Noah Fifita breaks Arizona record for career passing yards
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On Saturday night, in front of 40,000 plus home fans at Casino Del Sol Stadium, Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita permanently etched his name atop the Wildcats' record book.
A 7-yard pass to Isaiah Mizell in the fourth quarter gave Fifita 326 passing yards on the night and 10,018 for his career, putting him ahead of the legendary Nick Foles for first place in Arizona history.
Fifita is now the Arizona all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns (76) and his 861 career completions (as of this writing) put him just 72 behind Foles for that record as well, which he should get in the next few weeks.
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— Arizona Football (@ArizonaFBall) September 20, 2026
Noah Fifita has officially become Arizona Football's all-time leader in career passing yards. pic.twitter.com/vanYDZnhJs
How we got here
It's certainly worth noting that Fifita is in his fifth season at Arizona - while Foles set the program records in three years - but that doesn't take away from the accomplishment. If anything, a player choosing to stay at the same school for five years in the NIL and transfer portal era is incredibly rare on its own, and should be a point of pride for both Fifita and Arizona.
The 5'10 quarterback from Anaheim has come a long, long way since his brief three-game cameo in 2022, taking over as the Wildcats starter the following year and posting a tidy 25-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio while Arizona went 10-3 and won the Alamo Bowl in Jedd Fisch's final season in Tucson.
His first year with coach Brent Brennan was a slog all around, and Fifita was part of the issue with a conference-leading 12 interceptions along with just 18 touchdowns and a career-low 60.5% completion rate.
He improved dramatically in last year's 9-win campaign, and proved his loyalty to Brennan and Arizona by returning for a fifth year in the hopes of leading this team to another double-digit win season and a potential bowl victory.
Putting on quite the performance
Fifita put on a hyper-efficient performance Saturday night, completing 30-of-33 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns, along with a 30 yard score on the ground which came three plays after he tied Foles for the record, giving the Wildcats a 42-10 lead with 11:38 left in the quarter.
With the record, and the game, well in hand, Fifita gave way to backup QB Sawyer Anderson for the rest of the contest so he can stay healthy and prepared for the meat of Arizona's schedule - which starts Week 4 in Pullman against Washington State.
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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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