SOME GAME THEMES: The Arizona Wildcats, coming off their bye week, begin the second half of the season with a Homecoming matchup against the Iowa State Cyclones this weekend at Caino Del Sol Stadium…Saturday’s game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 with Lowell Galindo (PxP), Kirk Morrison (Analyst), and Dawn Davenport (Reporter) on the call…The game will also be broadcast live on Wildcats Radio 1290 AM and KHYT 107.5 FM with play-by-play from the Voice of the Wildcats, Brian Jeffries; he is joined on the call by analyst Lamont Lovett and reporter Mackenzie Hamilton…The Wildcats hold an all-time record of 62-40-5 in Homecoming contests…Arizona is 3-2 in their last five Homecoming games…This will be the seventh consecutive Homecoming day game…Arizona and Iowa State have met seven times previously, with games dating back to 1948 and the Wildcats holding a 4-2-1 edge in the all-time series…The Cyclones won the only game between the two programs since the Wildcats joined the Big 12…The Wildcats entered the AP Top 25 for the first time this season on Oct. 17 — Arizona will be ranked No. 25 for Homecoming…Arizona’s 5-1 start to the season is their best start since 2014, when the team opened the year 5-1 and proceeded to improve to 6-1.
LAST TIME OUT: Two weeks ago, the Wildcats closed out the first half of their season with a road victory over West Virginia. Arizona was bolstered on offense by a career performance from WR Isaiah Mizell, another dominant effort by QB Noah Fifita, and a trio of rushing touchdowns by three different running backs. The Wildcats defense tallied five fourth down stops and added a pair of turnovers to aid in the effort. More highlights from the Cats last game include…
Notable Postgame Notes vs. West Virginia
- Arizona’s defense recorded its first game with 10+ TFL against a conference opponent since Baylor in 2025.
- Lee Molette III’s fumble recovery touchdown was Arizona’s first fumble returned for a TD since Sterling Lane II (70 yards) at TCU in 2024.
- WR Isaiah Mizell became one of just five Arizona players to have five-plus catches, 180-plus yards, and 2-plus touchdowns in a game since 1996 (last: Tetairoa McMillan 10-304-4 vs. New Mexico 2024).
- QB Noah Fifita posted the 11th 300-yard passing performance of his career, the second-most by a Wildcat since 1996 (Nick Foles, 18).
- Fifita threw for 341 yards to break into the top 100 in FBS history in career passing yards with 10,939 yards.
POLL POSITION: Following a bye week, the streaking Wildcats earned a spot in the AP Top 25 for the first time this year and will enter their Homecoming matchup this weekend ranked No. 25. Since 1968, the Wildcats have played 145 games while ranked in the AP Top 25 and have posted a 93-51-1 (.645) record in those games. When ranked and playing at home, Arizona has gone 53-19 (.736) with their last home loss coming to No. 9 UCLA in September 2015. With their jump into the polls, Arizona has now earned a spot in the AP Top 25 in each of the last four seasons. The last time the Wildcats were ranked in four consecutive seasons was from 1992–95. This weekend’s game on Oct. 24 will be the first time that Arizona entered a game played in October ranked since 2014.
CODE RED: Arizona’s defense has been stifling when it matters the most this season: when opposing offenses reach the red zone. The Wildcats have allowed their opponents into the red zone just 17 times in six games and have allowed scores on just 11-of-17 opportunities. Arizona’s 64.7% mark in red zone defense is the fourth best mark in the FBS and the second best in the Power Four. This marks a drastic improvement over the Wildcats defensive efforts in the red zone last season, when they allowed opponents to convert 30-of-36 (83.3%) red zone trips into scores.
NOAH’S ARC: Fifth year quarterback Noah Fifita, one of just five senior/redshirt senior quarterbacks in FBS who spent their entire career at the same school, returned under center to lead the Wildcats offense one final time in 2026. Since taking over the starting quarterback role in 2023, Fifita has cemented his legacy as one of the greatest passers in program history. The California native is the program’s all-time leader in career passing yards and passing touchdowns — with only six games in the books, he stands to potentially widen the gap in both categories significantly. Fifita broke the Wildcats career passing touchdowns record with a 15-yard strike to Gio Richardson at Cincinnati on Nov. 15, 2025 and broke the program’s career passing yards record on a seven-yard throw to Isaiah Mizell on Sept. 19, 2026 vs. Northern Illinois. He has posted a record of 25-15 as the Wildcats starting quarterback and has logged 40 consecutive starts under center dating back to 2023.
SACK ATTACK: Arizona’s defense has tallied multiple sacks in 4-of-6 games this season, including two six-sack performances against Northern Arizona and Washington State. In total, the Wildcats have dropped opposing quarterbacks for 19 sacks, an average of 3.17 sacks per game that is the sixth best mark in the FBS. The production has come from all over the field as well, with 15 different players getting in on the action.
THIRD AND WON: The Wildcats offense has excelled on third down this season, converting at a 55.6% clip that ranks fourth among all 138 FBS programs. Each of the top four teams in the FBS in third down conversion percentage are Big 12 Conference members: Houston (1st, 61.4%), Kansas State (2nd, 59.3%), BYU (3rd, 56.5%), and Arizona (4th, 55.6%). Last season, the Wildcats converted just 41.0% of their third downs.
GOOSE EGGS: Since taking over as the Wildcats defensive coordinator in 2025, Danny Gonzales has authored an incredible defensive turnaround that includes seven halves and 29 quarters of shutout defense over 19 games. Across those 19 games, 29-of-76 quarters (including two OT periods) have featured a zero in the opponents side of the box score — that amounts to nearly 40% of quarters being scoreless for the Wildcats opponents. To close out the 2025 season, the Arizona defense worked second half shutouts in three consecutive games against Baylor, Arizona State, and SMU in the Trust & Will Holiday Bowl.
THROWING DARTS: Quarterback Noah Fifita’s pinpoint accuracy has continued to blossom throughout his career, to the point which he currently ranks third among all FBS quarterbacks with an 73.3% completion percentage. After his 31-for-34 (91.2%) performance in week three against Northern Illinois and his 24-for-26 (92.3%) effort at Houston last season, Fifita now owns the program’s single-game completion percentage records for games with a minimum of 20 and 30 pass completions.
