Homecoming week has plenty of meaning in Tucson, and this one comes with a milestone attached: the 100-year anniversary of Arizona’s “Bear Down” motto. The phrase traces back to former Wildcats player John “Button” Salmon, who reportedly offered those words of encouragement from a hospital bed in 1926 before dying from injuries sustained in a car accident.
That backdrop sets the stage for No. 25 Arizona’s Big 12 matchup with Iowa State on Saturday night.
The Wildcats, sitting at 5-1 overall and 2-1 in league play, will try to answer last season’s 39-14 loss to the Cyclones when the teams meet at 6:30 p.m. at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson. ESPN2 will carry the game.
Both teams are coming out of a bye week, and Iowa State reportedly needed the break while dealing with a number of minor and season-ending injuries on both sides of the ball. The Cyclones’ injury reports, which the league requires starting Wednesday evening, will offer the first real clue about who’s available.
Even with that uncertainty, Arizona’s defense enters this one with a strong card to play. The Wildcats rank sixth in the Big 12 in both total defense, allowing 330.5 yards per game, and scoring defense, giving up 19.0 points per game. That could make life difficult for an Iowa State run game that may have a hard time getting established.
Here are five Arizona players who could shape the matchup.
Noah Fifita has already written himself into the school record book. The 5-10, 190-pound quarterback is Arizona’s all-time leader in passing yards with 10,939 and passing touchdowns with 89. He’s a four-year starter who is completing 73.3 percent of his throws this season, a career best, and has produced a 45-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio over the past two seasons.
Fifita’s trip to Iowa State last year was a rough one, as he threw two interceptions in Arizona’s blowout loss - the only time since the 2024 season that he has been picked off twice in a game. But he’s been rolling this season, tossing multiple touchdown passes in five of six games.
The lone exception came in the Wildcats’ only loss, a 28-17 defeat at BYU in Week 2, when he threw one touchdown and one interception. Since then, he has thrown 13 touchdown passes against just three interceptions in Arizona’s four wins, including a season-best 341-yard outing in the 52-31 win over West Virginia.
In the backfield, Kedrick Reescano has taken on the bruising role. The 6-0, 215-pound third-year player from New Caney, Texas, leads Arizona in both rushing yards with 262 and rushing touchdowns with four, even while averaging only 3.6 yards per carry.
He has been joined by Marshall transfer Antwan Roberts Jr., who has turned 12 carries in the Wildcats’ recent wins over Cincinnati and West Virginia into 150 rushing yards and a touchdown. That means Arizona may rotate options against an Iowa State defense that ranks 12th in the Big 12 against the run, allowing 151.2 yards per game.
Fifita has also run for three touchdowns, so the Cyclones may see more than one look out of the Wildcats’ ground game.
The big-play threat in the passing game is Isaiah Mizell. A sophomore from Orlando, the 6-1, 170-pound receiver was clocked at 22 miles per hour in high school, the fastest among players in the Class of 2024.
He appeared in nine games as a true freshman, and one of his four catches last season came against Iowa State. This year, he has become a bigger part of the offense, leading Arizona in receiving yards with 359 and sharing the team lead in touchdown catches with four alongside Tre Spivey.
On defense, Taye Brown has been one of the Wildcats’ most reliable forces. The 6-2, 230-pound fourth-year linebacker from Chandler leads the team with 38 tackles after finishing second on Arizona with 93 last season.
Brown earned third-team All-Big 12 honors in 2025 and has spent three seasons making things happen all over the field. Over that stretch, he has forced two fumbles, recovered two more, added four sacks and picked off a pass.
Then there’s Cam Chapa, a transfer from Northern Colorado who has steadily carved out a role in the secondary. The 5-11, 195-pound junior ranks third on the team with 28 tackles, and 15 of those came in the win over West Virginia. He also has one interception this season after picking off four passes at the FCS level last year.
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