Noah Fifita wasted no time setting the tone for Arizona’s season opener, and the Wildcats never let Northern Arizona breathe after that.
Fifita threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, Kedrick Reescano scored twice on the ground, and Arizona rolled to a 35-7 victory over the Lumberjacks on Saturday night in Tucson. The Wildcats, coming off a nine-win season, opened Brent Brennan’s third year in charge with a complete performance on both sides of the ball.
The quarterback led the way efficiently, finishing 22 of 29 before spending most of the fourth quarter on the sideline. He also added an 11-yard run that helped set up one of Reescano’s short scoring runs.
Arizona’s defense backed him up with a suffocating night that left Northern Arizona with just 193 total yards, including minus-seven rushing, while the Wildcats piled up five sacks on Ty Pennington. Chase Kennedy accounted for 2 1/2 of those.
“We showed up ready to play,” Brennan said. “There's a lot to be excited about.”
Arizona struck immediately. On the opening drive, Fifita connected with Tre Spivey for a 20-yard touchdown, and later in the second quarter he found Brandon Phelps from 21 yards out. Reescano’s 1-yard touchdown run pushed the lead to 21-0, and the Wildcats had already put the game in firm control.
The only real blemish for Arizona in the first half came when Giovanni Richardson coughed up a fumble at the Northern Arizona 18 after a 31-yard gain.
“We were really moving the ball great in the first half,” Brennan said. “Noah was really on, we were running the ball effectively, the physicality of the football team was showing up.”
Pennington actually opened well for the Lumberjacks, completing his first six passes and going 12 of 18 for 142 yards before halftime. But the pressure kept coming.
He was sacked three times in the first half alone, and Northern Arizona managed minus-15 rushing yards before the break. The Lumberjacks also failed on a fourth-down try near midfield and watched Francisco Orduno Jr. miss a 34-yard field goal wide right just before halftime.
Arizona kept the hammer down after the break. Antwan Roberts Jr., making his first carry as a Wildcat, turned it into a 14-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Reescano added another 1-yard score soon after, stretching the margin to 35-0.
Northern Arizona finally got on the board in the fourth quarter when Noble Young-Blackgoat intercepted Sawyer Anderson’s first collegiate pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown. By then, though, the outcome was long decided.
One of the quieter but more notable stories belonged to Quinn Olson. A former high school quarterback and walk-on at Arizona, Olson learned Friday in front of the entire team that he had earned a scholarship. He then made his first career start count, intercepting Pennington in the third quarter to help set up a touchdown.
“Obviously, getting put on scholarship was a big moment for me, but also just trying to lock in on tonight's game,” Olson said.
Arizona did exactly what it was supposed to do against an FCS opponent, and now the attention shifts quickly. The Wildcats head into next Saturday’s game at No. 14 BYU.
Northern Arizona, ranked No. 22 in the FCS, had rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Eastern Washington 34-27 last week, but there was no repeat comeback this time. The Lumberjacks return home to host Incarnate Word next Saturday.
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Arizona Heads Into BYU With An Early Season Concern
Arizona got the result it needed in its opener against Northern Arizona, but not much else went cleanly from a betting standpoint. The Wildcats now head into a much stiffer test at BYU, where the Cougars looked sharp in their first game by rolling past Utah Tech and will have the home-field edge when Arizona arrives for a better read on where this team really stands.
The early concern for Arizona is that BYU is not just coming off a convincing win, it may also be getting healthier in key spots while still dealing with some uncertainty of its own on defense. Kalani Sitake said senior safety Raider Damuni is working through a left knee injury, and senior linebacker Isaiah Glasker was held out as a precaution, a reminder that even in September, availability can shape a matchup before kickoff ever gets there. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Gave Fans A Lot To Like Before The BYU Test
Arizona opened its 2026 season with a convincing win over Northern Arizona, and there was plenty for Wildcats fans to appreciate beyond the final score. The offense looked sharp, the defense set the tone early, special teams did its part and the coaching staff drew strong marks across the board, giving the program a clean start before the schedule stiffens.
Noah Fifita steadied the passing game and Kedrick Reescano provided the finishing touch on the ground, while the defense kept NAU from ever finding much rhythm. Arizona now turns to BYU, and the challenge there will be far different, which is why the opener mattered so much as a snapshot of what this group can do when it is clicking on all three sides. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona Showed Fans Exactly What Matters Beyond The Final Score
Arizona went into its matchup with Northern Arizona already dealing with a long list of absences, with Everett Roussaw, Cornelius Warren, Isaac Perez, Ezra Funa, Dajon Hinton, Ismail Mahdi and Max Harris all unavailable. Even so, the Wildcats still had enough depth to control the game from the start, stringing together scoring drives, handling the matchup with a clear talent edge and showing the kind of next-man-up approach teams need once the season gets rolling.
What mattered most for Arizona was less the final margin than the way it managed the details around it. The Wildcats answered mistakes, kept moving the ball in chunks and never let the game turn into a stress test, even as NAU found a brief jolt later on. For a program trying to build habits as much as wins, the bigger takeaway was how much the roster still had to offer when the injury list was already making its presence felt. [Read more 🡒]