Arizona football progress report: Grading the Wildcats through nonconference play

So far, Arizona has passed the vibe check through three games.

The Wildcats have an unblemished record and were clearly the better team in all three of their games against Hawaii, Weber State and Kansas State.

Arizona’s defense has dominated and currently ranks in the Top 10 nationally. Arizona has two breakout performances from its running backs corps and quarterback Noah Fifita is playing like — what his old coach Jedd Fisch would call — Batman: Fifita is using the gadgets in his tool belt, which is using his legs as a weapon if a play breaks down or on designed runs; plus, he’s distributing the ball to more pass-catchers this season.

The results are a reflection of Arizona’s “redline” mantra. The three most important pillars of redline: effort, execution and accountability, which “are things we have to have in order to win football games,” said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan.

“Those are things we have to have that give us a chance to play good football on game day,” Brennan said. “That being a huge point of emphasis, we’re doing a better job. I give the players credit, too, because they’ve really leaned into it, where it’s not new and they know what it looks like. They know what the expectations are and because of that, we’re getting a better demonstration of that in practice and on game day.”

Brennan said the Wildcats are a “work in progress.”

“We could feel good about the first three (games), but they’re over now and they don’t matter,” Brennan said on Monday. “What matters is what we’re doing today and what we’re doing tomorrow, and that’s where our head space is.”

As Arizona prepares for Big 12 play, starting with No. 12 Iowa State in Ames on Sept. 27, here’s a position-by-position progress report of the Wildcats.

Quarterbacks

Grade: A-

The rundown: Glancing at Fifita’s season stats, he’s on pace to have a career-low completion percentage (59%), albeit he’s accounted for nine touchdowns — would’ve been 11 if it weren’t for two holding penalties that nullified two rushing touchdowns — and doesn’t have any turnovers, when he had three interceptions at this point of the season in 2024.

Arizona’s receivers also have eight drops this season, according to Pro Football Focus. If Arizona didn’t have any drops, Fifita would have a 69% completion rate. His top passing performance this season was a 373-yard, five-touchdown outing against Weber State.

The most eye-opening development with Fifita is his mobility, which Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege wanted to highlight this season. In games with low completion percentages, Fifita rushed for a combined three touchdowns — almost five.

“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.”

Running backs

Grade: B

The rundown: Quincy Craig dazzled in his Arizona debut and rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown on seven carries. Junior running back and returner Kedrick Reescano set the tone with the first touchdown scored of the season, and Ismail Mahdi just became Co-Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for 189 yards against Kansas State.

Mahdi’s 189 rushing yards against Kansas State are the most for a running back against a Power 4 team this season. Mahdi’s 221 all-purpose yards out-gained Kansas State’s entire offense.

“I’m so proud of that kid,” Brennan said of Mahdi. “What an awesome human being he is. ... Ish just kept showing up and ripping off big runs with physicality and finished, receivers were blocking down field. There was a lot of good there.”

Freshman Wesley Yarbrough has established himself as the fourth running back in Arizona’s rotation. But the lion’s share of the snaps will be distributed between Mahdi, Reescano and Craig. A bye week comes at a perfect time for Reescano and Craig, who are both nursing injuries.

Wide receivers/tight ends

Grade: C+

The rundown: Arizona has had a different leading receiver in every game this season: Brandon Phelps, Javin Whatley and Chris Hunter. Whatley leads the Wildcats in receptions (13), receiving yards (237) and receiving touchdowns (two) this season — and interceptions thrown. Five different Wildcats have receiving touchdowns, and Chris Hunter and Kris Hutson have yet to reach the end zone, which likely won’t be the case when Arizona has its second bye week in just over a month.

Arizona’s receiving group has better depth this season, but it hasn’t functioned at its potential due to injuries. Additionally, Arizona’s receivers have eight dropped passes and contributed to the team’s 13 holding penalties this season.

“That’s something we’re going to drill the hell out of in the next couple of weeks, so we can hopefully eliminate those things because they stall drives for us and they put us behind the sticks too many times in positive field position — and it’s not just the O-Line either; we’ve had some of those on the perimeter, too,” Brennan said. “That is something, collectively as an offensive football team, that we have to get fixed.”

Arizona’s primary tight ends are down to senior Sam Olson and junior Keyan Burnett, who is working his way back from an injury he suffered in training camp, after Tyler Powell suffered a season-ending injury on the first offensive play of the season. Olson is the only tight end with a reception this season.

Offensive line

Grade: C+

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The rundown: The position group with the most question marks entering the season has proven to be a functional unit, but there’s still room for growth.

