Arizona Wildcats 'just trying to mix it up' on offense with empty backfields

Sometimes, you have to try new things to get better results. 

In Arizona's 27-3 win over the Houston Cougars on Friday, the Wildcats experimented with more empty backfields on offense. It was a baby step in the right direction for a unit that's been wishy-washy for most of the season.

Arizona had over a dozen offensive plays with cleared backfields, sometimes motioning out running back Quali Conley pre-snap.  

One of them was Arizona's first touchdown of the game, when quarterback Noah Fifita avoided a sack and rolled to his left and heaved a 33-yard pass to wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan in the first quarter. 

"Just trying to mix it up," said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. "Every game, you'll see something different depending on what people do, and we thought some of those matchups were favorable for us. We just missed a couple of throws that were going to be big or touchdowns. But I have total faith in Noah Fifita and I'm excited to move forward with him." 

It wasn't the 627-yard masterclass Arizona showcased in the season opener against New Mexico. Fifita passed for 224 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and had his lowest completion rate (57.1%) since the 41-19 drubbing at BYU. The Wildcats also had four three-and-out possessions in the first half. 

Arizona also rolled out its sixth different starting offensive line this season, with graduate transfer Joey Capra at right tackle, alongside right guard Alexander Doost, center Josh Baker, left guard Wendell Moe and left tackle Jonah Savaiinaea. Fifita was sacked five times on Friday — 18 combined times in the last four games. Capra, who formerly played guard at Nevada, surrendered seven quarterback pressures and four sacks on Friday, according to Pro Football Focus. Capra received a 37 pass-blocking grade by PFF, while Doost and Moe each had an 89.7 grade; Savaiinaea's grade was 85.2.   

Despite the wobbly protection on the right edge, the change-up in the offense allowed the Wildcats to stay on schedule, especially in the second half. Arizona converted 10 of 17 third-down plays, but went 6 of 8 in the second half. The average yards to gain on third down for Arizona was 5.1 in the second half. Following back-to-back sub-par rushing performances against, the Wildcats found a spark with Conley, who scored two touchdowns in the third quarter. 

Prior to the second half, the Wildcats had 89 net rushing yards in the previous 10 quarters. Then Conley broke out for 107 yards on 11 rushes, including a 50-yard touchdown. 

"I feel like the O-Line worked their butts off and created small holes for me and Kedrick (Reescano) to get through," said Conley. "We went into halftime talking about, 'We need to run the ball and keep the defense off the field.' We took that personal and started running the ball more and were more physical." 

Fifita, despite having negative rushing yardage due to sacks, utilized his legs in spurts, including a 12-yard scramble to pick up a first down on Arizona's first touchdown drive. 

"I thought when we ran the ball on some of those third-and-shorts, we found a way and had some hard runs in there," Brennan said. "A couple of times, Noah was able to scramble and get us a first down when the protection broke down or no one was open or they called a good defense for what we called and Noah found his way to a first down. When Noah gets off-schedule, he can do some stuff that's really exciting."

UA-TCU start time announced

Arizona's road finale against TCU at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth will kick off at 1 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+. 

It'll be Arizona's second game streamed on ESPN+ this season. It's also Arizona's fifth game that kicks off before 5 p.m. this season.

Arizona (4-6, 2-5) is an 11-point underdog against TCU (6-4, 4-3), according to DraftKings and FanDuel. 

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The matchup between Arizona and TCU will mark the third all-time meeting between the two programs. The Wildcats beat the Horned Frogs 35-31 in Fort Worth in 1999. Arizona trailed 25-7, but scored 28 second-half points to beat a TCU team led by star running back LaDanian Tomlinson, who rushed for 170 yards and a touchdown against the Wildcats. 

Arizona's two-quarterback offense with Keith Smith and Ortege Jenkins had 337 passing yards, but only had 14 rushing yards on the day. Arizona standout receiver Dennis Northcutt had 10 catches for 257 yards and three touchdowns. 

The second matchup was a 13-10 win for TCU over the Wildcats in overtime at Arizona Stadium in 2003, which was the game before the UA fired head coach John Mackovic. 

TCU is currently led by head coach Sonny Dykes, who was an offensive coordinator for the Wildcats under former head coach Mike Stoops, before starting his head coaching journey at Louisiana Tech. Dykes was the head coach at Cal and SMU, before taking over TCU in 2022. 

Former UA commit flips to TCU

Ahead of the Arizona-TCU battle, former UA commit and Dallas-area wide receiver Terry Shelton committed to the Horned Frogs.

Shelton, who decommitted from Arizona on Wednesday, announced his commitment to hometown TCU on Sunday. Shelton, a four-star receiver at Ranchview High School in Carrollton, Texas, was previously committed to Arizona since June.

Shelton also holds offers from Houston, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Kansas, Arizona State and Illinois, among others. 

Arizona's 21-player 2025 recruiting class ranks 48th nationally and seventh in the Big 12, according to 247Sports.com's composite rankings. 

The Wildcats have three wide receivers committed for '25: three-star Orlando product Isaiah Mizell, Houston-area native Muizz Tounkara and Chandler Basha star Gio Richardson.

The early signing period begins on Dec. 4. 

Sudler Trophy for band 'so special' for Brennan

The Pride of Arizona Marching Band was honored at halftime on Friday for winning the Sudler Trophy, a biannual award given to the top college band nationally. The Pride of Arizona is the 34th band all-time to receive the award.

Arizona kicker Tyler Loop, who grew up playing instruments, said, "They create a good atmosphere and they're super-supportive."

"For them to receive that, that's super-cool," Loop said. 

Brennan said the national honor for the UA marching band is "so special."

"We have so much respect for them," Brennan said. "The amount of time and effort they put into all of those things. We have so much respect for those students and those coaches. Those guys are awesome.

"(Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois) and I went and spoke to them at the beginning of the season. You want to talk about energy, that room had crazy juice. They were so much fun, and that shows up. When you attack whatever you're doing, whether it's being a member of the band or a member of the football team, with that kind of enthusiasm, the results are going to be good."