Arizona looks to bounce back against Northern Illinois after second-half collapse
In this story:
Brent Brennan and the Arizona Wildcats are back home in Week 3, hosting new Mountain West team Northern Illinois at Casino Del Sol Stadium on Saturday evening.
The game will kickoff at 7:30 PM PT and will be broadcast on TNT.
Arizona (1-1) is coming in with extra motivation after a scoreless second half cost them a road win over BYU in Week 2, giving the Wildcats plenty of questions to answer.
Star wide receiver Gio Richardson won't suit up against the Huskies, and who steps up in the receiver room is a big question for coach Brennan's team after the passing game fell apart last week in Provo.
Below is a look at a few pregame notes, plus a score prediction, as Arizona gets ready for its second home game of the 2026 season:
Arizona looks to get its offense back on track
Noah Fifita has a chance to break a hallowed program record on Saturday, as he currently sits just 320 passing yards away from overtaking Nick Foles for first place in school history.
It's been nearly a year since Fifita tossed 320+ yards, and while NIU isn't a great team, they do have a history of limiting passing yards - holding opponents to under 200 yards in the air nine times dating back to last season and ranking 12th in that category last year. And in a game where the Wildcats should be playing with a lead the majority of the time, Fifita may have to wait until Week 4 at Washington State to break Foles' record.
Limiting turnovers has been a big point of emphasis for Arizona this season, and they'll face a tough challenge in NIU - which has recorded an interception in each of the first two games this year - extending that streak to four games dating back to last season.
However, NIU has really struggled to defend the run game, giving up nearly 300 yards on the ground to Iowa in Week 1, and with the Wildcats getting last year's leading rusher - Ismail Mahdi - back in the mix for this contest, alongside Kedrick Reescano and Antwan Roberts, this should be a dominant performance between the tackles for Arizona.
Arizona vs. Northern Illinois score prediction
Arizona opened as -34.5 point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook, one of the biggest spreads in the Big 12 this week. The Wildcats are 0-2 against the spread this year; however, NIU is 1-1 after a narrow loss to Illinois State covered in Week 2.
There isn't much mystery about who will win on Saturday, with the real question being if Fifita can break the passing yards record or if he'll give way to backup Sawyer Anderson as he did in Week 1 against NAU.
Ultimately I think Arizona will cruise to a victory here, but the streak of failing to cover will continue.
Prediction: Arizona 40, NIU 10
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Andy Patton is a college basketball writer with deep ties to both Gonzaga and Arizona. A Gonzaga alumnus who graduated in 2013, he has hosted the Locked On Zags podcast covering Gonzaga basketball since 2021 and has co-hosted the Locked On College Basketball podcast since 2022. His years covering the Bulldogs have also given him extensive familiarity with Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, who spent more than two decades on Mark Few’s staff at Gonzaga before taking over the Wildcats in 2021. Andy has worked in sports media since 2017, with experience covering nearly every major sport. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for USA TODAY from 2017–21, where he also spent time covering the USC Trojans and Oregon Ducks, and previously served as lead writer for College Sports Wire. He has also covered the NBA, NHL and MLB for various TEGNA outlets, including KREM in Spokane, 12News in Phoenix and KING 5 in Seattle. Andy now lives in Spokane, Washington, with his wife, daughter and dog.
Follow AndyPattonCBB