Just call him Mr. October.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week following the Wildcats' 27-24 win over No. 11 Oregon State.
Fifita has won the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award in his last three starts β all in October.
"The last three starts he's had, he's won it, which is a pretty cool stat in itself," said Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch on Monday. "He's continued to go out there and impress."
In his fourth straight start, after replacing Jayden de Laura, the redshirt freshman completed 25 of 32 passes for 275 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Towards the end of the second quarter and start of the third quarter against Oregon State, Fifita completed 11 of 12 passes, including six straight prior to his lone interception, which appeared to be miscommunication between Fifita and Cowing.Β
In 17 quarters since taking over as starter in the Stanford game following de Laura's ankle injury, Fifita has completed 75% of his passes for 1,199 yards, 11 touchdowns and three interceptions. Fifita is now Arizona's season leader in passing yards (1,221), attempts (157), completions (119) and passing touchdowns (11). His 75.8% completion rate is fourth-best among FBS quarterbacks β second in the Pac-12 behind Oregon quarterback Bo Nix.Β
"Those are really good numbers and I think he's being rewarded for that. ... He deserves it," Fisch said. "He's completed over 70% of his passes each game and I expect him to continue to get better."
Arizona faces No. 20 UCLA in Tucson on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on FS1.Β
