The University of Arizona football team (6-3, 3-3 in Big 12) secured a 24-20 victory over the University of Kansas for its annual homecoming game on Saturday, Nov. 8, at 1:30 p.m. at Arizona Stadium.
This marks Arizona’s sixth win this season, making the Wildcats bowl-eligible, the first time since the 2023 Alamo Bowl and first under head coach Brent Brennan. The Wildcats went into this matchup 2-3 in their previous five games, looking to secure the victory against the Jayhawks.
Following the hit-and-run last Thursday that tragically took the lives of four Arizona students, Josiah Santos, Katya Castillo-Mendoza, Sophia Troetel and Peter Wanjohi, the victims were honored with a moment of silence during halftime. The football team wore patches on their helmets with initials of each victim.
With 39 seconds remaining in the game, junior running back Quincy Craig ran for a 24-yard touchdown to rally against Kansas and gain the 24-20 lead.
Noah Fifita went 16-for-31 on passes, 158 yards and threw for 2 passing touchdowns. Quincy Craig ran for 47 yards, averaging 15.7 yards per carry on his three he collected for the night.
“Noah Fifita is everything to this program,” Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said.
“This is a stepping stone, right? Like, yay, we go to six [wins]. Like, that’s not good enough for me. That’s not good enough for these kids, right? We want to keep playing good football,” Brennan said. “How can we continue to improve, continue to find ways to elevate Arizona football? That’s what we’re doing.”
Offense
The first quarter began with Kansas winning the coin-flip but chose to defer. Arizona had a gain for six yards before Kansas’ defense got a tackle. Ishmail Mahdi was able to make his way through Kansas, getting Arizona closer to scoring.
On the next play, redshirt quarterback Noah Fifita connected on a 16-yard pass to redshirt freshman Quinn Olson. Michael Medina-Salgado was also successful in his kick attempt as Arizona gained an early 7-0 lead with under 10 minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Arizona needed to find a way to combat Kansas’ offensive efforts. The Wildcats found its stride as Fifita threw a short eight-yard pass to Quincy Craig in the endzone, trimming the 17-14 lead right before the half.
This marked Fifita’s 67th career touchdown pass which ties him with Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama for the school career record.
Out of the halftime break, Mahdi gained 38 yards on one of Arizona’s first plays. Soon after, Fifita connected on a deep 22-yard pass to Gio Richardson, advancing Arizona into Kansas territory at the 25.
After two incomplete passes from Fifita, Arizona gained a kick attempt from the 41-yard line by Salgado-Medina, leveling out the score at 17.
With less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, Craig found an opportunity for a 24-yard rushing touchdown. This play allowed Arizona to go up 24-20. By this time, it was too late for Kansas to make any play that altered the victorious outcome for the Wildcats.
Defense
Despite the Jayhawks having enough momentum to gain a touchdown, Jalon Daniels threw an incomplete pass in the endzone. However, the Jayhawks quickly responded to the play as Daniels was able to make it past Arizona, scrambling his way into Wildcat territory.
The Jayhawks gained a touchdown, evening out the 7-7 score with less than a minute remaining before in the first quarter.
The Wildcats attempted a tackle but the Jayhawks were able to respond, continuing to push off Arizona. Kansas took Arizona by surprise, continuing to gain multiple yards up the field that eventually put Daniels in position for a complete pass.
Daniels threw a right-24 yard touchdown for Emmanuel Henderson Jr., gaining a 14-7 advantage on the third and fifth almost four minutes into the second quarter.
Arizona stopped a play Kansas attempted to draw up, leading to a successful 46-yard field goal, putting the Jayhawks ahead 17-7 with 4:16 left in the second quarter.
As Arizona figured out a way to tie up the score, the Jayhawks reclaimed the 20-17 advantage as Laith Marjan kicked a 50-yard field goal attempt, getting Kansas ahead.
By the end of the third quarter, Kansas had 139 rushing yards compared to Arizona’s 87. On one of Kansas’ final attempts to run up the field, the ruling was an incomplete pass, but senior running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. was called for un-sportsmen like conduct, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.
This forced Kansas to return to its 38-yard line with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game, unable to make a comeback.
Looking ahead
The Wildcats will travel to Ohio as Arizona takes on the University of Cincinnati on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 10 a.m. at Nippert Stadium. The game will also be streamed on Fox Sports 1.
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