Breaking Down Arizona's Upset Win Over No. 25 Cincinnati
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Welcome! To another edition of the Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast featuring your host Troy Hutchison, who will be delivering a daily podcast discussing everything happening surrounding Arizona athletics, giving you an inside look at all the programs on campus.
Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years with his coverage spanning all-across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their prospective sports there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats excelling outside of Tucson.
On Saturday, Arizona traveled to the state of Ohio for the first time since the 2010 season when the WIldcats went on the road and hammered Toledo 41-2 in the season opening game. UA’s game against No. 25 Cincinnati marked the first ever meeting between the two programs.
From the first play of the game, Arizona’s (7-3, 4-3 Big 12) defense set the tone with a tipped ball interception from cornerback Jay’Vion Cole that set up an early touchdown to put the Wildcats up 7-0 against the Bearcats.
Although the game started off good for Arizona, its defense had its struggles in the first quarter. However, Brent Brennan and his team were able to fix those issues and put drives together down the stretch to pull off the 30-24 upset of Cincinnati.
At one point this season, the Wildcats were riding a 5-game road losing streak dating back to the 2024 season which included four blow out losses.
Now, following the win over the Bearcats, Brennan and his team have won back-to-back road games and have climbed over Mount 500 in the Big 12 for the first time this season.
Part of the defensive effort for Arizona was creating chaos in the secondary against Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who had thrown just two interceptions all season to his 21 touchdown passes.
Arizona was able to pick Sorsby off two times with Cole and safety Dalton Johnson coming up with the turnovers and giving the offense the chance to get back in the groove.
On the offensive end of the field, Arizona had issues converting in the red zone during the first half with two missed field goals by Michael Salgado-Medina. One miss from 40 and a blocked kick the next time out.
However, with the Wildcats up 27-24 late in the fourth quarter, Salgado-Medina was able to redeem himself with a clutch 51-yard field goal to make it a 6-point game with 1:34 left in the game.
Arizona was able to get its offense going in the second half with two drives that finished with a touchdown. Running back Kedrick Reescano had the go-ahead score on a 50-yard run and the Wildcats never looked back.
Meanwhile, quarterback Noah Fifita had another great road game going 23 of 31 on his passing attempts while racking up 294 yards and slinging an important touchdown late in the game.
The one touchdown pass from Fifita was a record breaking one with him now sitting at 68 passing touchdowns in his career passing Willie Tuitama and Nick Foles for the program-record.
On the final drive for Cincinnati, Arizona’s defense came up strong and forced the Bearcats into a turnover on downs to seal the road win.
Arizona is now 7-3 and coming back home for the final home game of the season to take on Baylor and looking to build off the biggest win in the Brennan era.
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Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.
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