Evaluating Noah Fifita Through Seven Games of the Season

The Arizona Wildcats are now 4-3 following a two-game skid, dropping heartbreaking one-possession matchups to BYU 33-27 in double overtime and Houston 31-28 on a walk-off field goal with seconds remaining.

With those losses comes the bitter pain of being so close to a win, but not doing enough to get the job done. Head coach Brent Brennan knows all too well what that feels like and will do whatever it takes to make sure his team does not feel that pain again for the remainder of the 2025 season.

"When you lose two games that way and it's so hard and it's so challenging, the thing that we talk about with the players is what choice do you have?" Brennan said. "

"You want to choose to believe you can or you can't. And so with this team, this team believes they can. And that's the way they showed up for work yesterday, and that's the way they'll show up for work tomorrow."

... Helping our players navigate that and doing those things the right way and continuing to live redline and continuing to dive into our process is what's given us a chance to play better football. And if we stay the course, we will get it. We have to keep pounding the rock. Eventually, it's going to break."

With the Wildcats heading into the bye week, they will have plenty of time to correct any blemishes they have had so far.

Leader of the offense

Quarterback Noah Fifita is the leader of the offense and has made leaps and bounds to improve into the dangerous dual-threat passer that he is today.

He is part of the reason the Arizona passing offense ranks fourth in the Big 12, finding a multitude of receivers downfield and extending plays with his feet.

Noah Fifita dropped an absolute DIME to Chris Hunter to give Arizona the lead! pic.twitter.com/5X4PagvuvH
— Arizona Wildcats On SI (@ArizonaOnSI) October 12, 2025

The 5-foot-10, 186-pound junior has thrown for 1829 yards through the air, scored 17 touchdowns and four interceptions, making him the third-best quarterback in the Big 12.

Grade: B+

Fifita receives a B+ due to his big arm capability that he has shown throughout the season and decision-making, which has been much improved from last year.

Fifita showed just how accurate he can place the ball in the last game against Houston, where he went 24-for-26 with 269 yards and two touchdowns.

Oct 18, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (1) hands off the ball to running back Ismail Mahdi (21) during the first quarter at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

He has also shown how much better he has gotten at finding open receivers, as he has completed a pass to 16 different catchers over seven games.

What to work on

There have been times throughout the season when Fifita struggled with matching his receivers on the timing of the ball.

Sep 27, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (1) looks to throw against the Iowa State Cyclones during the second half at Jack Trice Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-Imagn Images | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images

The Iowa State game, for example, was where Fifita struggled to throw the ball in front of his open targets, which is a big reason why he threw two interceptions to the Cyclones.

Fifita made considerable strides to become a better quarterback than he was in 2024, and he will have extra time to sharpen his skills with the bye week before taking on the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder next Saturday.

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