Noah Fifita Leads Arizona Past Cincinnati 34-7, Handing Bearcats First Loss

The fifth-year quarterback threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns as Arizona routed the Bearcats in Tucson, beating Cincinnati for a second consecutive season.

Arizona handed Cincinnati its first loss of the season with a 34-7 victory at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson, with quarterback Noah Fifita beating the Bearcats for the second consecutive year. The game matched two fifth-year quarterbacks, and the 23-year-old Fifita controlled it from start to finish.

Cincinnati defensive lineman Drew Logan sacked Fifita on Arizona's first offensive play, but Fifita answered by steering a 75-yard touchdown drive that put the Wildcats ahead. Arizona never gave up the lead. While the Bearcats had been producing dynamic second halves this season, this time it was Arizona that tightened its grip after the break.

The Bearcats created chances they could not convert. Fifita was sacked three times and intercepted by MJ Cannon, yet Cincinnati came away empty on two first-half opportunities: a missed field goal and an incomplete fourth-and-goal pass from the 2-yard line intended for tight end Gavin Grover. In all, 10 points went unclaimed before halftime.

Arizona's dominance showed across the box score. The Wildcats ran 78 plays to Cincinnati's 57 and won time of possession 35:39 to 24:21. They rushed for 238 yards, nearly six per carry, while the Bearcats managed 74 yards on the ground at 2.6 per attempt. Fifita finished 25 of 37 passing for 284 yards and two touchdowns.

The start was the 39th of Fifita's career. He is Arizona's all-time leader in passing touchdowns and passing yards, and his most recent home defeat came in double overtime against BYU last season. He entered the night with 10 career games of at least 300 passing yards and led the Big 12 in completion percentage at 75.6 percent, narrowly ahead of French at 74.5. He has now thrown a touchdown pass in 15 straight games.

Jasper Beeler led Cincinnati with 12 tackles. "We just didn't execute to the level that we wanted to," Beeler said, adding that neither the altitude nor the late kickoff was to blame. In his view, Fifita's ability to extend plays decided the night.

Coach Scott Satterfield, whose assessment drew a contrast with Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson, called Fifita a natural thrower. "He's a passer of the football; he has been for his whole career," Satterfield said. "If you leave him some open windows, he's going to take advantage of that, and they did." Satterfield felt his defense limited the downfield throws, with much of the damage coming on passes under 10 yards, and noted that Fifita's eyes are "always up" and that several of his third-down conversions were backbreakers. Arizona went 9 of 14 on third down to Cincinnati's 7 of 16.

It was a rough passing night for JC French IV, who was making the 31st start of his career and his fifth with UC. He entered with five career games of 300 yards or more but completed 16 of 29 passes for 153 yards, posting a 99.5 passer rating to Fifita's 144.5. French scored and led the Bearcats with 29 rushing yards, and he has still not thrown an interception, though the offense has featured few throws downfield. "I have full faith in the coaches," French said. "We have to execute better as players. As quarterback, there's a lot of uncharacteristic things that we did on offense that we've got to clean up."