Arizona Football Talk: Observations on UA

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 prospective sports there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats excelling outside of Tucson.

Coming into the game, Arizona (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) felt like it had momentum with an impressive start to the season and getting healthy during the bye-week. However, on the first drive of the game, the Wildcats marched down the field looking for points but missed a 46-yard field goal by kicker Michael Salgado-Medina, which seemed to set the tone of the game against No. 14 Iowa State.

Arizona, found itself in an early 22-0 hole against Iowa State due to missed opportunities, sloppy play and unforced errors. The Wildcats would score right before half making it a 15-point game.

Arizona Wildcats running back Ismail Mahdi (21)runs with the ball against Iowa state during the first quarter in the Big-12 conference showdown on Sept. 27, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Still, the Wildcats fell 39-14 against Iowa State as the early errors and slow start to the second half proved to be too much for Arizona to overcome.

Arizona’s defense had been one of the better units nationally coming into the game holding opponents to 8.7 PPG, which was tied for sixth in college football. But, the Wildcats’ defense clearly hit a pump in the road against the Cyclones.

In the first three games of the season, Arizona had done a good job of eliminating explosive plays with the only one that really stood out being the 75-yard touchdown run by KSU.

Through the first three quarters against Iowa State, the Wildcats allowed SIX explosive plays with all of them coming through the air against Arizona’s secondary.

Iowa State Cyclones' quarterback Rocco Becht (3) passes the ball against Arkansas during the first quarter in the Big-12 conference showdown on Sept. 27, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht was able to go 14 of 20 passing for 243 yards with most of his yardage coming on those six plays.

Now, although Becht was able to get the job done through the air, he did most of his scoring damage on the ground scoring on the 1-yard line against the Wildcats’ defense three times.

Meanwhile, Arizona couldn’t get off the field when it needed it most as Iowa State went 6 of 12 on third down conversion. Plus, the Wildcats allowed the Cyclones to go 2-for-2 on fourth down conversions.

Iowa State Cyclones' running back Carson Hansen (26) runs with the ball after making a catch around Arizona Wildcats linebacker Taye Brown (6) during the first quarter in the Big-12 conference showdown on Sept. 27, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Everything seemed to spiral out of control for Arizona, which unlike the Cyclones struggled on third downs going an underwhelming 4 of 13 for the game.

When looking at the stats, Arizona was able to move the ball and put up yardage against the Cyclones’ defense. However, the Wildcats’ struggles on third and fourth down plays caused Seth Doege’s unit to come up empty in critical situations.

Despite Arizona being able to come up with a turnover in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats came up empty again late in the game with an interception thrown by Fifita in the red zone to seal the deal.

Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell gets congratulation from Arizona football coach Brent Brennan after winning over Arizona in the Big-12 conference showdown on Sept. 27, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Arizona is clearly a better team than last season but the Wildcats put together another poor road performance in the Brent Brennan era and now have lost 4-straight road games in blowout fashion dating back to last season.

Now with the game behind Arizona, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have come up with three areas the Wildcats need to improve upon before their next game.

Three Areas of Improvement

Noah Fifita’s Accuracy

When Fifita first became the starting quarterback of Arizona back during the 2023 season, he was one of the most accurate passers in the nation, completing 72% of his passing attempts. Then, he struggled under Dino Babers and saw his completion percentage drop to 61% in 2024.

Although he has seen improvements under Doege, Fifita is completing a career low 59% of his attempts coming into the Iowa State game. However, following the loss, he is up 62% on 126 passes.

Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (1) passes the ball over Iowa State Cyclones' linebacker Carson Willich (14) during the third quarter in the Big-12 conference showdown on Sept. 27, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Still, even on some completions, Fifita has thrown behind his receivers causing them to slow down and resulting in a short pick up instead of an explosive play.

If Arizona’s offense is going to take the next step, Fifita needs to start putting the ball on the money so his playmakers can make explosive gains.

Arizona’s Secondary

One of the best units on the Wildcats’ team this season has been the defensive secondary, which is filled with veteran guys and led by safety Genesis Smith. Arizona had held two of its first three opponents to under 100 yards passing.

Iowa State Cyclones' wide receiver Chase Sowell (0) breaks a tackle from Arizona Wildcats defensive back Genesis Smith (12) after making a catch during the fourth quarter in the Big-12 conference showdown on Sept. 27, 2025, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa. | Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

However, against Iowa State, the Wildcats allowed SIX explosive plays in the passing game and watched Becht rack up 243 yards passing while going 14 of 20 on his throws.

Arizona will need to clean things up in the secondary in order to get the defensive unit back on track after giving up 39 points to the Cyclones.

Keyan Burnett

After coming back to Arizona from Kansas, tight end Keyan Burnett was expected to potentially have a major impact on the Wildcats’ offense. However, Burnett struggled staying healthy during the offseason and missed the first two games of the year.

In the game against Iowa State, Burnett got a fair amount of snaps and even hauled in one catch for five yards. Still, when it came to blocking, he missed several blocks that led to short gains, or negative plays for Arizona.

Burnett clearly needs to get tougher when it comes to blocking, which may come as he gets settled into his role with this offense.

The Wildcats will now head back home and will be looking to clean things up as the team gets ready to take on Oklahoma State with a 12 p.m. (MST) kickoff on TNT.

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