No. 25 Arizona will try to continue its best start to a season in 12 years when it hosts Iowa State in a Big 12 Conference game on Saturday afternoon in Tucson, Ariz.
The Wildcats (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) have won four in a row since an 11-point loss at then-No. 15 BYU, winning by an average of 20.8 points during that streak. The strong run led to Arizona entering the AP Top 25 this week for the first time in 2026.
Iowa State (3-3, 1-2) has alternated wins and losses throughout the season, dropping its last contest at then-No. 8 BYU before having a bye.
Arizona features the second-best passing attack in the conference, steered by quarterback Noah Fifita, the school’s career leader in yardage and touchdowns through the air. Fifita has thrown for 1,756 yards, 16 TDs and four interceptions while completing 73.3% of his passes, doing so despite injuries to his top three targets.
“I think they’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” first-year Iowa State coach Jimmy Rogers said. “Our offense has to play better than their offense.”
Iowa State quarterback Jaylen Raynor has completed only 57.4% of his throws for 1,001 yards and seven TDs with four interceptions.
Rogers said of Raynor, “There is no question Jaylen needs to improve his accuracy and make plays and really be an X factor in the offense. I’m not blind to the fact of certain things, but there’s also deficiencies in other areas that are leading to what looks like his mistake. It could be somebody else’s mistakes.”
The Cyclones have the worst pass offense in the Big 12 but make up for it with a run game that is led by dynamic back Aiden Flora, who has run for 680 yards and six touchdowns and also threw two passing scores during a five-TD performance on Oct. 3 against West Virginia.
“He’s a throwback dude, he does it all,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said of Flora. “He’s just a total stud. It’s really, really fun to watch him play.”
Arizona allowed more than 300 rushing yards in its latest game, a 52-31 rout of the Mountaineers, but otherwise has defended the run well. The Wildcats also rank among the top pass-rushing teams in the Big 12 with 19 sacks, two fewer than all of last season, though Iowa State has only allowed nine sacks.
This game could get decided on third down. Arizona ranks fourth in the conference in third-down conversion rate at 54.8%, while Iowa State is next to last at 31%.
Finishing in the red zone also will be key. Iowa State is one of two schools in the country to score on every trip inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, going 17-for-17 with 12 TDs, while Arizona is 21-for-23 with 17 TDs. The Wildcats have only allowed nine TDs on their opponents’ 17 red-zone trips, getting six stops altogether.
Arizona last began 6-1 in 2014 when it reached the Pac-12 final, its only appearance in a conference championship game.
Iowa State is seeking its first road victory over a ranked opponent in conference play since winning at Kansas State in 2023.
“This team executes at an extremely high level,” Brennan said of the Cyclones. “They’re incredibly physical, and that’s a challenge for our football team.”
