Noah Fifita ran for two first-half touchdowns and Arizona held on to defeat Kansas State 23-17 in a nonconference game between Big 12 teams in Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2015.
Fifita completed 16 of 33 passes for 178 yards. He also gained for 48 yards on 15 carries. Teammate Ismail Mahdi ran for 189 yards on 22 attempts, an 8.6 yards-per-carry clip.
Avery Johnson finished 13 of 29 for just 88 yards for Kansas State (1-3), which gained only 193 total yards.
Following a disastrous first half (44 total yards), Kansas State nearly tripled its total offense on the first play of the second half when Jayce Brown raced 75 yards untouched to trim the visitors’ deficit to 17-10.
Kansas State blocked a punt on Arizona’s next possession, and Johnson subsequently punched it in from the 1-yard line to tie the score.
Arizona retook the lead on a 31-yard Michael Salgado-Medina field goal with 2:40 left in the third quarter. The hosts reached the red zone again in the fourth quarter but settled for another Salgado-Medina field goal, this one from 41 yards with 4:25 to play.
Following a missed 46-yard field-goal attempt by Salgado-Medina just inside the two-minute timeout, Kansas State had one last chance, but the visitors couldn’t advance the ball past midfield.
The first half was total domination by Arizona, which outgained Kansas State 257-44.
After recovering a botched punt at the Arizona 23-yard line, Kansas State lost 10 yards on the next three plays, but Luis Rodriguez nailed a 51-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for Arizona to take over. A 60-yard run on the first play by Mahdi put Arizona in the red zone. Fifita ran it in from the 15 to give the hosts a 7-3 lead.
Arizona got into the red zone on its next possession but settled for a 31-yard Salgado-Medina field goal. Fifita then punched it in from the 2-yard line with 3:42 left in the half to put Arizona up 17-3.
