Photo by: Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Athletics
09/20/2026 | Football
TUCSON, Ariz. -- It wasn't the most dramatic record chase. Everyone figured it would fall by September's end. But that didn't make what quarterback Noah Fifita accomplished Saturday night for the Arizona Wildcats football any less special – or impressive.
Fifita threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns -- in the process becoming Arizona's all-time leader in career passing yards – in the Wildcats' 42-17 win over Northern Illinois at Casino Del Sol Stadium.
Fifita would be the first to tell you he cares more about the win, a victory in which the Wildcats scored 42 unanswered points and pushed their record to 2-1 on the young season. But if he won't tout the numbers we will.
Fifita now has 10,017 career passing yards, nudging past Wildcats legend Nick Foles, who threw for 10,011 yards from 2009–11. Fifita already owned the program records for touchdown passes (80), another number that will keep climbing.
For good measure Fifita also completed an astounding 91 percent of his passes (31 of 34) against the Huskies and had a 30-yard touchdown run.
The completion that set the mark was a seven-yard pass to wide receiver Isaiah Mizell in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats called timeout to give Fifita a curtain call and Foles congratulated him in a taped message on the videoboard.
Arizona racked up 441 total yards and converted 9 of 13 on third down. The Wildcats scored touchdowns on five of six offensive drives between the first and third quarters.
Wide receiver Tre Spivey paced Arizona with six receptions for 90 yards and one highlight-reel touchdown. The catches and yards were both career highs. Chris Hunter caught five passes for 73 yards and one score, while Mizell hauled in five passes for 49 yards and his first career touchdown. In all, 11 Wildcats had a reception.
Freshman wideout Caleb Smith showed off his jets with a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter – Arizona's first in nine years.
Linebacker Cooper Blomstrom had a career-best 10 tackles and shared a sack on fourth down inside the red zone. Safety Lee Molette registered six stops. After giving up 10 points and 157 yards in the first quarter, the Wildcats' defense held NIU to 184 yards the rest of the way. The Huskies' final touchdown came on the game's last drive.
Despite not scoring in the first quarter of its first two games NIU marched 54 yards on the game's opening drive, which resulted in a 38-yard field goal by J.J. Schlenhardt. Then the Huskies sacked Fifita sacked for an 11-yard loss on Arizona's first snap, putting the Wildcats behind the chains and resulting in a three-and-out.
The Huskies took over at their own 48 and Dickens threw a 52-yard scoring strike down the left sideline to Cam Thompson. NIU had a 10-0 lead less than six minutes in.
But Fifita settled in on the ensuing drive, connecting with Spivey on a 43-yard pass into Huskies territory. Four plays later, he fired a laser to Hunter for a 38-yard touchdown. NIU's lead was cut to three and the record chase was on.
After Schlenhardt missed a 41-yarder, Fifita led the Wildcats on a 12-play, 76-yard drive, capping it with a 14-yard touchdown to Mizell. The Wildcats took a lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
On Arizona's next drive, Fifita completed all five of his passes, the last a 10-yard fade to Spivey, who made a filthy, one-handed catch in the end zone to make it 21-10 Wildcats. After another Huskies punt, Smith returned it 69 yards for a touchdown and the rout was on. It was Arizona's first punt return for a touchdown since 2017.
In the third quarter, Fifita capped another scoring march with a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Powell. NIU responded with a 15-yard drive, but Arizona's defense held on fourth down to give the ball back to the offense. On 3rd and 8 from the Huskies 30, Fifita cut loose in the open field and raced 30 yards for a score, his second straight week with a rushing touchdown.
Quotables
"The lesson here for us is that response matters and how we responded the last three and a half quarters of that game was something that I'm really excited about."
It's an old Pac-12 reunion next Saturday when the Wildcats trek to Pullman to face Washington State. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m. on CBS. The Cougars (1-2) defeated Duquesne 48-7 yesterday for their first win of the season. Arizona leads the all-time series 28-19. The two teams' last meeting was also in Pullman, a 44-6 Wildcats win in 2023.
Territorial Cup 100th
This season marks the 100th edition of the Territorial Cup so each week we will look back at one of Arizona's greatest moments in the rivalry's storied history.
In 1974, Arizona's defense dominated from start to finish, lifting the Wildcats to a 10-0 win over Arizona State in Tucson that snapped a nine-game skid in the series. The game was scoreless until Mark Jacobs intercepted a pass to set up a field goal by Lee Pistor in the fourth quarter. Arizona held ASU to 162 total yards and the Sun Devils averaged just 2.1 yards per carry.
Fifita threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns -- in the process becoming Arizona's all-time leader in career passing yards – in the Wildcats' 42-17 win over Northern Illinois at Casino Del Sol Stadium.
Fifita would be the first to tell you he cares more about the win, a victory in which the Wildcats scored 42 unanswered points and pushed their record to 2-1 on the young season. But if he won't tout the numbers we will.
