Arizona is going bowling! Wildcats outlast Kansas to punch ticket to postseason

It wasn't pretty. Heck, it was flat-out ugly at times.

But the Arizona Wildcats gutted out a 24-20 win over the Kansas Jayhawks Saturday afternoon to become bowl eligible for the first time under head coach Brent Brennan. 

It's the third time in the last nine seasons Arizona is going to a bowl game. The Wildcats went to the Foster Farms Bowl in '17 and the Alamo Bowl in '23.

The Wildcats have won back-to-back games since suffering back-to-back losses to BYU and Houston. Brennan started his postgame press conference yelling, "Yeah! Let's go! ... What an awesome day in Arizona Stadium. ... It's a really, really special day." 

"There's so many good things that we should be excited about," he added. "I know it wasn't perfect and that's OK. ... We're going to enjoy this. We're going to enjoy every part of this. The excitement in that locker room, the joy coming off the field, the joy on the field at the end of the game during the last moment and (the clock) hit zeros and everyone got to experience that, it was magic. Absolute magic."

Arizona running back Quincy Craig's 24-yard touchdown up the middle with 39 seconds left lifted the Wildcats to their sixth victory of the season. It marked Craig's first touchdown since the season-opening win over Hawaii. 

Turning point

With just over a minute left in the first half, Fifita attempted a pass to running back Kedrick Reescano near the right sideline, but defensive end Leroy Harris III dropped back in coverage, jumped the pass and intercepted Fifita for a 77-yard touchdown, which was nullified after KU defensive back Jalen Todd was flagged for holding.  

The pick-six would've given the Jayhawks a 24-7 lead at halftime. Kansas also started the second half on offense. The penalty kept Arizona's drive alive. Following a 7-yard run by Fifita, Arizona's quarterback threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Craig, who ran a flat route and dove for the right pylon. Fifita's second touchdown of the game tied Arizona's career touchdowns record.

"Noah Fifita is everything to this program," Brennan said. "He's an incredible leader, he's an incredible human being, he's an incredible person in this community, he cares about the U of A, he's loyal, he's chosen to stay. The whole world tried to buy him the last two offseasons, he chose to stay. He's so special." 

Arizona went into the halftime break trailing 17-14 and forced a three-and-out to start the second half. Even though running back Ismail Mahdi had a 38-yard run and freshman wide receiver Gio Richardson had a 22-yard reception at the Kansas 25-yard line, the UA offense stalled and settled for a 41-yard field goal by kicker Michael Salgado-Medina to tie the game at 17.

Kansas had a chance to take a 23-17 lead with a 30-yard field goal by Laith Marjan, but the missed field goal kept the game at 20-17 in favor of Kansas. Marjan was a perfect 14-for-14 before the miss. 

Offensive MVP

Even though Fifita etched his name in the UA history books on Saturday, Craig scored two of Arizona's three touchdowns. 

The last time Craig had a receiving and rushing touchdown in a game was last season, when he had two touchdowns for Portland State against Chattanooga. Craig had three rushes for 47 yards and two catches for 18 yards. 

His game-winning touchdown run "was one of my favorite touchdowns I've experienced, because it was a comeback win. It was a team win," Craig said.

Arizona's 323 yards of total offense is the fewest in a win since they had 265 in a win over Cal in 2018. 

Defensive MVP

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Arizona senior defensive back Treydan Stukes had three pass breakups on third-down plays on Saturday — all three forcing the Jayhawks to punt. The second pass breakup was on a deep pass to the end zone from Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels to wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson Jr., who caught a touchdown in the second quarter. 

In addition to three pass breakups, Stukes also had four tackles. 

The Wildcats didn't force any takeaways for the second time this season and didn't have any sacks. 

Unsung hero

One of Kansas' top weapons is Henderson, who is averaging the second-most kick return yards (27.5) in the Big 12 — 14th-most nationally — this season. All four of Arizona kickoff specialist Ian Wagner's attempts were touchbacks. 

Injury report

Arizona cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew, who has played 148 defensive snaps in six games, missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. Other Wildcats who missed Saturday include wide receiver Chris Hunter, offensive lineman Jordan Brown and redshirt freshman defensive end Eduwa Okundaye.

With just under six minutes left in the second quarter, Arizona senior linebacker Max Harris exited the game with a leg injury after a Kansas player dove into his right knee. Harris, flanked by trainers, struggled to walk off the field.

Harris, who has 57 tackles this season, has started all nine games for Arizona. He was replaced by freshman Myron Robinson. Harris returned to the game with a brace on his right leg. 

Arizona defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea left the game with a leg injury in the fourth quarter.

Arizona left tackle Ty Buchanan left the game in the second half with an undisclosed injury. Redshirt freshman Matthew Lado replaced Buchanan. 

What's next

Arizona (6-3) now turns to its road matchup with No. 25 Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. on FS1.   

It will be Arizona's eighth straight game with a kickoff time at 6 p.m. or earlier — the second one with a morning kickoff. The Wildcats faced the Houston Cougars at 9 a.m. last month. 

When Arizona faces 25th-ranked Cincinnati next week, it'll be the first-ever matchup between the Wildcats and Bearcats, which joined the Big 12 in 2023 after stints in the American Athletic Conference and Big East. 

Cincinnati is led by third-year head coach Scott Satterfield, who is leading the Bearcats to their first winning season since 2022. Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby has the third-most rushing yards by a Big 12 quarterback this season behind Utah's Devon Dampier and BYU's Bear Bachmeier. Cincy is fourth in the conference in total offense and rushing offense. 

The Bearcats (7-2) are coming off a bye week after a 45-14 beatdown by 24th-ranked Utah in Salt Lake City. Cincinnati, now third in the Big 12 standings, suffered its first loss in conference play. 

Representatives from the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl and Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl were in attendance for Arizona-Kansas. The Sun Bowl is on New Year's Eve at noon in El Paso, Texas. The Independence Bowl is on Dec. 30 at noon in Shreveport, Louisiana. 

"This is a really special group of guys," Brennan said. "I give our players and our assistant coaches a ton of credit. They built this team. It started in December and January and it's been 10 or 11 months of finding ways to get connected. ... The beauty about it, this team gets a little bit of a longer lifespan, and that's special." 

Photos: Arizona squeaks by Kansas 24-20, Big 12 football