Wildcats’ defense shines, as depleted Arizona blows out undefeated Cincinnati Bearcats

Arizona’s defense pitched a shutout against Cincinnati’s high-octane offense for three quarters, and the depleted Wildcats took down an undefeated Bearcats team 34-7 on Saturday.

It was the first time Arizona had shut out an FBS opponent through three quarters since Nov. 7, 2009 against Washington State.

Cincinnati’s offense entered averaging 40.5 points per game and 270 rushing yards per game, but the Wildcats stymied the run and held the Bearcats to 74 yards on the ground and 227 total yards.

“We knew they wanted to run the ball. We knew that, and we said, ‘No we’re not going to let you do that tonight,'” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “And that’s just a commitment and a mentality from the defensive staff and the defensive players, and I thought that was awesome.”

Arizona (4-1) had tremendous depth on offense, but that depth was tested from the onset Saturday.

About an hour before Saturday’s game kicked off, Arizona running back Ismail Mahdi and linebacker Max Harris were both announced as unavailable due to their eligibility stemming from a court ruling issued Friday.

As the game progressed, the Wildcats grew even more depleted. In addition to Mahdi’s absence, Arizona was down two starting wide receivers from the game’s early stages and lost a third just before halftime.

Gio Richardson, the Wildcats’ leading receiver, returned for Arizona after missing the past two games with a lower extremity injury; however, the sophomore returned to Arizona’s locker room after the opening drive. He did not re-enter the game and appeared on the sidelines in street clothes. He had two receptions for 26 yards.

It got worse for the Wildcats when receiver Chris Hunter was also ruled out in the first quarter after two receptions for 20 yards.

During the Wildcats’ final drive of the opening half, Tre Spivey limped off the field in what appeared to be a serious left foot/ankle injury. Spivey finished with three catches for 36 yards and returned to the sidelines in the second half wearing an aircast boot and holding a crutch.

Due to the injuries, Fifita was forced to spread the ball to 10 different receivers.

Isaiah Mizell, Brandon Phelps and RJ Mosley all started at wide receiver in the second half for the Wildcats, and Arizona’s young core of receivers stepped up and played well in the second half.

“I thought they did a great job,” Brennan said. “I think that’s one of those things you can’t plan for. I feel for those young men. They got banged up tonight. But we also know that all season we’ve been talking about the depth of the receiver room, and that’s going to be super, super critical now as we move forward.

“And those young players are ready to play, and Bobby (Wade’s) done a great job of building that room. Now the next part of our process is kind of tailoring some of our scheme to what they do best.”

Mizell finished with four catches for 67 yards, Phelps added two receptions for 36 yards (and a touchdown) and Mosley reeled in a grab for 11 yards.

Fifita was not at his best but finished 25 of 37 for 284 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Cincinnati’s defense blitzed a ton, and Fifita was hurried and looked flustered.

The depleted Wildcats were forced to establish the run game early, after it being a nonfactor for much of this season, and the Wildcats had their best performance on the ground this season. The Wildcats entered Saturday last in the Big 12 in rushing yards on the season at an average of 130 yards per game (520 yards total). Arizona finished with 238 rushing yards led by Antwan Roberts’ 87 yards on the ground, Quincy Craig’s 77 yards and Kedrick Reescano’s 57 yards. Reescano found paydirt for the first time since the Week 1 win over Northern Arizona.

“The physicality that our backs chose to run with I thought showed up,” Brennan said.

Wildcats strike luck and points of concern show improvement

The Wildcats were bailed out several times Saturday, notably by a dropped pass from the Bearcats on a fourth and goal situation from the 2-yard-line while clinging to a 7-0 lead more than midway through the second quarter.

Later, Cincinnati’s Antwan Peek Jr. batted the ball out of the back of the end zone after Arizona’s Antwan Roberts fumbled the ball. An illegal bat was called after a review, and the Wildcats got to keep the ball and turned it into a Fifita rushing touchdown on a designed QB draw several plays later to go up 17-0 with 9:29 left in the third quarter.

Bobbing… weaving… END ZONE 😮‍💨

📺 FOX https://t.co/ObJupIpFRh

— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) October 4, 2026

The left side of Arizona’s line, Rhino Tapa’atoutai and Matthew Lado, impressed after a series of struggles to begin the season. The Wildcats entered having allowed 12 sacks on the year, the most in the Big 12, and it was the third game in a row Arizona’s first offensive play resulted in a sack, but the offensive line settled in nicely. Fifita remained on his feet for nearly the entire game after that point, and Cincinnati finished with three sacks.

Arizona’s secondary impressed as well. The Wildcats made a change with safety Cam Chapa making his first start at Arizona over Quinn Olson who had started the previous four games at free safety for the Wildcats.