The Truth About Arizona Football’s Current State

Arizona has been able to start the season on the right foot with an impressive 4-1 record

Oct 4, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Former professional and University of Arizona football player Rob Gronkowski walks down the Wildcat Walk with head coach Brent Brennan before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Welcome! To another edition of the Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast featuring your host Troy Hutchison, who will be delivering a daily podcast discussing everything happening surrounding Arizona athletics, giving you an inside look at all the programs on campus.

Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years, with his coverage spanning all across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their respective sports, there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats' excelling outside of Tucson.

Arizona wanted to get back on the right track after an underwhelming first season under Brent Brennan where the team finished 4-8 and missed a bowl game despite preseason high expectations.

Oct 4, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Gio Richardson (5) celebrates during the third quarter of the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Last time on the field, Arizona (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) came out flat on the road against No. 14 Iowa State, falling behind 22 points before finding the end zone before half. The theme of game week against Oklahoma State for the Wildcats was starting on the right foot and getting back to basics.

Well, the Wildcats were able to flip the script from last week and jump out 14-3 over OSU (1-4, 0-2) with a balanced attack that saw an even split of 35 rushing yards and 35 passing yards on the first drive of the game.

From that point on, it was all Arizona as the Wildcats were able to get back on track with a solid 41-13 win over Oklahoma State.

Oct 4, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Tre Spivey (12) celebrates after a play during the third quarter of the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

The breakout star of the game for Arizona was wide receiver Tre Spivey, who was questionable coming into the day with an unknown injury but gave it a go anyway.

Spivey hauled in three catches for 80 yards and managed to score the first two touchdowns of the game to help the team get the offense going.

As a whole, the Wildcats saw six receivers record a catch, showing off the depth of the group that has been heavily criticized for their 11 dropped passes coming into the game.

Getting the ball to the playmakers fell on the shoulders of quarterback Noah Fifita, who was looking to have a bounce-back game himself after struggling against ISU.

Against OSU, Fifita had his ups with five touchdown passes and his downs with two turnovers that slowed down the offensive unit.

Oct 4, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (1) looks to pass the ball against the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the first quarter at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Still, Fifita was able to pass for 376 yards while going 28 of 38 on his passing attempts, which is an improvement from not only last week but from what we have seen this season.

The defensive unit for Arizona felt like it made mental mistakes against ISU last week and wanted to get back on the field. Now, the Wildcats' defense was able to get stingy against a Cowboys team that is going through a defensive change with a new coordinator.

Danny Gonzales’ unit was able to break out the turnover sword three times thanks to an interception, a fumble recovery and a game-sealing pick that led to the success on the field.

Although we saw Arizona get back on track against the Cowboys, there was still a unit that struggled, and it was once again the special teams squad that saw another missed field goal by Michael Salgado-Medina, a muffed punt (Arizona recovered), and a poor punt.

Oct 4, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Chris Hunter (11) celebrates a touchdown with running back Quincy Craig (24) during the third quarter of the game at Arizona Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Still, that was the lone and major dark cloud from what was a highly successful game for the majority of the Wildcats' defensive and offensive units.

Arizona will stay at home as the Wildcats will host No. 18 BYU (5-0, 2-0) with a 5 p.m. (MST) kickoff time, which will be televised on ESPN2.

Now, as the team gets ready for the game against BYU, Arizona has heard the news of the kickoff time for its game against Houston on Oct. 18, which will start at 9 a.m. (MST) on FS1.

This marks the first 9 a.m. start time for an Arizona game since the 2018 season, when the Kevin Sumlin-coached Wildcats team went into Houston and got smacked 45-18 in a non-conference game.

Please be sure to share your thoughts on the Wildcats’ early start time against Houston. To do so, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.