Saturday, October 10
Morgantown, W.Va.
12:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
3-3 , 0-3
31
vs
52
Arizona
5-1 , 2-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | 14 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 52 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Arizona’s Big Plays Doom West Virginia in Morgantown
October 10, 2026 03:39 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Arizona used big plays and a couple of first-half turnovers to defeat West Virginia 52-31 today at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The 52 points scored this afternoon by the Wildcats are the most by an opponent at Milan Puskar Stadium since 2022 when Kansas tallied 55, but 13 of those happened in overtime. It's the most in a regulation game since Oklahoma produced 59 in 2018.
Today, even without three of its top receivers, the Wildcats had no trouble using backups to take advantage of West Virginia's struggling defense to the tune of 482 total yards, 341 of those coming from the arm of quarterback Noah Fifita.
The senior completed 16 of his 23 pass attempts, six completions going to Isaiah Mizell for 183 yards and two touchdowns, before giving way to backup Sawyer Anderson in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats comfortably ahead.
Surrendering chunk plays has been an issue all season long for West Virginia's defense, which came into this afternoon allowing 35 plays of 20 yards or longer. Today, it gave up eight more, six of them coming after intermission.
The Mountaineers entered today's game ranked 133rd nationally, 456.6 yards per game.
The defensive struggles once again overshadowed another competent effort by the West Virginia offense, which generated 522 total yards - 303 of those coming on the ground - including 141 from Cam Cook on 34 carries.
But Cook also fumbled twice in the first half, which helped Arizona to a 24-17 halftime lead.
His first, two plays after Fifita completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Mizell, happened on West Virginia's 32 when he was unable to secure Michael Hawkins Jr.'s option pitch, and Lee Mollete III scooped it up and ran untouched into the end zone.
Cook's second miscue happened with 51 seconds remaining in the second quarter and the Mountaineers poised to tie the game with the ball at the Wildcat 2-yard line. His second-down run was stopped at the line of scrimmage, and while he was still upright, Jay'Vion Cole punched out the football, and it was recovered by Taye Brown at the 3.
That was Arizona's second red-zone stop of the game.
The Wildcats' first red-zone repulsion happened at the beginning of the second quarter when Hawkins' fourth-and-3 pass was completed to Amari Latimer for a 1-yard gain before he was hauled down by Quinn Olson at the 3.
However, West Virginia managed to turn that into points after Nate Gabriel broke free to deflect Fifita's first-down pass right into the arms of teammate David Afogho at the Arizona 3.
On the next play, Hawkins took the ball into the end zone for his 12th rushing touchdown of the season.
The Mountaineers' other first-half touchdown also came via the ground when Cook broke free for a 30-yard score, which was matched by Quincy Craig five minutes later when he raced 40 yards untouched into the end zone with 2:52 left in the second quarter.
West Virginia's Jack Cassidy began the scoring on the game's opening possession with a 25-yard field goal, which was matched by Michael Salgado-Medina's 44-yarder with 9:58 left in the second quarter.
WVU had advanced the football to Arizona's 3-yard line on its initial possession before the nation's fourth-ranked red-zone defense forced Cassidy's field goal.
Arizona went after West Virginia's secondary on its opening possession of the third quarter when Fifita hit a wide-open Mizell for a 48-yard gainer down the middle of the field to the Mountaineer 8, where Kedrick Reescano took it in on the ground from there.
Salgano-Medina's conversion kick once again gave Arizona a two-score advantage at 31-17.
A defensive stop on Arizona's second offensive possession of the third quarter gave West Virginia the ball back at its 8.
Two fourth-down conversions, the first from its own 39, were the catalysts in West Virginia's 16-play, 92-yard march into the end zone. Both were converted by Hawkins, the second coming at the Wildcat 14 for two yards to the 12. The big play of the drive was Hawkins' 33-yard pass to John Neider down the far sideline to the Arizona 23.
But what took West Virginia 6:40 to accomplish took Arizona just 1:15 to duplicate. In the face of an all-out blitz, Fifita cooly completed a short third-down slant pass to Mizell with nothing but empty field in front of him for a 72-yard touchdown.
And the scoring continued.
A 36-yard Hawkins pass to Prince Strachan gave West Virginia a first down at Arizona's 26. Hawkins followed with runs of 14 yards to the 12, and then 11 to the 1 to set up Cook's second touchdown run of the afternoon.
