Quali Conley rushed for 112 yards, Noah Fifita passed for 173 yards and a touchdown, and No. 20 Arizona came from behind at halftime to defeat Northern Arizona 22-10 on Saturday night, tying the school record with their ninth straight win.
The Wildcats (2-0) extended the longest active winning streak in FBS by outscoring the Lumberjacks 16-0 in the second half after being down 10-6 at halftime. This nine-game winning streak matches the school record set in 1974-75 and repeated in 1997-98.
“I was really pleased with how we responded, especially coming out of halftime down 10-6,” said Arizona coach Brent Brennan. “We played good team football. I give credit to Northern Arizona; their players worked hard and their coaches did a great job.”
Conley, a transfer from San Jose State, was a key player as Arizona gained 188 rushing yards. Receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who set a school record with 304 yards and four touchdowns in the season opener against New Mexico, was limited to two catches for 11 yards.
“They did adjust their coverage to him at times,” Brennan said about defending McMillan. “They did a good job, using double coverage and brackets.”
Northern Arizona (1-1) had only 198 total yards, with 91 of those coming after halftime. Ty Pennington passed for 84 yards on 14 of 24 attempts and added 39 rushing yards.
Arizona forced a turnover on downs in Northern Arizona territory to start the second half, and turned it into points when Jeremiah Patterson caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Fifita, giving Arizona a 13-10 lead with 12:06 left in the third quarter.
Chubba Ma’ae of the Wildcats tackled running back Darvon Hubbard in the end zone for a safety with 11:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, increasing the lead to 15-10. Arizona then extended their lead to 22-10 with a 56-yard touchdown run by Kedrick Reescano with 9:32 left.
