First Look at Wildcats' Next Opponent, Weber State
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The Arizona Wildcats go into week two after a convincing 40-6 win over the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors that saw the offense display a dangerous run game and the defense generate five turnovers.
- "I think we have some room to grow there," Head Coach Brent Brennan said on the success of his team.
- "I think that part of it, we had a couple guys who were unavailable tonight, who are impactful players at that position. I think we also saw some guys do some stuff. We saw some freshmen get in there and mix it up and make some plays. And I think the more people that we can get on the field. And the more confidence Noah has for distributing the football makes it harder to defend us."
Arizona was without its starters, defensive backs Treydan Stukes and Marquis Groves-Killebrew, offensive tackle Siaosi "Rhino" Tapa'atoutai and wide receivers Kris Hutson and Chris Hunter. Other notable players sitting out were linebacker Riley Wilson and tight end Keyan Burnett. Starting tight end Tyler Powell also went down on the first play of the game with an apparent lower leg injury.
The Hawaii offense did its best to keep Arizona off the field and control the time of possession, but it was not enough as it failed to put points on the board. Only two field goals would come out of the slow-paced drives. By the end of the game, Hawaii had 35:44 minutes of possession compared to Arizona's 24:16.
Quarterback Noah Fifita went 13-for-23, 161 yards and threw a touchdown to tight end Sam Powell in the first drive of the third quarter. He dispersed the ball to eight different receivers as well. While Fifita did appear to struggle to get things rolling, he settled down and began controlling the up-tempo pace that the Seth Doege offense is known for.
Quincy Craig showed off his speed while Kedrick Reecano displayed the power in the run game. Craig broke off a long 54-yard touchdown as part of his seven-carry, 125-yard night. Reescano had 10 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown. Ismail Mahdi ran six times for 23 yards and a touchdown.
- "I don't think Quincy's success surprised any of us," Brennan said.
- "I think even for you guys that have been to practice with some frequency, you've seen him really be dynamic running the football. He had an incredible week of practice, really, attacked the work and showed up on game day. That's, I think that's one of those examples where preparation meets opportunity and he made the most of it."
Linebacker Taye Brown came up with an interception. Defensive backs Gavin Hunter and Jack Luttrell were credited with the other two. Chase Kennedy forced a fumble that was recovered by Julian Savaiinaea. Hawaii attempted a fourth-down conversion, but it was stuffed.
A look into Weber State
Weber State, on the other hand, struggled to put up points and generate any offensive or defensive momentum against James Madison in a 45-10 blowout.
On offense, WBSU mustered up just 148 yards of total offense-64 yards on the ground and 84 through the air. On the defensive side, Weber State gave up 458 yards of total offense to the Dukes.
Sophomore transfer quarterback Jackson Gilkey was 10-of-24 passing for 84 yards and a touchdown. Junior wide receiver Marcus Chretien led all other receivers with two catches for 22 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Noah Kjar had the only touchdown, a 14-yard catch in the endzone in the second quarter.
TOUCHDOWN WILDCATS!@Jackson_Gilkey with a 14-yard TD pass to @noahkjar_08 gets the Wildcats on the board! #WeberStateGreat pic.twitter.com/Gej11uAkF6
— Weber State Football (@weberstatefb) August 30, 2025
Weber State, an FCS program out of Ogden, UT, faces another challenging test in Arizona for its second game as part of a three-game road trip. It is the first time the two programs will meet on the football field.
Third-year head coach Mickey Mental has a tall task ahead of him to get the program back into winning form after starting his first two years with a 10-13 record. Weber State was a competitive FCS-level school that made it to the playoffs five years in a row from 2016 to 2020.
The last time it was in the playoffs was 2022, Jay Hill's last year as head coach of the program before becoming BYU's defensive coordinator/associate head coach.
WSU lost a lot of its key players from last year to the transfer portal, such as Tennessee Tech quarterback RIchie Munoz, who threw for 24 touchdowns and six interceptions in two years with the (WSU) Wildcats.
Arizona will look to disperse the ball to its many receivers and utilize the strong run game that it displayed against Hawaii to come out wth another wide margin win. The aggressive playstyle on defense should overwhelm WSU's offense to generate a plethora of turnovers, much like it did against Hawaii.
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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.