The starting unit of left tackle Ty Buchanan, left guard Chubba Ma’ae, center Ka’ena Decambra, right guard Alexander Doost and right tackle Rhino Tapa’atoutai was named the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week for paving the way for Arizona’s 234 rushing yards against Kansas State.

Arizona has also relied on converted tackle Michael Wooten and Michigan transfer Tristan Bounds at right tackle.

Holding penalties, including four on Tapa’atoutai in two games, have been momentum-killers on offense this season. Arizona also is third-to-last in the Big 12 in sacks allowed (7).

“In terms of the offensive line, I know we have some work to do, but I’m excited about their progress,” Brennan said. “I really am. I think that has shown up in the first three games.”

Defensive line

Grade: B

The rundown: After having one of the worst rushing defenses in college football last season, Arizona is in the top half of the Big 12 with the seventh-best rushing defense.

Arizona’s major contributors on the defensive line have been defensive end Tre Smith, defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea, defensive tackle Deshawn McKnight, defensive end Dominic Lolesio, defensive end Malachi Bailey, defensive tackle Leroy Palu, defensive tackle Julian Savaiinaea and freshman defensive end Mays Pese, who played six snaps in Arizona’s win over Kansas State.

Bailey started in place of Smith, who is recovering from a leg injury he suffered in the Weber State game, last week. Bailey and McKnight have combined for eight tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and four quarterback hurries.

Linebackers

Grade: B+

The rundown: Arizona has used anywhere from two to four linebackers at a time under new defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales this season. The Wildcats had a four-linebacker lineup, with two defensive linemen, in their win over Kansas State. The lineup featured Taye Brown, Max Harris, Jabari Mann and converted edge rusher Chase Kennedy, who leads the team with two sacks.

“Just getting our best guys out there at all times,” Arizona safety Genesis Smith said of Arizona’s four-linebacker lineup. “Mixing and matching different personnel is great. How they can mix and match different personnel on offense, we can do the same on defense. I felt like that was a really smart move by (Gonzales) and the (defensive) staff.”

Montana transfer Riley Wilson made his Arizona debut and had six tackles in the second half against Weber State, but missed the Kansas State game. Brennan didn’t have an update on Wilson’s status for the Iowa State game.

Defensive backs

Grade: A

The rundown: The best grade of the team goes to the deepest and arguably most productive group on Arizona’s roster. The Wildcats are tied with Houston for the most interceptions (five) in the Big 12 this season. In his second season as a starter, Smith leads Arizona in tackles (19), interceptions (one) and pass breakups (four).

Arizona cornerback Jay’Vion Cole produced the Wildcats’ first pick-six since 2021, and the UA defensive secondary has five tackles for loss as a result of Gonzales’ aggressive defense that disguises blitzes.

In the last two games, Arizona’s defense held its opponents to fewer than 100 yards passing, which hasn’t been done since the “Desert Swarm” era in 1995. Arizona’s opponents are a combined 10 for 46 (22%) on third- and fourth-down conversions this season.

Between Smith, Cole, Ayden Garnes, Michael Dansby, Marquis Groves-Killebrew and nickel backs Gavin Hunter and Treydan Stukes, who recently played his first snaps in nearly a year after recovering from a knee injury, Arizona has a formidable secondary this season.

“I like the confidence our defense is playing with,” Brennan said. “They trust Coach Gonzales and the staff, they’re all doing their job and when they do their job with redline, you’re seeing fantastic results. I’m encouraged for that thing to continue to develop and evolve over the next couple weeks of practice and over the course of the season.”

Special teams

Grade: D+

The rundown: On a positive note, kicker Michael Salgado-Medina has made 70% of his field goals and all 12 of his PATs. Kickoff specialist and Sierra Vista native Ian Wagner has 20 touchbacks in 21 attempts.

The negative note? There have been issues in the special teams space in every game this season, including a botched snap that led to a failed PAT, four missed field goals, a dropped punt by Salgado-Medina, which led to Kansas State recovering on the 13-yard line and scoring a touchdown on the following possession — the second touchdown Arizona has given up all season.

Arizona also had a muffed punt in the first half against Kansas State, when cornerback Groves-Killebrew bumped into returner Jeremiah Patterson and accidentally touched the ball before Kansas State recovered it.

“I think we’ve got work to do there,” Brennan said. “I think there’s some coaching that needs to be detailed up in some of those spaces. I think (special teams coordinator Craig Naivar) is an outstanding special teams coach in terms of the detail, the energy, the time and effort he puts into it. I think part of the redline that hasn’t showed up is execution in the special teams space, so I think the bye comes at a valuable time because some of the challenges we have there are fixable and we need to get to fixing them.”