Arizona’s defense sealed a 23-17 victory over Kansas State on Friday after allowing two quick third-quarter touchdowns that erased a 14-point halftime lead.
Kansas State stormed back with a 75-yard touchdown run by Jayce Brown on the first play of the third quarter. A blocked punt on the following possession set up Avery Johnson‘s 3-yard touchdown run, tying the game at 17.
Arizona, which had not allowed a touchdown in two-and-a-half games, regained and extended the lead on two field goals by Michael Salgado-Medina.
In the final three minutes, Arizona’s defense stopped Kansas State on two separate drives, with a broken-up pass and another fourth-down stop on 4th-and-7 from Kansas State’s 43-yard line to seal the win. A missed 46-yard field field goal by Salgado-Medina that set up Kansas State’s final drive would have made it a two-possession game.
Noah Fifita finished with 178 passing yards on 16 completions and added two rushing touchdowns. Ismail Mahdi ran for 189 yards as Arizona outgained Kansas State 412-193.
Arizona’s opening drive ended with a missed 47-yard field goal by Salgado-Medina. Kansas State punted on its first drive but capitalized on a muffed return by Jeremiah Patterson, recovering the ball at the Wildcats’ 23-yard line. After a sack by Deshawn McKnight and Treydan Stukes, Kansas State settled for a 51-yard field goal from Luis Rodriguez to take a 3-0 lead.
Fifita gave the Wildcats a 7-3 lead on a 15-yard touchdown scramble with about five minutes to go in the first quarter, set up by a 60-yard run from Mahdi. Early in the second quarter, Arizona’s defense forced a turnover on downs, leading to a 31-yard field goal by Salgado-Medina to make it 10-3.
Later in the quarter, a targeting penalty on Kansas State’s Logan Bartley moved Arizona into the red zone. Fifita scored his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run, extending the lead to 17-3.
Friday’s non-conference game was part of a two-game series with Kansas State, which was scheduled before Arizona joined the Big 12. The Wildcats lost 31-7 at Kansas State last season.
Arizona plays its Big-12 conference opener at No. 14 Iowa State (3-0) on Sept. 27.
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.
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