Jay’Vion Cole (3), Treydan Stukes (2), Dalton Johnson (2), Genesis Smith, Gavin Hunter, and Jack Luttrell, alongside LB Taye Brown.

ON THE MARK: In the Wildcats week eight contest at Houston, quarterback Noah Fifita completed 24-of-26 passes for a 92.3% completion rate, tying the Arizona single-game program record. Fifita’s ultra-accurate outing was the fourth best in the FBS this season, and the third best by a road quarterback in the last 30 years (minimum 25 attempts). Fifita is the only quarterback in the nation this season with a 90%-plus completion percentage in a game with 25 or more attempts.

GONE PORTALIN’: According to research done by ESPN’s Max Olson, the Wildcats are ranked fourth among Power Four programs and second in the Big 12 Conference in experience added via the transfer portal. Arizona added 27 transfers that brought with them 403 starts and 25,467 snaps of Division I experience.

UNSHEATH THE SWORD: Arizona’s turnover sword has been busy this season, seeing use in 7-of-8 games so far with multiple uses in five separate games. The Wildcats 18 turnovers forced through eight games are tied for the sixth most in the nation and the most for the program since creating 19 turnovers across 13 games in 2023. With five turnovers against Colorado and Hawai’i, the Wildcats now boast multiple five-turnover performances for the first time since 2000 (USC & Washington State).

I GOT 5 ON IT: Quarterback Noah Fifita’s five passing touchdown performance at the beginning of the month against Oklahoma State was the fourth of his career and his second this season. The only other FBS players with multiple 5+ TD games this season are Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Temple’s Evan Simon (via Opta StatsPass). Across all of Arizona Football history there have been only 15 five-plus pass touchdown performances, four of which belong to Fifita, the most by any player (next: Khalil Tate, 3).

MAHDI MOTION: Arizona running back Ismail Mahdi has been a key piece of the Wildcats offense over the first nine games, tallying 758 all-purpose yards and a trio of touchdowns. Prior to his time with the Wildcats, Mahdi spent two years at Texas State and one season at FCS Houston Christian. The Murphy, Texas native currently boasts one of the most productive careers in the nation: Mahdi's ranks among the top five active career leaders with 4,310 all-purpose yards (5th) and 126.76 all-purpose yards per game (2nd) during his FBS career.

WILDCATS IN THE NFL: The Arizona Wildcats are once again well represented in the NFL, with 11 players currently sprinkled throughout league rosters. Highlighting the group of former Wildcats are a pair of first round picks in Tetairoa McMillan (2025) and Jordan Morgan (2024). With his selection earlier this year, McMillan became the 12th Arizona player to earn a first round NFL Draft pick. He joined a list that includes Morgan (2024; 25th, Green Bay), Antoine 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). McMillan was the first of four Wildcats selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, marking the most Arizona picks since 2008.

Current Wildcats on NFL Rosters (as of 11/9/25)

• Jonah Savaiinaea, OL, Miami Dolphins
• Nick Folk, K, New York Jets
• Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders
• Tyler Loop, K, Baltimore Ravens
• Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, LB, New York Giants
• Roy Lopez, DT, Detroit Lions
• Jordan Morgan, OT, Green Bay Packers
• Lucas Havrisik, K, Green Bay Packers
• Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Carolina Panthers
• Jacob Cowing^, WR, San Francisco 49ers
• Gary Brightwell*, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

*Practice Squad    ^Reserve/Injured