No. 25 Arizona didn’t just beat Iowa State on homecoming weekend - it buried the Cyclones early and never let them breathe, rolling to a 39-3 win at Casino del Sol Stadium.
The Wildcats, now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12, got the kind of fast start that makes a rout feel inevitable. Noah Fifita needed only two plays to hit Isaiah Mizell on a 71-yard touchdown, then Arizona immediately added a successful two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead 30 seconds into the game. From there, the Wildcats kept stacking clean drives, crisp throws and timely stops until the game was out of reach.
Fifita was sharp from the jump, completing 20 of 23 passes in the first half and finishing with 308 passing yards and two touchdowns. It marked the 12th 300-yard passing game of his career.
His top target was Mizell, who continued to thrive in a bigger role. The sophomore opened the day with that long touchdown and ended with eight catches for 134 yards, his second straight 100-yard game as Arizona’s new No. 1 option.
Arizona’s offense kept the pressure on after the opening strike. Following a three-and-out, the Wildcats put together a 13-play march that ended with a six-yard rushing touchdown from Quincy Craig, his second straight game finding the end zone on his first rushing attempt. Michael Salgado-Medina later drilled a 53-yard field goal, and Kedrick Reescano added a five-yard score midway through the second quarter.
By halftime, Arizona had ripped off points on four of its five offensive drives and owned a 25-3 lead. The Wildcats outgained Iowa State 321 to 112 in the first half and nearly doubled the Cyclones in offensive plays. Iowa State’s run game, which never found room to work, was held to just six rushing yards in the opening half.
The defense matched the offense’s energy and then some. Arizona finished with four sacks, five tackles for loss and just 221 total yards allowed.
Iowa State running back Aiden Flora was held to 36 rushing yards, and the Cyclones could barely build any momentum. Malcolm Hartzog’s third-down sack helped stall one drive, while safety Cam Chapa made a strong open-field stop on fourth down deep in Arizona territory.
Cornerback Tyrese Boss also forced a turnover late in the first half when Jaylen Raynor lost the football on third-and-eight.
That gave Arizona a rare takeaway at a time when turnovers have been hard to come by compared with last season. The Wildcats took a 25-3 lead into the break and never saw the game slip out of control.
Iowa State turned to sophomore backup Connor Moberly to open the third quarter after a rough first half, but the change did little to alter the flow. Arizona’s defense kept shutting the door, and the third quarter ended scoreless. Dominick Lolesio broke up a pass on a key third down, and Hartzog kept flashing in the backfield as the Cyclones continued to search for answers.
Arizona finally cracked the game open again with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. Fifita rolled right and found tight end Henry Gabalis for a 40-yard touchdown, a fitting payoff for a freshman who had already been part of the action earlier in the day when he caught a successful two-point conversion trick play from Tyler Powell. Gabalis finished with his first touchdown in an Arizona uniform.
Backup quarterback Sawyer Anderson put the finishing touch on the win with a late four-yard rushing score, his first touchdown for Arizona.
The 36-point margin was Arizona’s largest of the season, and the win pushed the Wildcats into bowl eligibility with five regular-season games still to play.
“It’s exciting for this football team. Enjoy it for 24 hours,” head coach Brent Brennan said. “It’s always a goal to get to the postseason.”
Now comes a much bigger test. Arizona heads to Lubbock next Saturday to face Texas Tech at 9:00 a.m.
MST in a game with major Big 12 weight. Both teams are 6-1 and carry one conference loss into what could be one of the most pivotal league matchups in recent Arizona history.
The Wildcats will go for their sixth straight win in a setting that should tell a lot about where this team stands in the race near the top of the conference.
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Arizona left its Homecoming weekend with plenty more than a celebratory crowd and a lopsided scoreline. The Wildcats rolled past Iowa State 39-3, stretched their winning streak to five straight and punched their ticket to bowl eligibility for the second year in a row, with Noah Fifita guiding the offense for 308 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Just as important for Arizona, the defense kept Iowa State from finding much of anything, smothering one of the Cyclones key threats and helping turn the afternoon into a one-sided result. Now comes the real measuring stick: a top 25 showdown with Texas Tech on Oct. 31, the kind of game that can tell the Wildcats whether this surge is just a hot stretch or something more durable. [Read more 🡒]