Arizona begins its season Saturday night in Tucson with a familiar in-state matchup, hosting Northern Arizona in a nonconference game.
The Wildcats are coming off a 9-4 season, a mark they’ve reached only eight times in program history. They also bring back a key piece in third-year coach Brent Brennan’s roster: quarterback Noah Fifita. The fifth-year senior is already Arizona’s career leader in touchdown passes with 73, and he is 829 passing yards shy of passing Nick Foles for the program record.
Brennan didn’t shy away from the significance of keeping Fifita in the building.
"Noah leads the way in terms of like that high-profile player that's chosen to stay," Brennan said. "We have a player who's a Heisman Trophy candidate."
Arizona’s defense has plenty of fresh faces after a dominant 2025 season against the pass. The Wildcats ranked seventh nationally in pass defense, allowing 165.3 yards per game, and tied for second in interceptions with 22. All five starters in the secondary moved on, either by being drafted or by making NFL rosters, but Arizona has tried to patch things up through the portal, including former Nebraska defensive back Malcolm Hartzog Jr.
Northern Arizona arrives with momentum after opening the fall 1-0. The Lumberjacks trailed Eastern Washington 24-3 in the first half last weekend before storming back for a 31-3 edge the rest of the way in a win over the Big Sky Conference opponent. Quarterback Ty Pennington, a fifth-year senior who has started 25 straight games for Northern Arizona, threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns and added 61 rushing yards.
"A win rings in my ears pretty good, regardless of the circumstance," Northern Arizona coach Brian Wright said. "There was no panic really anywhere that I could find."
The Lumberjacks are chasing a third straight winning season and looking for their first victory over an FBS opponent since upsetting Arizona in 2021. That remains their only win in the series since 1932.
Arizona owns a 17-2 edge in the matchup and has won the last two meetings, including a 22-10 result in 2024. The Wildcats are also aiming for a fifth straight season-opening win, something they haven’t done since putting together an eight-game streak from 2008 to 2015.
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