It was a quick day at the office for the Arizona Wildcats football team, as it made quick work of a visiting 4-0 Cincinnati football team, taking control on the first drive of the game and never relinquishing it on the way to a 34-7 victory, ending the Bearcats’ undefeated streak.
The Wildcats (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) never let Cincinnati breathe for much of the game, strafing down the field on offense and suffocating on defense. Not even a handful of injuries kept Arizona from a dominant performance.
With the amount of momentum gained from defeating the Bearcats in such impressive fashion, it will be tough to derail the barreling ‘Redline’ locomotive. With a trip to Morgantown, W.Va., to play the Mountaineers, Arizona is hell bent on continuing its success.
From jarring hits to unexpected players stepping up, the Wildcats revealed plenty over four quarters of action. Now, let’s look at some key notes from Arizona’s routing of Cincinnati.
Arizona can start fast
For the majority of the first quarter of the season, Arizona has struggled to start fast and use that momentum for the rest of the dame. The last time the Wildcats offense was able to score on the first drive was in week 1 when they scored in the opening drive against Norther Arizona.
Quarterback Noah Fifita was sacked on the first play for the third consecutive game, but recovered fast and Arizona marched down the field with Fifita completing 4-of-5 passes en route to the end zone, where Kedrick Reescano capped off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown. It was the first time Arizona scored on the opening drive in three games.
The Arizona offense, with Seth Doege calling plays and Fifita under center, can be an even bigger threat when it is able to come out ofthe gates firing on all cylinders.
Arizona’s wide receiving room truly has depth
Things seemed promising for the wide receiver room when Gio Richardson, Arizona’s No. 1 receiver was seen on the first drive of the game until his lingering lower extremity injury forced him out soon after. The snowball of injuries only continued to grow as it rolled down hill, with Chris Hunter exiting the game with a leg injury as well.
Tre Spivey, who had gained a ton of momentum following a 100-yard effort against Washington State, then injured his foot on the final play of the first half. He was seen wearing a walking boot on the sideline for the remainder of the game. He reportedly is out for the rest of the season with a broken foot.
That is where the Wildcats’ wide receiving corps displayed its true depth at the position, something both Fifita and all offensive coaches kept reiterating throughout fall camp.
With the starting receivers now out, that gave Caleb “Jet” Smith, Isaiah Mizell, Brandon Phelps and others a chance to shine under the lights of a crowded stadium. All three of those receivers caught at least two passes by the end of the game, with Phelps snagging a touchdown from Fifita late in the game.
” I feel for those young men that got banged up tonight because they’re such big parts of our team,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “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.”
The significance of all three starting receivers’ injuries is not yet known, but if Arizona has to go a longtime without them, the offense should still hold up as the season continues.
Danny Gonzales’ defense is still relentless
Before Arizona’s game against the Bearcats, the big question was whether it could stop Cincinnati’s seemingly unstoppable ground game.
Through the first four games of its season, Cincinnati averaged 270 rushing yards per game (second in the Big 12) and led the conference with 16 rushing touchdowns.
That was not nearly the case for the Bearcats as the heavy pursuit of the Wildcats constantly kept them in the backfield and held Cincinnati to a season low 74 yards on the ground.
“I thought our defense was awesome,” Brennan said. “The way we flew around, the physicality that we play with, the plays people made, our tackling population to the football, like that showed up and that’s something that we needed to show up against a team that had been so effective running the football.”
Arizona can create plays through more than just the air
The Wildcats built on a 94-yard rushing performance in the fourth quarter against Washington State and never let up, showing that they are more than just a passing offense.
While it wasn’t a nearly 100-yard quarter, Arizona ran for 57 yards in the first quarter and went into halftime with 103. By the end of the game, the Wildcats had garnered 238 yards on the ground.
“(Offensive line) Coach (Josh) Oglesby put together a great plan and our players really leaned into it and coach (Seth) Doege (the offensive coordinator) kept coming back to it and the physicality that our backs chose to run with, I thought showed up,” Brennan said. “I think that’s one of the reasons we’re feeling good about it tonight.”
Much of that can be attributed to a three-running-back committee that stayed fresh throughout the game. Reescano led the group with 21 carries, 57 yards and a touchdown. Quincy Craig got the second-most carries with seven and finished with 77 yards. Marshall transfer Antwan Roberts finished with just five carries, but gained the most yards with 87.
The combination of a physical running game and a quick passing game proved too much for the Bearcats to handle and shows that Arizona possesses one of the more dynamic offenses in the Big 12, should everything continue to go in the right direction.
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