Arizona outlasts Kansas State to move to 3-0 for the first time in a decade

It had muffed punts. It had blocked punts. It had a 75-yard touchdown in "Wildcat" formation. Oh, and there was a halftime — and pre-fourth quarter — drone show!

Arizona's final nonconference game of the season against Kansas State lived up to the excitement — and went off the rails in the third quarter — and the UA prevailed 23-17 Friday night at Arizona Stadium. 

Arizona is 3-0 for the first time since the 2015 season. The UA is one win away from matching its win total from last season. Friday also marked Arizona's first win over Kansas State since their matchup in Tucson in 1969.

Arizona's balanced offensive attack bested Kansas State in total yards (412-193), first downs (21-8), total plays (79-53) and time of possession (36:20-23:40).

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said "this is a really special night for our football team."   

Turning Point

With just over nine minutes left in the first quarter, Arizona punt returner Jeremiah Patterson muffed a punt and K-State took over at the UA 23-yard line. 

Arizona's defense answered with a tackle for loss by cornerback Michael Dansby and defensive end Malachi Bailey, an incomplete pass and a combined sack for defensive back Treydan Stukes and defensive tackle Deshawn McKnight to force a 3-and-out and Kansas State to settle for a 51-yard field goal. 

The field goal gave Kansas State its only lead of the game, and Arizona answered with 17 straight points to take a two-touchdown lead at halftime. 

KSU started the third quarter with a 75-yard touchdown run by wide receiver Jayce Brown, who took the snap in "Wildcat" formation and ran to the right off tackle for the longest play of the night. 

On the following possession, Arizona punter Michael Salgado-Medina dropped the snap, which led to a blocked punt and the ball sputtering before linebacker Taye Brown scooped up the ball and returned it to the 13-yard line to prevent a safety or touchdown. Arizona receiver Javin Whatley threw Arizona's first interception of the season, but the UA — with the help from its defense — outlasted Kansas State in the second half. Arizona made two field goals in the second half. 

"When you're playing a football program as good as Kansas State, there's going to be some back back-and-forth," Brennan said. "Those guys have won a lot of football games for a really long time, they're extremely well-coached, they have good players, so there's going to be some back-and-forth.

"What I love is the response, because we had two ugly plays back-to-back and then we responded in all three phases. That's what good teams do: when something goes wrong, you respond. That's redline. You saw it. You saw it in the effort, you saw it in the execution and you saw it in the accountability."

Offensive MVP

Arizona senior Ismail Mahdi became the latest UA running back to rush for over 100 yards. Mahdi finished with 189 yards on 28 carries yards and had runs of 60 yards, 34 yards and 15 yards. Former UA safety Gunner Maldonado prevented Mahdi's 60-yard run from resulting in a touchdown.

Mahdi produced the most rushing yards by an Arizona running back since Michael Wiley's 214-yard, four-touchdown performance in the 2022 Territorial Cup. 

Mahdi also had a drive-extending 27-yard gain on a check-down pass from quarterback Noah Fifita to convert a third-and-15 in the fourth quarter. Mahdi caught the pass at the Arizona 43-yard line and was tackled at the KSU 30-yard line. Mahdi had the third-most receiving yards (32) for Arizona behind receivers Javin Whatley and Chris Hunter. 

Defensive MVP

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Normally players will fall into this category, but Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales and the different blitzes Arizona used in the first half, including defensive backs blitzes from cornerback Ayden Garnes and Stukes in the first half, disrupted Kansas State's offense.

Arizona limited Kansas State to 44 yards of total offense in the first half — 193 for the game.

"Any time you hold a Division I team to under 200 yards of total offense, that's a special night. That's a hell of a football night. Our defensive staff and those players should be ecstatic, and we're ecstatic for them."   

Between the first two games of the season against Hawaii and Weber State and the first half on Friday, Arizona allowed just 12 points and no touchdowns in 10 quarters. Last season, Arizona surrendered 63 points and eight touchdowns in the first 10 quarters of the season. 

After Brown's 75-yard touchdown run with 13:11 left in the third quarter, Arizona didn't allow a point for the rest of the game. 

Kansas State was a combined 3-for-17 on third- and fourth-down plays. 

"That's a championship down. We gotta get off the field," Smith said.  

Arizona's top defensive player was safety Genesis Smith, who led the UA in tackles (8) and pass breakups (3). Smith had two pass breakups in Kansas State's final possession of the game, including the last play of the game covering Brown. 

Unsung Hero

Despite a season-low completion percentage (48.5%), Fifita doubled his rushing touchdown total Friday night with a pair of rushing touchdowns.

Fifita's first touchdown run was a 15-yarder in the first quarter. His second touchdown was a 2-yard run that was initially ruled down at the 1-yard line, but Fifita broke the plane with the nose of the ball for a touchdown. Fifita had a career-high in rushing yards (48) and carries (15).  

"That's one of those things about Noah that we've known and we see it on display every day: the kid is a competitor," Brennan said. "He's a Class A, big-time competitor — and he doesn't care how it looks. He doesn't care if he has to throw it, hand it or run it himself, but he's going to orchestrate it. I think that adds another element to us that makes us dangerous, and I think (offensive coordinator Seth Doege) is doing a good job of putting him in those situations, and Noah has played a lot of football and he's settling in and finding those moments where those opportunities present themselves and he's taking advantage of it." 

Injury Report

Stukes, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Big 12 opener against Utah last season, made his season debut and started in the UA secondary. It marked Stukes' first game in 349 days.

Arizona defensive end Tre Smith went through pregame warmups and was dressed, but sat out on Friday. Smith suffered a leg injury in Arizona's win over Weber State last week. 

UA running back Kedrick Reescano missed his second straight game with a leg injury. 

Despite making his debut last week, linebacker Riley Wilson missed Friday's game due to injury.   

What’s Next

Arizona enters a bye week before its Big 12 opener against the 14th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones (3-0) on Sept. 27 in Ames. 

Photos: Arizona notches a 23-17 win over Kansas State, NCAA football