Arizona’s Big 12 home opener and “Family Weekend” game went very well as the Wildcats moved to 2-0 overall against Cincinnati. A 34-7 victory for Arizona (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) keeps it unbeaten inside Casino Del Sol Stadium.
Now the Wildcats get ready for the RichRod Bowl at West Virginia next week. Before that big time matchup, here are the grades for the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching from the win over the Bearcats:
It was a first drive that had a very cold start but a very hot finish. Noah Fifita was sacked on the first play for the third straight week. He connected with Chris Hunter III and Giovanni Richardson for 13 and 19 yards.
Kedrick Reescano finished the drive with a screen pass that went for eight yards and then ran it in for a ten yard touchdown. The second drive did not produce any time of success and ended with Fifita being picked off the third time this season.
The offense was able to get down inside the Cincinnati 25 yard line, after tough runs from Quincy Craig. However, an unsuccessful fourth down run by Reescano produced no points for Arizona on the drive.
The next drive resulted in a punt, but right before the half the Wildcats marched down the field to the five. It settled for a field goal and Arizona went into the half with a double digit lead.
On the first drive of the second half, Antwan Roberts Jr. had an explosive 70 yard run, then chaos ensued. The ball was punched out from Roberts Jr. but due to an illegal batting out of the end zone by Cincinnati, Arizona maintained the ball at the six yard line.
Three plays later, Fifita ran it in for his third rushing touchdown of the season. On back to back drives, Arizona found the end zone. Fifita connected with Isaiah Mizell for 36 yards and then hit Brandon Phelps for a catch and run touchdown of 24 yards to put the Wildcats firmly in control.
Arizona put the game away between the third and fourth quarter with plays from Roberts Jr. and Phelps for gains of 16 and 34. A field goal was added to the lead but with little time remaining that pretty much put the game away for the Wildcats.
Fifita connected with Tyler Powell for a five yard touchdown to add onto the lead in the fourth quarter. As a whole, the offense had 522 total yards with 284 through the air and 238 on the ground.
Finishing 25-37 for 284 yards and two touchdowns, Fifita also added 17 rushing yards and a touchdown. Roberts Jr. led the Wildcats ground attack with 87 yards on five carries.
Powell had the most receptions for the game with five for 40 yards and a touchdown. Mizell led in receiving yards with 67 on four receptions.
The defense had its best start in two weeks with a very quick three and out, highlighted with a four yard tackle for loss by Cooper Blomstrom and Chase Kennedy. After an interception from the offense, another three and out came in clutch from the defense.
Tyrese Boss ended the drive with his first sack of the season. Cincinnati was finally able to get into Arizona territory and got all the way down to the two yard line. Gavin Hunter saved the drive for the defense with a pass breakup on fourth and goal, keeping the Bearcats off the board.
Out of the half, Arizona stalled Cincinnati around midfield to keep the scoreboard blank for the Bearcats. The Wildcats got their second fourth down stop of the game on a drive where Kennedy and Kaisi Lafitaga earned a combined sack.
Arizona got two more three and outs before Cincinnati finally found the end zone with under two minutes left, spoiling the shut out. The Wildcats only allowed 227 total yards with 153 coming through the air and 74 on the ground.
Kennedy and Taye Brown led Arizona in tackles with seven each, while Lafitaga, Boss, and Dominic Lolesio joined Kennedy in players to record either half a sack or a full sack.
To close out the first half, Michael Salgado-Medina made his first attempt of the night from 23 yards to give Arizona a double digit lead going into halftime. His second attempt in the fourth quarter from 35 yards was also successful.
Chase Ridley only had one punt and it went for 42 yards, adding onto the efficient night for special teams. No mistakes were made, and opportunities were taken.
It was clear from the jump that Arizona was not taking unbeaten Cincinnati lightly. The Wildcats physically dominated the Bearcats from the first kick.
It was not always clean, but it was enough to get the job done. Despite losing all three starting wide receivers, the calvary came in and played very well. Time will only tell if that confidence carries to Morgantown next week.
The rushing attack finally showed up with its best performance of the season. Each ball carrier had very good games and ran with confidence and physicality.
Danny Gonzales‘ defense maybe had two “bad” drives in the game but the ability to stone the run game of Cincinnati was key to keeping the Bearcats off the scoreboard for 58 minutes. Cincinnati was not able to produce many explosive plays and led to a somewhat stale game offensively.
Arizona looked in sync the entire game, not too many broken plays. There are, of course, things to clean up such as ball security.
Cleaning up some of the penalties will also need to be a focus this week. However, if there was an identity to this team or something that you know will show up for every game is physicality. Choosing to show up to every play with a mindset to physically dominate the opponent is the MO for Arizona.
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