TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona coach Brent Brennan was not going to let Noah Fifita miss a chance to break the school’s all-time passing mark at home.

Despite the Wildcats being up 32 points following a shaky start, Brennan put Fifita back into the game for one last pass – and the record all to himself.

Fifita threw for 325 yards to become Arizona’s all-time leading passer and accounted for five touchdowns, leading the Wildcats to a 42-17 win over Northern Illinois Saturday night.

“I just felt that, as a program we owed it to him to give him a chance to do that here,” Brennan said.

Fifita was efficient despite being sacked four times, completing 31 of 34 passes to reach 10,017 career yards — eclipsing Nick Foles’ record of 10,011 from 2009–11.

Fifita threw for four touchdowns, extending his school record to 80, and ran for a 30-yard touchdown that put the Wildcats up 42-10 early in the fourth quarter.

Brennan left Fifita in despite the lopsided score, allowing him to break Foles’ record with a 7-yard pass to Isaiah Mizell. Brennan then called timeout, allowing Fifita’s teammates to swarm him before his quarterback trotted off the field to cheers from the crowd with 4:48 left.

“Ecstasy — I was super excited for him,” Mizell said. “But he’s such about his business, he wasn’t really worried about that this week. He just really wanted this W.”

The Wildcats (2-1) needed a big game from Fifita after falling into a 10-0 hole in the opening six minutes.

The Huskies (0-3) set up an opening field goal by gouging Arizona with its run game and their defense sacked Fifita twice to force a quick three-and-out. Next play from scrimmage, Taron Dickens hit Cam Thompson in stride for a 52-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead.

Fifita quickly snapped the Wildcats out of their funk.

The fifth-year player hit Chris Hunter in front of two defenders for a 38-yard touchdown pass, then took advantage of a blown coverage to find Mizell for a 14-yard score. Tre Spivey electrified the crowd with a spectacular one-handed 10-yard touchdown catch through a defender and Caleb Smith kept it going just before halftime with a 69-yard punt return touchdown.

Fifita’s 3-yard TD pass to Tyler Powell opened the third quarter put Arizona up 35-10.

“I was excited to see us finish the game,” Brennan said.

The takeaway

Northern Illinois: The Huskies had their eyes set on a potential upset by jumping out to the early lead. Arizona quickly put an end to their hopes with four straight touchdowns.

Arizona: Fifita rallied the Wildcats after the ugly start, etching his name as one of the program’s all-time greats with another sterling performance.

Up next

Northern Illinois plays at Georgia State next Saturday.

Arizona plays at Washington State next Saturday.

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