Arizona overcame a disastrous start to beat Northern Illinois - here are 3 takeaways
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It was a dominant, historic Saturday night for Brent Brennan, Noah Fifita, and the Arizona Wildcats, who dismantled Northern Illinois, 42-17, at Casino Del Sol Stadium to move to 2-1 on the season.
Noah Fifita officially set Arizona's all-time passing yards record, with his 325 yards on the night giving him 10,017 for his career, putting him ahead of Nick Foles and cementing his status as one of the best to ever wear the Wildcats uniform.
It was a great moment, in a dominant win, but fans were not treated to an easy victory out of the gate. A disastrous start to the game had Arizona losing heading into the second quarter, and serious struggles in the run game are cause for concern heading into Week 4 at Washington State.
Below are three key takeaways from Arizona's win over Northern Illinois on Saturday night.
1. Arizona's disastrous start can't become a trend
After jumping all over NAU in Week 1, and dominating the first half against BYU, Arizona did the exact opposite on Saturday night. In fact, it truly couldn't have been much worse of a start for the Wildcats, who gave up a field goal on the opening drive to a team that was shut completely out in Week 1 against Iowa.
Then, Arizona went three-and-out on their first drive, with Fifita taking two sacks, before an ugly punt from Chase Ridley gave the Huskies excellent field position - which they instantly capitalized on when quarterback Taron Dickens threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Cam Thompson, making it 10-0 in favor of NIU just six minutes into the ballgame.
Arizona eventually settled down, scoring 35 unanswered points before NIU scored again late in the third quarter, but it was certainly not an inspiring effort early on from the Wildcats - especially coming off last week's disappointing second half against BYU.
2. Arizona's run game remains a major concern
Fifita was slinging the ball all night long, racking up 325+ passing yards for the first time since a 41-13 blowout win over Oklahoma State in Week 4 of last season.
The easy dominance from Arizona's star quarterback masked what was an ugly night on the ground, particularly in the early going, for the Wildcats.
Ultimately Arizona finished with 26 carries for 83 yards, but they had an astonishly bad 11 yards on the ground in the first half, averaging 0.8 yards per carry. Even with last year's leading rusher, Ismail Mahdi, back in the mix, Arizona could not generate anything on the ground.
It's hard to not be concerned about that kind of performance against any opponent, but against a team that surrendered 286 rushing yards to Iowa in Week 1 it's downright scary.
The Wildcats will have to figure out how to get the run game going, because with Mahdi, Kedrick Reescano, Antwan Roberts, and Quincy Craig, there is no excuse to be this porous against NIU three weeks into the season.
3. Caleb 'Jet' Smith announces himself on special teams
Caleb 'Jet' Smith is among the most heralded true freshmen on this Arizona roster, and he showed exactly why on a punt return in the second quarter - scampering 69 yards for his first career touchdown and Arizona's first punt return TD since Shun Brown in 2017 against UTEP.
Smith didn't get involved in the passing game - coach Brennan made it clear they are slowplaying the young star - but his work on the special teams is a phenomenal sign of things to come in Tucson.
Arizona is on the road again in Week 4, taking on the Washington State Cougars in Pullman on Saturday, Sep. 26. The game is set to kickoff at 4:30 PM PT.
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