INDIVIDUAL NOTES FOR THE FINAL GAME:

• TE Keyan Burnett posted high marks in both receptions (5) and yards (76) on Saturday night. His fourth-quarter touchdown was the first of his career.
• QB Noah Fifita threw for two touchdowns and tied for 12th all-time in Arizona with 33rd career TDs.
• K Tyler Loop made 3-for-4 field goals and tied his career high with three attempts made.
• DL Stanley Ta’ufo’ou recorded his first sack for the Wildcats late in the first half.
• Safety Genesis Smith picked off Utah QB Isaac Wilson for his third career interception and second of the 2024 season.
• DB Tacario Davis has completed five pass breakups, marking a career single-game record and giving him 21 passes defensed for his career.
• Safety Gunner Maldonado also recorded an interception on Saturday, giving him four career picks.
• RB Kedrick Reescano posted career highs in attempts (7) and yards (73) in Saturday’s win.
• LB Taye Brown led the Wildcats with 10 total tackles, marking his second double-digit tackling performance of the season.
• DB Gunner Maldonado also recorded an interception on Saturday, giving him four career picks.
• RB Kedrick Reescano posted career highs in attempts (7) and yards (73) in Saturday’s win.
• LB Taye Brown led the Wildcats with 10 total tackles, marking his second double-digit tackling performance of the season.

BACK ON TRACK: Saturday marked the Wildcats’ first road win at Utah since 2014. They have now won back-to-back games over Utah for the first time since posting four straight victories in 2012-14. Arizona now has nine wins while not ranking among the AP Top 10-ranked teams in the past 20 seasons, the most in the nation during that span. Arizona picked up its second road victory against a top-10 opponent in the last ten seasons. (Won at #9 UCLA in 2022).

FIRST BIG 12 WIN: Arizona won their first Big 12 Conference game in program history and improved to 3-1 on the year. The Wildcats are now 21-26-2 all-time against Utah. Last Saturday marked the first win on an AP Top 25 program for head coach Brent Brennan. The 23-10 win for Arizona is Utah’s first loss to an unranked team at home since losing to Washington 21-7 on September 15, 2018.

O-FER ON 4E: Arizona’s defense turned away Utah four times on fourth down, marking their first 0-for-4 performance since Oregon in 2006.

THE TRE WAY: Arizona defensive lineman Tre Smith is third nationally in rushing and has gotten behind the quarterback 17 times in three games this season (Per PFF). Keldric Faulk (Auburn) ranks first nationally in rushing with 20. Smith joined the Wildcats as a transfer from San Jose State prior to the 2024 season. Smith has recorded 105 total tackles (51 solo, 54 ast) through 27 games. He has 10.5 career sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss combined between Arizona and San Jose State.

GETTING TO THE BALL: Defensive back Tacario Davis recorded five pass breakups during last Saturday’s game against Utah. With those five fractures, he is tied for second place in the Big 12. Only Korie Black (Oklahoma State) is behind with six. Davis ranks first with 1.25 passes defensed per game. He has now defended 21 passes in his career.

KWALI TAKES FLIGHT: RB Quali Conley recorded his first rushing game of 100+ yards with Arizona (112 vs. NAU, 7/9), and has since rushed for 155 yards against San Diego State on 11/18/23. Conley broke off a 58-yard rush on Arizona’s first drive of the game, marking his longest rush with the Wildcats and the second-longest of his career (Longest: 68 yards vs. New Mexico, 10/14/23). Conley matched his career-high in receptions with five against NAU (9/7) (2x; last: vs. Air Force, 9/22/23).

CREATE MANU: Linebacker Jacob Manu again leads the Wildcats in tackles this season with 34 (16 solo, 18 as). Manu ranks 13th in the Big 12 in total tackles, averaging 8.5 per game, which is 6th in the Big 12.

WELCOME TO THE BIG 12: The Arizona Wildcats will embark on a new journey in a new conference after joining the Big 12 in August 2024. The Wildcats end a Pac-10/12 era that began in 1978 and ended with a 277-256-7 record, including a 171-202-6 Conference record over 45 years in the conference. The legendary Dick Tomey led the Wildcats for 13 years in the Pac-10/12 Conference, recording the most wins of any head coach in program history (95).

HURRY VIOLATION: The Wildcats rushed for 161 yards, with Kedrick Reescano (74 yards) and Quali Conley (75 yards) combining for 149 of those yards. It was the third of four games in which the Wildcats have combined for more than 160 yards rushing on offense. So far, the Wildcats are averaging 5.9 yards per carry (17th nationally) and averaging 152.5 yards per play.

T-MAC: After making four touchdown grabs in Game 1 against New Mexico, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is 6th in program history in career receiving touchdowns (22), 6th in career receiving yards in program history (2,557). McMillan had the second-most receiving yards in a single season in program history (1,402) in 2023. He has now recorded the most receiving yards in a single game (304) and the second-most receiving yards in a single game in program history in 2023 (266; at ASU, Nov. 25, 2023). Currently, McMillan ranks 10th in FBS with four touchdown grabs.

