3 Offensive Strategies Arizona Must Execute to Win Against Cincinnati
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The Arizona Wildcats overcame a 17-7 deficit to win their sixth game of the season, solidifying their spot to play in a bowl game after the regular season for the second time in three years, the first time in head coach Brent Brennan's tenure.
Offensive coordinator Seth Doege dialed up the perfect calls on the final drive of the game, utilizing Noah Fifita's mobile abilty to get close to the end zone and finishing it off with a run call that Quincy Craig took up the middle and scorched past the Kansas defense 24 yards to the end zone to put the Wildcats up 24-20, which was the final score of the game.
Despite the exhuberance, the Wildcats aren't done yet and will look to finish the season with a positive record in the Big 12, starting with potentially upsetting the No. 25-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats at Nippert Stadium this Saturday.
If Arizona is to leave Cincinnati with a huge win, it will need to do these three things on offense to put points on the board and outscore the Bearcats.
Rely on a balanced attack
Through nine games, the Wildcats have shown that they have a high-powered offense that can both run the football and pass it to get down the field in quick and efficient style.
Arizona has been able to mix things up even more as the season has gone along due to the ability of Fifita to trust his legs and take off, be it on a designed run or scrambling to extend a play.
The Wildcats' rushing attack has been a nightmare for defense to deal with as well. Both Ismail Mahdi and Quincy Craig were named as Big 12 Offensive Players of the Week for their efforts from the backfield. Mahdi earned it by carving up the Kansas State defense for 189 yards, while Craig did so by scoring two touchdowns against Kansas, the final one winning the game.
Fifita also earned recognition by throwing for 213 yards and four touchdowns on just 11 pass completions in a huge win over Colorado. Arizona will need to use a balanced attack against a Cincinnati defense that is not to be taken lightly.
Win up front
The key to a successful offense begins at the trenches, and Arizona's big men up front are more than capable of dominating the line of scrimmage through four quarters of a football game.
The offensive line is a huge reason why Arizona's offense has been so difficult to deal with, making it the sixth-best scoring unit in the Big 12.
While the rushing attack has been potent lately, there is room for improvement when it comes to protecting Noah Fifita on pass plays, as he was sacked five times last Saturday against Kansas.
The Wildcats will need to protect the quarterback against Cincinnati's always-physical defensive line if they want to come away with a victory this Saturday.
Fifita must trust himself
There is no question that Fififta is a talented quarterback and when he leaves the program, his name will be brought up in debates of the best quarterback to grace Arizona Stadium.
In the last two road games that Noah Fifita has played in, he combined for 482 yards and six touchdowns with an average completion percentage of 75.1%.
Fifita struggled slightly on homecoming weekend against Kansas because he wasn't trusting his progression or his reads, in Doege's words.
Cincinnati has a subpar passing defense that ranks 13th in the Big 12, which Fifita and his fleet of speedy wide receivers could exploit on gameday.
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.