TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Quali Conley ran for 112 yards, Noah Fifita threw for 173 yards and a touchdown and No. 20 Arizona overcame a four-point halftime deficit to beat Northern Arizona 22-10 on Saturday night to match the school record with its ninth consecutive victory.
The Wildcats (2-0) extended the longest active winning streak in FBS by outscoring the Lumberjacks 16-0 in the second half after trailing 10-6 at the break. The nine straight wins matches the school record set in 1974-75 and matched in 1997-98.
“I was really happy with the response, especially coming out of halftime down 10-6,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “Some good team football. I give credit to Northern Arizona, I thought their players played their butts off and their coaches did a great job.”
Conley, a transfer from San Jose State, led the way as Arizona gained 188 yards on the ground. Receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had a school-record 304 yards and four TDs in a 61-39 season-opening win over New Mexico, was limited to two catches for 11 yards.
“They did push the coverage to him at times,” Brennan said about defending McMillan. “They did a good job, they doubled him some, they bracketed him some.”
Northern Arizona (1-1) finished with only 198 yards of total offense, 91 after halftime. Ty Pennington threw for 84 yards on 14 of 24 passing and added 39 on the ground.
Arizona forced a turnover on downs in Northern Arizona territory to open the second half and converted that into points as Jeremiah Patterson scored on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Fifita for a 13-10 lead with 12:06 left in the third.
The Wildcats’ Chubba Ma’ae tackled running back Darvon Hubbard in the end zone for a safety with 11:33 left in the fourth, upping the lead to 15-10. And after getting the ball back, Arizona made it 22-10 on a 56-yard scoring run by Kedrick Reescano with 9:32 remaining.
Arizona only led 3-0 after the first quarter after settling for a red zone field goal on its first drive and punting the next two. Northern Arizona took a 7-3 lead with 10:24 left in the half on a trick play, with receiver Isaiah Eastman throwing a 25-yard TD pass to tight end Xander Werner.
Fifita’s interception led to more points for the Lumberjacks, with Marcus Lye converting on a 38-yard field goal to make it 10-3 with 6:20 left in the first half.
The Wildcats cut Northern Arizona’s lead to 10-6 with 32 seconds left in the first half on a 48-yard field goal from Tyler Loop.
The takeaway
Northern Arizona: The Lumberjacks, who shocked Arizona in Tucson in 2021, dropped to 10-55 against FBS schools. They have never beaten a ranked FBS opponent.
Arizona: A week after scoring on 10 drives and putting up the eighth-most yards in school history, the Wildcats had fewer yards in the first half (147) than on their first two drives in the Week 1 win over New Mexico.
Up next
Northern Arizona: At Utah Tech on Saturday.
Arizona: At Kansas State on Friday night in a nonconference game scheduled before the Wildcats left the Pac-12 for the Big 12.
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