EXPLOSIVE ROBBERY: The Wildcats recorded 627 total yards of offense in New Mexico’s season opener on August 31. This was the most since recording 673 (178 rush, 495 passing) against Colorado in 2022. The offensive output ranked 8th in program history (627; California, September 20, 2014).

TRENDING UPGRADE: Quarterback Noah Fifita continues to rise in Arizona, passing all-time records with another standout performance to open the 2024 season, rushing for 422 yards and four touchdowns. In 16 of the 19 matches he played during his career, Fifita finished with a completion percentage above 60%. He has never thrown more than one interception in a single game in his collegiate career (19 games; 482 pass attempts). Fifita’s completion percentage is 69.4% (332-482) for 4,057 yards and 33 touchdowns. Fifita has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark with 1,060 yards in four games this season. He has thrown seven touchdowns and four interceptions.

HELLO BIG 12 RECORD BOOK: McMillan became the first player in FBS history to have a game with more than 10 receptions, more than 300 receiving yards, more than 30.0 yards per reception and more than 4 receiving TDs (per OptaSTATS). In Arizona’s first game as a member of the Big 12, McMillan added his name to the record books, recording the second-most receiving yards (304) in a single game in Big 12 history. His four touchdowns also stood on third in a single game in Big 12 history.

GOLDEN BOOT: Tyler Loop has led the program in multiple records, first scoring the most consecutive extra points (115) and is chasing the highest career field goal percentage (84.85%, 56 of 66) in program history. Loop is chasing the record for most consecutive games with a made field goal (24) in program history. He ranks fourth in career scoring in program history (283; 2022-present). Loop currently ranks 14th in career field goal percentage. (84.85%) in college football history, which ranks second among active kickers in FBS (1st; Jonah Dalmas, 88.3% – Boise State), ahead of Graham Nicholson, winner of the Lou Groza Award from last year (Alabama, 83.6%). Loop was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2023. He booted a career-long 54-yarder against New Mexico on August 31. He also made two of three field goal attempts against NAU, booting a long from 48 yards against the Lumberjacks. Arizona’s all-time leading scorer, Max Zendejas, was the honorary captain prior to the NAU game. Loop made a 53-yarder among Utah’s three made field goals in the 23-10 win.

POLYNESIAN PIPELINE: Arizona continues to grow its program with some of the nation’s top Polynesian college football players on the roster. The Wildcats had seven players selected for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award watch list, including quarterback Noah Fifita, defensive lineman Keanu Mailoto, linebacker Jacob Manu, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea, defensive lineman Stanley Ta’ufo ‘ou , and defensive lineman Ta’ita ‘I Uiagalelei. The seven players on this watch list rank second in the country, behind only BYU in 2024. It was also the most for the Wildcats since the preseason watch list began. Fifita was included on the university’s watch list for the first time. Savaiinaea appears on the list for the second time in a row. McMillan advanced to the finals of the 2023 awards ceremony after being named to the preseason list. Mailoto, Manu, Ta’ufo’ou and Uiagalelei made their first appearance as Wildcats on this award watchlist.

WILDCATS IN THE NFL: Arizona currently has eleven players on NFL rosters heading into the 2024 season. Former offensive lineman Jordan Morgan was selected in the first round (25th overall) by the Green Bay Packers after the 2023 season. He was the first first-round selection since Antoine Cason was selected 27th overall in 2008. He joined a list that included Cason (2008; 27th, San Diego), Trung Canidate (2000; 31st, St. Louis), Chris McAlister (1999). ; 10th, Baltimore), John Fina (1992; 27th, Buffalo), Chris Singleton (1990; 8th, New England), Anthony Smith (1990; 11th, Oakland), Rickey Hunley (1984; 7th, Cincinnati), Mike Dawson (1976 ; 22nd, Arizona), Bill Lueck (1968; 26, Green Bay) and Walt Nelson (1939; 10th, New York Giants) are selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Wide receiver Jacob Cowing was selected in the fourth round (135th overall) by the San Francisco 49ers, becoming the highest wide receiver selected since Mike Thomas in 2009 (4th Rd, 107th overall by Jacksonville) and the first wide receiver since Juron Criner (5th Rd, 168th overall by Oakland) in 2012. Tight End Tanner McLachlan was the third Wildcat selected in the 2024 NFL Draft when the Cincinnati Bengals selected him in the 6th round (194 overall). The three draft picks tied for the most selected in a single draft since 2014 when Ka’Deem Carey (4th Rd, 117 overall), Shaquille Richardson (5th Rd, 157th overall) and Marquis Flowers (6th Rd, 212 overall) were picked in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Current Wildcats on NFL Rosters (as of 9/24/2024)

* Practice squad