Fifita now has 10,017 career passing yards, nudging past Wildcats legend Nick Foles, who threw for 10,011 yards from 2009–11. Fifita already owned the program records for touchdown passes (80), another number that will keep climbing.
For good measure Fifita also completed an astounding 91 percent of his passes (31 of 34) against the Huskies and had a 30-yard touchdown run.
The completion that set the mark was a seven-yard pass to wide receiver Isaiah Mizell in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats called timeout to give Fifita a curtain call and Foles congratulated him in a taped message on the videoboard.
Arizona racked up 441 total yards and converted 9 of 13 on third down. The Wildcats scored touchdowns on five of six offensive drives between the first and third quarters.
Wide receiver Tre Spivey paced Arizona with six receptions for 90 yards and one highlight-reel touchdown. The catches and yards were both career highs. Chris Hunter caught five passes for 73 yards and one score, while Mizell hauled in five passes for 49 yards and his first career touchdown. In all, 11 Wildcats had a reception.
Freshman wideout Caleb Smith showed off his jets with a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter – Arizona's first in nine years.
Linebacker Cooper Blomstrom had a career-best 10 tackles and shared a sack on fourth down inside the red zone. Safety Lee Molette registered six stops. After giving up 10 points and 157 yards in the first quarter, the Wildcats' defense held NIU to 184 yards the rest of the way. The Huskies' final touchdown came on the game's last drive.
Despite not scoring in the first quarter of its first two games NIU marched 54 yards on the game's opening drive, which resulted in a 38-yard field goal by J.J. Schlenhardt. Then the Huskies sacked Fifita sacked for an 11-yard loss on Arizona's first snap, putting the Wildcats behind the chains and resulting in a three-and-out.
The Huskies took over at their own 48 and Dickens threw a 52-yard scoring strike down the left sideline to Cam Thompson. NIU had a 10-0 lead less than six minutes in.
But Fifita settled in on the ensuing drive, connecting with Spivey on a 43-yard pass into Huskies territory. Four plays later, he fired a laser to Hunter for a 38-yard touchdown. NIU's lead was cut to three and the record chase was on.
After Schlenhardt missed a 41-yarder, Fifita led the Wildcats on a 12-play, 76-yard drive, capping it with a 14-yard touchdown to Mizell. The Wildcats took a lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
On Arizona's next drive, Fifita completed all five of his passes, the last a 10-yard fade to Spivey, who made a filthy, one-handed catch in the end zone to make it 21-10 Wildcats. After another Huskies punt, Smith returned it 69 yards for a touchdown and the rout was on. It was Arizona's first punt return for a touchdown since 2017.
In the third quarter, Fifita capped another scoring march with a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Powell. NIU responded with a 15-yard drive, but Arizona's defense held on fourth down to give the ball back to the offense. On 3rd and 8 from the Huskies 30, Fifita cut loose in the open field and raced 30 yards for a score, his second straight week with a rushing touchdown.
Quotables
"The lesson here for us is that response matters and how we responded the last three and a half quarters of that game was something that I'm really excited about."
- Head coach Brent Brennan on the victory.
- Head coach Brent Brennan on Noah Fifita.
- Wide receiver Isaiah Mizell on catching Noah Fifita's last pass of the game.
- Arizona has won four straight home games and is 8-1 in its last nine home contests dating back to the beginning of 2025.
- This marked the first-ever matchup between Arizona and Northern Illinois.
- Both Mizell and Powell caught their first career touchdown passes.
- Smith's punt return for a touchdown was the first for Arizona since Shun Brown returned one 63 yards for a score on September 15, 2017 at UTEP. It was Brown's second punt return for a touchdown in a three-game span.
- NIU had four sacks and seven tackles for loss.
- Saturday was Arizona's annual Hispanic Heritage game, and the honorary captain was Jose Portilla, who played for Arizona in 1996-97 and became the first Mexican-born player to play in a Super Bowl in 1999 with the Atlanta Falcons.
It's an old Pac-12 reunion next Saturday when the Wildcats trek to Pullman to face Washington State. Kickoff is at 4:30 p.m. on CBS. The Cougars (1-2) defeated Duquesne 48-7 yesterday for their first win of the season. Arizona leads the all-time series 28-19. The two teams' last meeting was also in Pullman, a 44-6 Wildcats win in 2023.
Territorial Cup 100th
This season marks the 100th edition of the Territorial Cup so each week we will look back at one of Arizona's greatest moments in the rivalry's storied history.
In 1974, Arizona's defense dominated from start to finish, lifting the Wildcats to a 10-0 win over Arizona State in Tucson that snapped a nine-game skid in the series. The game was scoreless until Mark Jacobs intercepted a pass to set up a field goal by Lee Pistor in the fourth quarter. Arizona held ASU to 162 total yards and the Sun Devils averaged just 2.1 yards per carry.
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