When the 2025 schedule was released in the winter the visit to Cincinnati didn’t stand out as one that was particularly notable. The Bearcats were coming off a 5-7 season that saw them drop their final
five games while Arizona had gone 4-8.
Now, it’s maybe the best Big 12 matchup on slate in Week 12. The Wildcats (6-3, 3-3 Big 12) just secured bowl eligibility and have won two in a row while No. 22 Cincinnati (7-2, 5-1) is battling for first place in the league.
And according to UA coach Brent Brennan, the Bearcats may be better than anyone his team has faced so far in 2025.
“This is what we think is the best football team we played this year,” Brennan said Monday. “They’ve done an outstanding job of adding to their roster, building a roster and then adding good players in the portal from it. This is the most team speed I think we’ve seen.”
Arizona is currently a 6.5-point underdog, per FanDuel Sportsbook, which is amazingly the second-largest spread it’s had in a Big 12 game this season and the biggest underdog it has been since last year’s Territorial Cup.
Here’s what to watch for when the Wildcats and Bearcats meet early Saturday:
Post-eligibility motivation
Getting to play more than 12 games in a season is the goal of every FBS team, but for most it’s not the only goal. So while the celebrations immediately after Arizona beat Kansas to get to six wins were warranted, they were quickly followed with a question:
Now what?
Arizona knows it will play in a bowl game, but which one is far from decided. Part of the equation is how the Wildcats fare in the three remaining games, as with each win they become more desirable to certain bowls.
“That’s not what these guys, especially a Tristan (Bounds) guy like that, came here to do,” offensive coordinator Seth Doege said of the 6-win mark. “They came here to win as many games as possible and give them the best bowl game as possible. I’m excited about the mentality that we have.”
The last time the UA got bowl-eligible, in 2023, it just kept winning. The first game after getting to six saw the Wildcats win at Colorado on a walkoff field goal.
‘Best’ quarterback on the schedule
Next week Arizona is set to face the Big 12 passing leader in Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson, who is averaging 308.9 yards per game and has thrown 26 touchdown passes. The most prolific passer the Wildcats have faced in league play is Iowa State’s Rocco Becht, who averages 223 per game and is the only opposing QB to throw for more than 200 yards against the UA defense this season.
But is has faced BYU’s Bear Bachmeier, Houston’s Connor Weigman and Kansas’ Jalon Daniels, all of whom damaged Arizona more with their legs than through the air. But this week’s challenge, Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby, has run for more yards than all of them, and on fewer carries.
“Best quarterback we’ve played,” UA defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales said of Sorsby, a redshirt junior who is accounting for 280 yards per game of total offense and has produced 29 total TDs. “The dude doesn’t make very many mistakes. He’s only thrown two interceptions, one of them went off a lineman’s helmet.”
Sorsby has run for 453 yards and eight TDs, scoring on 30 percent of his red zone carries. He has also only been sacked twice in nine games, avoiding pressure by escaping the pocket but still keeping the play alive for a pass.
“The thing about him is, when he comes around the corner, his eyes are always downfield, looking at the second and third option,” Gonzales said. “So before he’s going to tuck and run, when he’s dangerous, he’s still looking trying to beat you with his arm.”
His top target is 5-foot-11 senior Cyrus Allen, who has 10 TDs on 36 catches. Arizona has only allowed seven passing TDs this season.
Protecting the passer
While Cincinnati’s line has kept Sorsby almost spotless, the same can’t be said for Arizona and Noah Fifita. Fifita was sacked five times by Kansas, making it 20 for the season which is the most for any Big 12 quarterback.
Part of the issue this last game was left tackle Ty Buchanan getting knocked out late in the first half and being replaced by Matthew Lado, though Lado graded well, but also times when Fifita held onto the ball too long.
And the concern about getting hit—he was nailed a couple times just as he threw—may have also impacted Fifita’s accuracy last time out. While he tied the career TD record with two scoring throws his 51.6 percent completion rate was second-lowest of the season.
“He missed a couple, in my opinion, throws that he normally doesn’t miss, and that was because I thought maybe might be overthinking at times again,” Doege said. “That’s the only time he ever gets in trouble, if he starts trying to process the coverage, what are they doing, how they’re rotating, where is this going to go? You trust your progression and go through the reads. And when he does that, he’s brilliant. When he started playing well is when he started really trusting what we do and how we do things.”
Doege said Cincinnati’s defensive approach is similar to Iowa State, against whom Arizona had a season-low 14 points.
Run usage
Arizona’s game-winning drive against Kansas included three passes and five runs. The first two runs were designed QB keepers by Fifita, which gained 11 and nine yards, respectively. The other three went for 11, 18 and 24.
Five runs, 73 yards. For the game the Wildcats gained 165 yards on the ground, though taking out sacks it was 211. They averaged 8.8 per carry.
For the season the UA is gaining 5.5 yards per rush, not including sacks. Quincy Craig is averaging 7.03 yards per carry, Ismail Mahdi 6.78 and Kedrick Reescano 5.0. And Fifita’s 255 rushing yards are the most by an Arizona QB since Jayden de Laura gained 331 in 2022.
It stands to reason Arizona should be running a lot more, right? Not necessarily.
“We’re able to run the football because of balance,” Doege said. “That number is averaged out that way because you’re able to throw it. If you’re just running it, well they’re gonna load up the box. (Against) Kansas, the advantage run numbers weren’t there. We were always having to make somebody miss at two or three yards. You’ve got to threaten them through the air.”
Arizona is averaging 67.7 offensive plays per game, with just under 30 called run plays each week.
Cincinnati is susceptible to the run, allowing 187.2 rushing yards in Big 12 play.
