No. 25 Arizona Routs Iowa State 39-3 as Noah Fifita Throws for 308 Yards

Two plays. That is how long it took No. 25 Arizona to tell Iowa State what kind of homecoming night this was going to be. Noah Fifita found Isaiah Mizell for a 71-yard touchdown on the second snap of the game, and the Wildcats never let the Cyclones up for air in a 39-3 rout at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson on Saturday, Oct. 24.

It was Arizona's first game as a ranked team this season. The Wildcats had moved into the AP Top 25 during an open week, and they played like a team that wanted to prove the voters right. They led 15-0 inside the first nine minutes, 25-3 at halftime, and outgained Iowa State 477 yards to 221.

Arizona is now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12, with five straight wins. Iowa State falls to 3-4 and 1-3 in league play.

A fast start and no letup

The opening touchdown set the tone, and the play after it showed that Arizona had come with a few ideas. Henry Gabalis threw the two-point conversion pass, and the Wildcats led 8-0.

Arizona went right back down the field on its next possession. Quincy Craig finished that drive with a 6-yard touchdown run, and it was 15-0 with the first quarter not even nine minutes old.

Iowa State's only points of the night came on a 40-yard field goal by Kyle Konrady in the first half. Arizona kept adding on, and Kedrick Reescano's 5-yard touchdown run with 1:55 left in the second quarter sent the Wildcats to the locker room with a 25-3 lead.

The first-half numbers told the story. Arizona piled up 321 yards before the break. Iowa State had 112. Fifita was carving up the secondary, the run game was finding the end zone, and the defense was winning at the line of scrimmage. By halftime, the only real question left was how big the final margin would be.

The turning point came early

There was no single swing in this one, because Iowa State never really got close enough to swing anything. The closest thing to a turning point came on the Cyclones' best chances to get back in the game.

Iowa State crossed the Arizona 40 three times and came away with just the one field goal. On one of those trips, the Cyclones went for it on fourth-and-3 at the Arizona 22, and Cam Chapa made an open-field tackle to stop the play short. Quarterback Jaylen Raynor also lost a fumble on a pitch while trying to escape a sack.

Those are the moments a road team has to cash in when it is already behind, and Iowa State could not do it. Every empty trip made the hill steeper.

After halftime, Iowa State never crossed midfield. The third quarter was scoreless, which only made the Arizona lead feel bigger as the clock ran.

Fifita put the finishing touch on the night with 6:41 left in the game, hitting Gabalis for a 40-yard touchdown. That was Fifita's last throw of the night. Backup quarterback Sawyer Anderson came in and scored on a 4-yard run to make the final 39-3.

Fifita, Mizell and a first-year pass rusher

Fifita was sharp from start to finish, completing 27 of 34 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns. Those two scoring throws pushed Fifita's career total to 91 touchdown passes, the most among active FBS players.

Mizell was the main beneficiary. The receiver caught eight passes for 134 yards, including the 71-yarder that opened the scoring.

Gabalis had a night worth remembering too: a two-point conversion pass and a 40-yard touchdown catch, which is not a line you see in many box scores.

On defense, first-year linebacker Dash Fifita was everywhere. Dash Fifita finished with 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. Malcolm Hartzog also got home for a sack.

The defense shut down a strong run game

The most telling number from this game might be on the Iowa State side of the ledger. The Cyclones came to Tucson with a 23-game streak of rushing for at least 100 yards. Arizona ended it. Iowa State ran 31 times for 52 yards.

For an offense built around its ground game, that was a problem with no easy fix. It put a heavy load on the Iowa State passing game, and it never found a rhythm. Raynor completed 8 of 10 passes for 106 yards. Connor Moberly took over at halftime and went 7 of 17 for 63 yards.

Aiden Flora, who entered the game ninth in the country at 113.3 rushing yards per game, was held to 36 yards on 12 carries. Flora, Vince Benetti and Ty Claiborne each caught three passes.

There was one bright spot for the Cyclones on defense. Linebacker Sullivan Schlimgen made 15 tackles, including a sack and two tackles for loss. According to Iowa State, Schlimgen became the first Cyclone with 15 tackles in a game since Beau Freyler in 2023. Carson Willich added 10 tackles.

The stats that matter

Arizona had 477 total yards to Iowa State's 221. The Wildcats did most of their damage early, with 321 yards in the first half, and then leaned on their defense to finish the job.

Iowa State's 52 rushing yards, and a second half in which it never crossed midfield, explain the score as well as anything. The Cyclones are now 0-4 against ranked teams this season.

For the full numbers, see the Iowa State box score (opens in a new tab) and Arizona's game recap (opens in a new tab). Iowa State's view of the night is in its own recap (opens in a new tab).

What it means and what's next

For Arizona, the milestones keep stacking up. This was a complete performance on homecoming, with the offense hitting big plays early and the defense taking away the one thing Iowa State does best. The 6-1 start is the program's best since 2014. The five-game winning streak gives the Wildcats back-to-back seasons with streaks that long for the first time since 1992 and 1993. And with the win, Arizona is bowl eligible in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2014 and 2015.

The next test was a big one: a trip to Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 31, in a Big 12 matchup between ranked teams.

For Iowa State, the road does not get easier. Next on the schedule for the Cyclones was a home game against No. 24 Oklahoma State on Halloween night, Oct. 31, followed by a trip to Baylor on Nov. 7. A team that has built its identity on running the football will need to find that again quickly. The Cyclones have already lost to Utah, BYU and now Arizona, and the margin for error in the Big 12 race is shrinking with every week.

The last word

Brent Brennan had one more stop to make after the homecoming win. Arizona's head coach went to Dirtbag's and bought shots for a bar full of Wildcats fans.

"I think it's important that if you want people to show up for you, you have to show up for them," Brennan told Arizona Sports.

He also admitted the gesture came at a price. "It was an expensive five minutes, but it was a good five minutes," Brennan said. "It was great. There was a lot of excitement."

On a night when his team did almost everything right, that seems like a fair trade.

Sources: Arizona Athletics recap and game center, Iowa State Athletics recap and box score, The Associated Press, Field Level Media and Arizona Sports. More college football coverage on Undrafted.