Cassidy's conversion kick once again made it a one-score game, 38-31, with 12:33 left.
Fifty-eight seconds later, it was 45-31, and big passing plays were again the culprit. Fifita's first-down pass from his 25 traveled 33 yards to Shane King before he was hauled down at the 42. His next one, a flea flicker, went to an uncovered Brandon Phelps at West Virginia's 22 and he took it in from there.
Following a West Virginia punt, Arizona's next touchdown took just 47 seconds off the clock on running plays of 22 and 30 yards by Antwan Roberts.
Hawkins' statistical totals included 219 yards through the air on 11-of-28 passing, and 98 yards rushing on 25 attempts.
Strachan led West Virginia's receivers with season highs of five catches for 121 yards.
Today's victory boosts Arizona's record to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play, while West Virginia falls to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in conference action.
An announced crowd of 50,121 attended today's game.
The Mountaineers continue their October homestand next Saturday against Cincinnati, which lost at Arizona last Saturday and was idle today.
The 52 points scored this afternoon by the Wildcats are the most by an opponent at Milan Puskar Stadium since 2022 when Kansas tallied 55, but 13 of those happened in overtime. It's the most in a regulation game since Oklahoma produced 59 in 2018.
Today, even without three of its top receivers, the Wildcats had no trouble using backups to take advantage of West Virginia's struggling defense to the tune of 482 total yards, 341 of those coming from the arm of quarterback Noah Fifita.
The senior completed 16 of his 23 pass attempts, six completions going to Isaiah Mizell for 183 yards and two touchdowns, before giving way to backup Sawyer Anderson in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats comfortably ahead.
Surrendering chunk plays has been an issue all season long for West Virginia's defense, which came into this afternoon allowing 35 plays of 20 yards or longer. Today, it gave up eight more, six of them coming after intermission.
The Mountaineers entered today's game ranked 133rd nationally, 456.6 yards per game.
The defensive struggles once again overshadowed another competent effort by the West Virginia offense, which generated 522 total yards - 303 of those coming on the ground - including 141 from Cam Cook on 34 carries.
But Cook also fumbled twice in the first half, which helped Arizona to a 24-17 halftime lead.
His first, two plays after Fifita completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Mizell, happened on West Virginia's 32 when he was unable to secure Michael Hawkins Jr.'s option pitch, and Lee Mollete III scooped it up and ran untouched into the end zone.
Cook's second miscue happened with 51 seconds remaining in the second quarter and the Mountaineers poised to tie the game with the ball at the Wildcat 2-yard line. His second-down run was stopped at the line of scrimmage, and while he was still upright, Jay'Vion Cole punched out the football, and it was recovered by Taye Brown at the 3.
That was Arizona's second red-zone stop of the game.
The Wildcats' first red-zone repulsion happened at the beginning of the second quarter when Hawkins' fourth-and-3 pass was completed to Amari Latimer for a 1-yard gain before he was hauled down by Quinn Olson at the 3.
However, West Virginia managed to turn that into points after Nate Gabriel broke free to deflect Fifita's first-down pass right into the arms of teammate David Afogho at the Arizona 3.
On the next play, Hawkins took the ball into the end zone for his 12th rushing touchdown of the season.
The Mountaineers' other first-half touchdown also came via the ground when Cook broke free for a 30-yard score, which was matched by Quincy Craig five minutes later when he raced 40 yards untouched into the end zone with 2:52 left in the second quarter.
West Virginia's Jack Cassidy began the scoring on the game's opening possession with a 25-yard field goal, which was matched by Michael Salgado-Medina's 44-yarder with 9:58 left in the second quarter.
WVU had advanced the football to Arizona's 3-yard line on its initial possession before the nation's fourth-ranked red-zone defense forced Cassidy's field goal.
Arizona went after West Virginia's secondary on its opening possession of the third quarter when Fifita hit a wide-open Mizell for a 48-yard gainer down the middle of the field to the Mountaineer 8, where Kedrick Reescano took it in on the ground from there.
Salgano-Medina's conversion kick once again gave Arizona a two-score advantage at 31-17.
A defensive stop on Arizona's second offensive possession of the third quarter gave West Virginia the ball back at its 8.
