Arizona forced five turnovers and coasted to beat Hawaii 40-6 Saturday at Arizona Stadium.
Hawaii’s 34-yard field goal with 4:48 left in the first quarter cut Arizona’s lead to 7-3. But Chase Kennedy strip-sacked Micah Alejado early in the second quarter, and Arizona recovered the ball on its 45-yard line. The Wildcats took a 14-3 lead on the drive with a 54-yard touchdown run by Quincy Craig and never really looked back.
“I think, on the effort side, I think we played really hard. I think that was visible. Sure, there were mistakes, but we played hard in all three phases. The execution piece, I think we’ve got a little bit of work to do,” Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said. “I’m excited to look at this film and go to work, and we’ll be accountable for what wasn’t where we want it to be and on the level we want it to be at.”
Brett Brennan’s opening statement at presser following season opener against Hawaii. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/H6rduJDvZ8
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) August 31, 2025
Craig ran for 125 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts. Kedrick Reescano ran for 55 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts and Ismael Mahdi ran for 23 yards with a touchdown.
“I think the running backs performed great,” Craig said. “We all found our way into the end zone, which is absolutely exciting. We all bring great versatility. Being able to feed off each other, getting hyped for each other, I was so excited to see them boys get in there.”
Noah Fifita completed 13 of 23 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. Eight receivers had at least one reception.
“There was some good distribution with that receiving core, and I think there’s room to grow,” Brennan said. “I think we can continue to develop there and continue to move the football effectively throwing it.”
Brett Brennan’s opening statement at presser following season opener against Hawaii. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/H6rduJDvZ8
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) August 31, 2025
Hawaii’s five turnovers led to 23 points, and Arizona had five sacks. The last time Arizona had five takeaways and five sacks in a game was against Grambling State in 2016.
On Arizona’s opening drive, Fifita connected with Tre Spivey for a 27-yard gain, setting up a 13-yard touchdown run by Kedrick Reescano a few plays later to put Arizona up 7-0.
Arizona extended its lead to 17-3 in the second quarter when Michael Salgado-Medina kicked a 35-yard field goal. Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
Fifita’s 42-yard pass to Brandon Phelps on the third play of the second half set Arizona up deep in Hawaii’s territory, and Fifita threw a five-yard touchdown to Sam Olson to give the Wildcats a 24-6 lead.
Taye Brown had an interception deep in Hawaii’s territory, and Fifita scrambled for a 10-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, Salgado-Medina kicked a 52-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, and after Gavin Hunter’s interception in Arizona’s end zone with 8:19 left in the game, Mahdi scored on a five-yard run.
Tetairoa McMillan and former Arizona defensive end Randy Robbins were recognized with selections to the Ring of Honor in separate ceremonies during the game.
HISTORY
Hawaii kicked off the season with a 23-20 victory over Stanford on Aug. 23, marking their first win against a power conference team since the beginning of the 2019 season when the Rainbow Warriors started strong with consecutive wins against Arizona and Oregon State.
Arizona holds a 6-1 all-time record against Hawaii in the series dating back to 1951.
Former Arizona head coach Dick Tomey has strong ties to both programs. Before taking the Arizona job in 1987, he coached the Rainbow Warriors for 10 seasons from 1977-86.
Arizona starting center Ka’ena Decambra appeared in 30 games on the offensive line over three seasons with Hawaii before transferring to Arizona in the offseason.
Brennan has a 5-3 record against Hawaii as a head coach. He faced the Rainbow Warriors seven times while leading San Jose State from 2017 to 2023, and had a four-game winning streak before he took the job at Arizona last season. He has faced Hawaii 16 times as either a head coach or an assistant at Arizona, San Jose State, and Oregon State. He was also a graduate assistant for the Rainbow Warriors in 1998.
Brennan also has a longstanding friendship with Hawaii head coach Timmy Chang, who he has known since Chang was a junior in high school when Brennan was a graduate assistant with Hawaii.
Chang led Hawaii at quarterback from 2000-04, and is the all-time leading in passing yards for the Rainbow Warriors with 17,072 yards. Brennan’s late cousin, Colt Brennan is second on the list with 14,193 yards from 2005-07.
Since becoming Hawaii’s head coach in 2022, Chang has a 14-26 record. The Rainbow Warriors have won five games in each of the last two seasons under his leadership.
Arizona plays Weber State on Saturday at Arizona Stadium at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW @KEVINMURFEE ON TWITTER! ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com writer Kevin Murphy was born and raised in Tucson, and has followed Arizona Wildcats athletics since childhood. Murphy is a journalist product manager with the Green Valley News the Sahuarita Sun. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.
Recommended for you
