HOUSTON — For the second straight week, Arizona fought back from a two-touchdown deficit, but it wasn’t enough, as the Wildcats dropped their third game of the season and fell to Houston 31-28 Saturday at TDECU Stadium.  

Houston kicker Ethan Sanchez made a game-winning 42-yard field goal to secure the Cougars’ win over Arizona.  

Houston’s triumph makes the Cougars bowl eligible for the first time since 2022. Arizona’s setback knocked the Wildcats to 4-3 on the season. The Wildcats are 1-6 on the road under head coach Brent Brennan. 

The Wildcats have now lost back-to-back games since starting 4-1, which was the program’s best start since 2019. Arizona fell in double-overtime to 18th-ranked BYU last week. 

Both of Arizona’s most recent losses ended on the final play of the game. 

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“That was a really tough day,” Brennan said after the game. “This team is hurting right now. … Obviously, I’m pissed off and upset — and so is everyone in this program, because I think we have grown a lot and we’ve made a ton of progress. But to not close that thing out when we had every opportunity to today, it just makes every person in here sick. It starts with me. That’s my job.” 

Houston quarterback Conner Weigman (1) is tackled from behind by Arizona defensive lineman Julian Savaiinaea (41) after picking up a first down during the first half, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Houston. 

Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle

Turning Point

Just before the end of the first half, Reescano was stopped a yard short of the first down on the Houston 31-yard line on third down. The Wildcats went no-huddle and quickly lined up on the ensuing play, but Reescano’s rushing attempt was tackled at the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs. Arizona was 2-for-3 on fourth-down conversions against Houston. 

“I felt like a huge momentum swing was when we didn’t get the fourth down there when we went for it deep in the red zone, and that ended up giving points on the backside of that,” Brennan said. 

Houston converted the stop into a nine-play, 69-yard scoring drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Conner Weigman to tight end Tanner Koziol. The Cougars led Arizona 21-14 at halftime. 

Arizona led 14-7 and had a chance to take a two-score lead at the start of the second quarter after forcing Houston to punt twice, but back-to-back punts and a turnover on downs stalled the Wildcats. Arizona went scoreless from the 6:18 mark in the first quarter to 14:55 in the fourth quarter.

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan reacts during the first half against Houston, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Houston. 

Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle

Between the second and third quarter, Houston had three straight scoring drives and took a 28-14 lead. The Cougars had 24 rushing attempts in those three drives, which had 39 plays total and took up over 16 minutes of game clock. Houston’s 17-play drive in third quarter tied its longest drive of the season. Weigman rushed for a career-high 98 yards and a touchdown on 14 rush attempts. Houston had 232 rushing yards on Saturday.

Between Weigman and BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier, the Wildcats have allowed a combined 187 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the last two games. Arizona surrendered a combined 490 rushing yards against BYU and Houston. 

“I think we played two good football teams, for starters,” Brennan said. “Also, both of them played plus-one in run with a quarterback run. It’s different than just lining it up and handing it to the tailback. … We’re going to see that the rest of the season, so we better figure that out — today.” 

Trailing 28-14 deep into the third quarter after Houston receiver Amare Thomas hauled in his second touchdown of the game, the Wildcats put together a 13-play scoring drive that ended in wide receiver Tre Spivey — with a key block from tight end Sam Olson — running a jet sweep for a 3-yard touchdown.

After struggling to stop Houston’s offense in the second and third quarters, the Wildcats forced Houston to settle for a 48-yard field-goal attempt following a batted down pass in the backfield by safety Genesis Smith. Sanchez’s attempt went wide left.

Arizona answered with a 10-play touchdown drive punctuated by a 2-yard run by Reescano and tied the game, but the Cougars methodically moved down the field to set up Sanchez for the game-winning field goal.       

Offensive MVP

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita completed 24 of 26 passes (92.3%) for 289 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Fifita’s completion percentage on Saturday tied Khalil Tate for the best single-game completion percentage (with a minimum of 10 pass attempts); it’s the best mark with a minimum of 20 pass attempts.

Fifita’s 92.3% completion rate is the third-best for a college quarterback on the road since 1996. The only two quarterbacks ahead of Fifita are Sean Renfree and Jameis Winston, and Arizona offensive coordinator and former Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege is sixth on the list from his 40-of-44 performance against New Mexico in 2011.   

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita (1) drops back to pass during the first half against Houston, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Houston. 

Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle

Fifita completed his first seven attempts on Saturday and then completed 10 straight passes in the second half.

Fifita passed Tom Tunnicliffe for the third-most career passing yards (7,515) by a Wildcat. Fifita now trails Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama.

“It was a great game plan, a great scheme,” Fifita said. “Coach Doege put us in great positions to succeed. At the end of the day, the only stat that matters is winning, and we didn’t get that done. There’s a few plays that I wish I could have back that would’ve changed the game, but like I said, you just gotta learn from it.” 

Defensive MVP

Arizona linebacker and Texas native Max Harris had a career-high 13 tackles, including eight solo tackles. Harris also had one pass breakup and a quarterback hit on Saturday.

“We weren’t doing what we were supposed to do,” Harris said after Arizona allowed 232 rushing yards to Houston. “It was nothing that they really did. It’s all on us. It’s hard letting people run the ball, but it’s a fixable thing, so it’s nothing crazy and nothing we can’t fix. It’s up to us to fix it.”  

Houston quarterback Conner Weigman (1) is hit by Arizona linebacker Max Harris (4) during the first half, Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Houston. 

Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle

Unsung hero

Spivey had two touchdowns on Saturday. In addition to his jet-sweep touchdown in the fourth quarter, Spivey started the game with a 70-yard touchdown. 

Fifita avoided a sack and fired a pass over the middle to Spivey, who broke free and bursted for the longest reception and touchdown of his career; his previous longest was a 45-yarder against Oklahoma State earlier this month.

Spivey has six total touchdowns on 11 touches this season. His five receiving touchdowns leads the Wildcats this season.  

Injury report

Arizona wide receiver Chris Hunter was listed as a game-time decision on the Arizona-Houston availability report, but alternated drives. Arizona’s starting receiving trio was Spivey, Kris Hutson and Javin Whatley. 

What’s next

Arizona enters its second bye week of the season before a five-game stretch against Colorado, Kansas, No. 24 Cincinnati, Baylor and Arizona State. Arizona’s last two home games of the season are against Kansas and Baylor.

The Wildcats travel to Boulder for their matchup with Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 1.

“We have a bye week, which is good because we need to practice,” Brennan said. “We need to get better at tackling and blocking and playing freaking football. … We’re going to get back to work. I feel for our fans, I feel for our players, I feel for our students and everyone at the U of A, because we have a good football team. We’re going to get to work fixing it. We have a ton of football left to play. I believe in this team, I believe in these kids and we’re going to get to work.” 

Contact Justin Spears, the Star’s Arizona football beat reporter, at jspears@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @JustinESports

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