PHOTO GALLERY BY GILBERT ALCARAZ
No. 22 Arizona (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) won by a miracle, 29-28 against TCU (4-5, 2-4) on Friday night at Casino del Sol Stadium.
“The players kept believing; the sideline was electric,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “Even in the tough moments of the game, everybody kept finding ways to support each other.”
The dramatic conclusion began after TCU went ahead 28-20 with 6:35 left after TCU quarterback Jaden Craig scored on a 2-yard run.
“There was still a lot more game left,” junior cornerback Tyrese Boss said. “Just knowing some things might not always go your way and always moving onto the next play, that’s how we got that win tonight.”
The Wildcat offense drove down the field looking to tie the game up. The attempt almost ended in disaster when fifth-year running back Quincy Craig fumbled; luckily, Fifita hopped on the ball, maintaining possession.
Quincy Craig redeemed himself two plays later with a 15-yard catch for the touchdown. The two-point attempt was unsuccessful, meaning the Arizona defense needed to get one more stop to give the ball back to the offense with 1:45 left in the game.
But a pooch kick by Arizona junior kicker Ian French did the trick. TCU could not secure the ball and junior cornerback Zuri Watson recovered.
“He’s been doing a great job on kickoff,” Arizona placekicker Michael Salgado-Medina said about French’s pooch kick. “He executed well.”
Salgado-Medina made his third field goal of the game, a 37-yard attempt to give the Wildcats a 29-28 lead with 38 seconds left in the game.
“It was a great feeling, being able to execute on it and work so hard for a moment like that and being able to do it and doing it on a stage like this is amazing,” Salgado-Medina said.
Boss then came up with an interception on the first play of TCU’s possession to seal the victory for the Wildcats.
“Finish them; that’s what my mentality was,” Boss said, comparing the team’s redline mantra to the video game Mortal Kombat.
Arizona extended its home winning streak to seven games with the victory.
Sonny Dykes must feel snakebitten.
The last time the TCU coach and former Arizona offensive coordinator coached at Casino del Sol Stadium was in 2014, in the “Hill Mary” game, when Arizona beat California 49-45 on a Hail Mary pass from Anu Solomon to Austin Hill has time expired.
“I give a lot of credit ot coach Dykes. He’s a fantastic football coach; they are a good football team,” Brennan said.
Arizona had a good mix of run and pass on its first drive of the game.
The Wildcats capped it off with a 20-yard diving touchdown by sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Mizell, who’s been having a breakout season, from fifth-year quarterback Noah Fifita, putting Arizona up 7-0 early.
The touchdown pass was the 100th of Fifita’s career. He finished with 313 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while completing 24 of 37 pass attempts.
“I think anytime you have Fifita pulling the trigger, you have a chance,” Brennan said.
The Arizona defense was swarming on the first possession, forcing TCU to go 3-and-out.
The Wildcats marched down the field again on their next possession but couldn’t convert on third down, settling for a 43-yard field goal from Salgado for a 10-0 lead after one.
“I know Michael’s been up and down on the field goals and lacks some consistency, But we believe in Michael, and that’s why we keep putting him out there, and when it mattered he nailed it,” Brennan said about staff’s trust in Salgado-Medina.
TCU’s offense was in good position to score, but a false start forced them to settle for a field goal. The attempt ended up being wide right, keeping the Horned Frogs off the board.
The Horned Frog defense forced another punt, giving the ball back to their offense.
TCU’s offense took advantage of the punt with an 8-yard quarterback scramble by Craig to bring them within three.
It looked like Arizona was going to respond with a touchdown of its own, but senior linebacker Hudson Hooper had other plans, jumping in front of the intended receiver and returning it for a 93-yard pick-six. That gave TCU a 14-10 lead with a little over four minutes to go in the half.
“They’re the best defense in the Big 12,” Brennan said. “They made a play, but I know our quarterback is also the best quarterback in the Big 12, and he answered.”
TCU had a promising drive to start the half, looking to add onto its lead with a 50-yard field goal attempt. Sixth-year defensive end Tre Smith made his way through the line, blocking the attempt and giving the ball back to his offense.
“After the first field goal attempt, (Craig) Naivar (special teams coordinator) was like, ‘Hey, Tre was clean in the A gap’ and I think that’s why the kicker pushed it,” Brennan said about Smith’s night on special teams. “Sure enough, a couple situations later, Tre was there.”
Arizona cashed in on the turnover with a 36-yard pass from Fifita to sophomore wide receiver Giovanni Richardson, putting the Wildcats inside the 10-yard line. A play later, Fifita ran it in from 9 yards to retake the lead for the Wildcats.
Richardson, making a return from a hamstring injury, finished with 171 yards on 11 receptions.
The Horned Frogs took the lead right back with a 6-yard score from Craig to fifth-year wide receiver Jordan Dwyer, drawing most of the clock in the third quarter.
Fifita connected with Richardson again on a 46-yard pass to put Arizona at TCU’s 9-yard line. The Horned Frogs defense bent but didn’t break, forcing Arizona to settle for a 23-yard field goal. That cut the lead to 21-20 late in the third quarter.
“It’s awesome to have Gio back,” Brennan said.
Smith came up big again for the Arizona defense, sacking Craig for a loss of five yards on third down.
The TCU defense held up once again, forcing Arizona to punt.
The TCU offense continued to come up big on third and long and made the Wildcats pay for it with another 2-yard keeper by Craig to put the Horned Frogs up eight midway through the fourth quarter.
That’s when Arizona’s dramatic rally for a win started.
What’s Next?
Arizona stays home, hosting No. 3 Utah in a must-win game for the Wildcats if they want to keep their Big 12 title game and College Football Playoff hopes alive.
“If there was ever a time for the city of Tucson to show up for the U of A, for this football team and for Noah Fifita and these awesome kids, Saturday is the day. Saturday we need to pack the Sol,” Brennan said about next week’s matchup against first-place Utah.
The last time the Wildcats played the Utes was in 2024, when they marched into Salt Lake City and upset then No.10 Utah 23-10.
Time and network for next Saturday’s game are still to be determined.
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