TUCSON, AZ – In the battle of fifth-year quarterbacks at Casino Del Sol Stadium, it was 23-year-old Noah Fifita carving up the Cincinnati Bearcatsfor a second straight season. This year it was a 34-7 thrashing, giving the Bearcatstheir first loss of the season
UC defensive lineman Drew Logan sacked Fifita on Arizona's first play, then Fifita led a 75-yard drive to give the Wildcats the lead, something they would keep the entire game.
Fifita was sacked three times and picked off by MJ Cannon, but the Bearcats couldn't capitalize on scoring opportunities in the first half, leaving 10 points behind on a missed field goal and an incomplete pass to tight end Gavin
Grover on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line.
Whereas the Bearcats had been having dynamic second halves, on this night at Casino Del Sol Stadium, it was Arizona smelling blood and putting the hammer down.
"We just didn't execute to the level that we wanted to," UC leading tackler (12 for the night) Jasper Beeler said. "I don't think the altitude or playing this late had anything to do with it."
Beeler said it was Fifita's ability to extend plays that did the Bearcats in for the night. Arizona ran 78 plays to 57 for UC and led time of possession 35:39 to 24:21.
Fifita's 25-for-37 passing day for 284 yards and two touchdowns was offset by 238 rushing yards compared to a paltry 74 for the Bearcats. Arizona averaged nearly six yards per carry, with UC struggling at 2.6 yards.
Noah Fifita doesn't lose much at home
It was the 39th start for 23-year-old Noah Fifita, Arizona's all-time leader in passing touchdowns and passing yards. Fifita doesn't lose much at home, with the last defeat coming last year in double overtime to BYU.
Fifita came into the game with 10 passing games of 300 yards or more and was the Big 12's leader in completion percentage at 75.6% to JC French's 74.5%. He has now thrown touchdown passes in 15 straight games.
Difference for UC vs. Fifita compared to Kansas State's Avery Johnson
"He's a passer of the football; he has been for his whole career," UC Bearcats coach Scott Satterfield said of Fifita. "If you leave him some open windows, he's going to take advantage of that, and they did. I thought we did a pretty good job of containing the down-the-field throws; a lot of it was under 10 yards, hitting those windows."
Satterfield said Fifita's eyes are "always up" and some of his third-down conversions were backbreakers. Arizona was 9-for-14 on third down compared to UC's 7-for-16.
JC French with rough night
It was the 31st start for UC quarterback JC French IV and his fifth with UC. French came in with five career games of 300 yards or more.
Though he did score and was UC's rushing leader with 29 yards, it wasn't a stellar passing game at 16-for-29 for 153 yards. His final quarterback rating was 99.5 compared to Fifita's 144.5.
On an upnote, French has still not thrown an interception, but there hasn't been a plethora of downfield throws.
"I have full faith in the coaches," French said. "We have to execute better as players. As quarterback, there's a lot of uncharacteristic things that we did on offense that we've got to clean up."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Cincinnati Bearcats lost to Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita again
