​Sep 19, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats wide receiver Caleb Smith (20) runs to score a touchdown during the second quarter of the game against the Northern Illinois Huskies at Casino Del Sol Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn ImagesTUCSON – The Arizona Wildcats’ run game ranks last in the Big 12. After boasting one of the best defenses in the conference last season, that unit has struggled to force turnovers and get off the field on third down.Those numbers were on the minds of both coordinators and coach Brent Brennan as Arizona (2-1, 0-1 Big 12) prepared for its final nonconference matchup on Saturday at Washington State at 4:30 p.m. MST.“We should be better at running the football and it starts with me,” offensive coordinator Seth Doege said. “I don’t think  it has anything to do with our personnel. I don’t think it has anything to do with our game plan. I think I got to do a better job adjusting and calling better runs in games.”Arizona has rushed for 123.3 yards per game and 370 total rushing yards through three games. That’s 117 yards fewer than the next lowest total in the Big 12, Baylor’s 487 yards.On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales stressed the importance of getting off the field.“The difference right now where we were struggling and the issue we needed to fix at hand, we’re not good enough on third down,“ Gonzales said. “(We’re) 16 of 41 on third down at 39%. That’s not elite defense. Last year at this point, we were nine of 40 on third down.”Although the Wildcats rank last in the Big 12 in rushing yards, Doege didn’t feel the need to run the ball much against a Northern Illinois defense last week that was stacking the line of scrimmage in a 42-17 Arizona win.“We were getting pressured,” Doege said “They’re bringing six or seven to the box every play. Well, there’s people wide open … there’s tons of space. That’s why (QB) Noah (Fifita) was 31 of 34 and there were people just completely cut free. “So in my mind I’m like, ‘Okay, yeah,’ we can run it or we can just throw it every play because there’s going to be somebody open.”Sep 19, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (1) runs with the ball to score a touchdown during the fourth quarter of the game against the Northern Illinois Huskies at Casino Del Sol Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn ImagesFifita threw for 325 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for another on the ground. He broke the all-time passing yards record by a quarterback at Arizona, reaching 10,017 career yards to eclipse Nick Foles’ record of 10,011 from 2009–11.Despite those feats, the Wildcats know they will need a more consistent rushing attack as the Big 12 portion of the schedule looms. Fifita put some of the responsibility on himself for Arizona’s struggles in that area.“We just gotta do our job and I didn’t help. I didn’t help our