​TUCSON, AZ – SEPTEMBER 19: Arizona Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan during the second half of a football game between the NIU Huskies and the University of Arizona Wildcats on September 19, 2026 at Casino Del Sol Stadium in Tucson, AZ. (Photo by Christopher Hook/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Favored by nearly five touchdowns against a winless opponent playing thousands of miles from home, all signs pointed to Arizona winning in a blowout. That ended up being the case, but not at the outset.Less than six minutes in the Wildcats trailed Northern Illinois 10-0. Not exactly the start they were looking for a week after falling at BYU, but it was the finish they sought.“I love the response,” UA coach Brent Brennan said after Arizona’s 42-17 win. “We need to start fast, in all three phases, but I love the response. To me the big lesson for us tonight is that how we respond matters. And I felt like after that initial rush there, that was 42 unanswered until the last 15 seconds and and all that. So I was really excited. Our defense was executing. Our offense was executing. We had a huge momentum play on special teams. So there’s a lot of really good things there.”Along the way, Noah Fifita became the school’s career passing leader and also set a single-game completion percentage record, both at the expense of Nick Foles. A video message from Foles played on the scoreboard after the yardage mark was broken.Our full game recap can be found here. Below is what Brennan, receiver Isaiah Mizell and defensive back Lee Molette III said following the win:Brennan on the victory: “We talked all week about a one-week season, about getting better from game two to game three, and that’s been just our focus. Just process over outcome. I felt like our guys came in hot, came in with a lot of energy, and I was excited to see us finish a game and continue to play and make plays. To me, that’s Redline. That’s effort. That’s execution. That’s accountability.”On putting Fifita back in to get the record: “To be honest with you, it wasn’t like—we don’t go into the game saying we’re going to give him the record tonight. We’re focused on doing whatever we have to do to win the football game. But we came out of that last drive, and somebody said he’s two yards from the record, and so I just felt that as a program, we owe it to him to give him a chance to do that here.”On Fifita connecting with 11 different receivers: “I felt like Noah was doing a great job getting through his progression. We were getting a lot of pressure in the game, and so we had to win one-on-one matchups, and those guys did a great job of that. I thought (Tre) Spivey got hot early, and you can see that momentum kind of build, and same with Chris (Hunter) making some big plays. When we’re distributing the ball across the field to a bunch of different people, that makes us harder to defend.”On Fifita going 31 of 34: “How m