How Arizona dominated Cincinnati in Big 12 home opener
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The Arizona Wildcats came into Saturday night's battle against the Cincinnati Bearcats hoping to answer two major questions: can they avoid another sluggish start, and can they stop Cincinnati's elite rushing attack?
The Wildcats emphatically answered both questions, storming down the field for a touchdown to open up both the first and third quarters - while completely shutting down Cincinnati's run game in a dominant 34-7 win at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Week 5.
Cincinnati was shut out until the 1:56 mark in the fourth quarter when JC France scored on a QB sneak, further highlighting just how dominant this performance was for the Wildcats.
Arizona (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) sent a message to the rest of the conference that they are still very much in the championship picture, dominating both sides of the ball even after losing receivers Chris Hunter and Gio Richardson to injury in the first quarter.
Starting Fast
After multiple weeks with incredibly slow starts, the Wildcats did the exact opposite on Saturday night in Tucson. The opening drive was surgical for Arizona, who marched 75 yards in ten plays with Kedrick Reescano finding the end zone on a ten-yard run. Fifita went 5-6 for 55 yards on the drive, completely carving up Cincinnati's defense and putting the Bearcats on their heels early.
Arizona's defense then came out and punched Cincinnati in the mouth, forcing a three-and-out where the Bearcats gained -3 yards before punting it away.
Even when things seemed disastrous, Arizona didn't break. On the next drive a scrambling Fifita threw an ill-advised pass off his back foot on third-and-10 that was picked off by MJ Cannon, giving Cincinnati the ball on Arizona's 32-yard line. But a sack on third-and-6 forced the Bearcats into a 53-yard field goal try which clanged off the goalpost, keeping Arizona in the lead and wiping away Fifita's third first quarter interception of the season.
Arizona started the second half in a similar fashion to how they started the first: forcing a punt and then driving 80 yards and scoring on an eight yard run from Fifita to make it 17-0. A 70-yard run by Antwan Roberts ended in a fumble that was then pushed out of the end zone by Cincinnati's Antwan Peek, giving Arizona the ball at the six yard line in a massive momentum swing for the home team.
Arizona added insult to injury with an outstanding third quarter drive that ended on a 24-yard strike from Fifita to Brandon Phelps, who lept his way into the end zone to give the Wildcats a 24-0 lead and effectively sealed Cincinnati's fate before the fourth quarter even began.
Arizona's run defense was otherworldly
The story coming into this game was how Arizona would hold up against Cincinnati's elite, top ten rushing offense. Arizona answered the call in jaw dropping fashion, holding the Bearcats to 74 total rushing yards - with stars Gi'Bran Payne (11 carries, 24 yards), and Cole Tabb (6 carries, 19 yards) completely stymied by Danny Gonzales' defense.
The Bearcats had just 47 rushing yards in the first half, and incredibly the Wildcats came out even stiffer in the third quarter, holding Cincinnati to just six yards on the ground and expanding the lead from 10-0 to 24-0 thanks to their suffocating frontline.
Cincinnati came into this matchup averaging 270 rushing yards per game, making Arizona's performance one of the biggest head turners of the season - and a message sent to the rest of the conference that they are still very much a contender.
Arizona ran the ball right through Cincinnati's chest
The flip side was a truly dominant performance from Arizona offensively, both on the ground and in the air.
But let's talk about the ground game. Even after finding out on Friday that Ismail Mahdi - last year's leading rusher - would be ineligible for this game, the Wildcats still executed a beautiful gameplan on the ground. Antwan Roberts (5 carries, 87 yards), and Quincy Craig (7 carries, 77 yards) were monsters, helping Arizona finish with a season-high 238 rushing yards on the night, good for an obscene 5.8 yards per carry.
The Gio Richardson injury didn't seem to slow Arizona's offense down all that much, and playing with a lead for basically the entire game allowed the Wildcats to attack on the ground - forcing Cincinnati to pack the box and then giving Fifita room to let loose.
It was a beautiful gameplan and nearly flawless execution offensively - a great sight to see after some ugliness the last two weeks against NIU and Washington State.
Third Down Dominance
Arizona moved the ball seemingly effortlessly on Saturday night, frequently finding themselves in third and short situations which they executed time and time again. Ultimately the Wildcats finished 7-16 on third down, compared to a 7-16 rate for the Bearcats.
A veteran team, playing at home, did exactly what they should do against a younger team playing its first road game - securing a dominant, comfortable conference win and giving themselves some momentum heading into a long road trip to Morgantown to take on West Virginia next week.
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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.
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