Two fourth-down conversions, the first from its own 39, were the catalysts in West Virginia's 16-play, 92-yard march into the end zone. Both were converted by Hawkins, the second coming at the Wildcat 14 for two yards to the 12. The big play of the drive was Hawkins' 33-yard pass to John Neider down the far sideline to the Arizona 23.
But what took West Virginia 6:40 to accomplish took Arizona just 1:15 to duplicate. In the face of an all-out blitz, Fifita cooly completed a short third-down slant pass to Mizell with nothing but empty field in front of him for a 72-yard touchdown.
And the scoring continued.
A 36-yard Hawkins pass to Prince Strachan gave West Virginia a first down at Arizona's 26. Hawkins followed with runs of 14 yards to the 12, and then 11 to the 1 to set up Cook's second touchdown run of the afternoon.
Cassidy's conversion kick once again made it a one-score game, 38-31, with 12:33 left.
Fifty-eight seconds later, it was 45-31, and big passing plays were again the culprit. Fifita's first-down pass from his 25 traveled 33 yards to Shane King before he was hauled down at the 42. His next one, a flea flicker, went to an uncovered Brandon Phelps at West Virginia's 22 and he took it in from there.
Following a West Virginia punt, Arizona's next touchdown took just 47 seconds off the clock on running plays of 22 and 30 yards by Antwan Roberts.
Hawkins' statistical totals included 219 yards through the air on 11-of-28 passing, and 98 yards rushing on 25 attempts.
Strachan led West Virginia's receivers with season highs of five catches for 121 yards.
Today's victory boosts Arizona's record to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play, while West Virginia falls to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in conference action.
An announced crowd of 50,121 attended today's game.
The Mountaineers continue their October homestand next Saturday against Cincinnati, which lost at Arizona last Saturday and was idle today.
Players Mentioned
EDGE
/ Football
K
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ FootballTeam Stats
ARI
WVU
Total Yards
482
522
Pass Yards
341
219
Rushing Yards
141
303
Penalty Yards
71
80
1st Downs
20
30
3rd Downs
3
9
4th Downs
0
2
TOP
24:10
35:50
1st Quarter
ARI 0, WVU 3
WVU - Cassidy,Jack 25 yd field goal 13 plays, 58 yards, TOP 04:48
ARI 7, WVU 3
ARI - Mizell,Isaiah 14 yd pass from Fifita,Noah (Salgado-Medina,Michael kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:37
ARI 14, WVU 3
ARI - Molette III,Lee 32 yd fumble recovery (Salgado-Medina,Michael kick)
2nd Quarter
ARI 14, WVU 10
WVU - Hawkins Jr.,Michael 3 yd run (Cassidy,Jack kick), 1 plays, 3 yards, TOP 00:04
ARI 17, WVU 10
ARI - Salgado-Medina,Michael 44 yd field goal 8 plays, 48 yards, TOP 03:01
ARI 17, WVU 17
WVU - Cook,Cam 30 yd run (Cassidy,Jack kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:18
ARI 24, WVU 17
ARI - Craig,Quincy 40 yd run (Salgado-Medina,Michael kick), 4 plays, 58 yards, TOP 01:24
3rd Quarter
ARI 31, WVU 17
ARI - Reescano,Kedrick 8 yd run (Salgado-Medina,Michael kick), 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:13
ARI 31, WVU 24
WVU - Latimer,Amari 2 yd run (Cassidy,Jack kick), 16 plays, 92 yards, TOP 06:40
ARI 38, WVU 24
ARI - Mizell,Isaiah 72 yd pass from Fifita,Noah (Salgado-Medina,Michael kick) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:15
4th Quarter
ARI 38, WVU 31
WVU - Cook,Cam 1 yd run (Cassidy,Jack kick), 9 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:40
ARI 45, WVU 31
ARI - Phelps,Brandon 42 yd pass from Fifita,Noah (Salgado-Medina,Michael kick) 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:58
ARI 52, WVU 31
ARI - Roberts,Antwan 30 yd run (Salgado-Medina,Michael kick), 2 plays, 52 yards, TOP 00:49
Game Leaders
CMP
11
TD
0
YDS
219
INT
0
Saturday, October 10
Saturday, October 10
Saturday, October 10
Saturday, October 10
