Noah Fifita completed four touchdown passes in the first half and matched his career-best total of five while leading Arizona to a 48-3 victory over Weber State on Saturday night at Tucson, Ariz.
The game started 2 hours, 10 minutes late due to a weather delay that included lightning in the area.
Fifita completed his first 10 passes and finished 17 of 22 for 353 yards with no interceptions before his night ended late in the third quarter.
Arizona (2-0) scored on each of its first seven possessions, excluding a kneel-down just before halftime. Fifita threw touchdown passes of 31 and 85 yards to Charlotte transfer Javin Whatley the first two times Arizona had the ball.
Whatley finished with 168 yards on five catches.
A 32-yard field goal by Michael Salgado-Medina and a 10-yard scoring strike from Fifita to Tre Spivey, formerly of Kansas State, gave Arizona a 24-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Salgado-Medina’s 31-yard field goal and freshman Brandon Phelps’ first career touchdown reception increased the lead to 34-0 with 2:16 remaining in the half.
Arizona amassed 392 yards of total offense with 18 first downs in the first half while Weber State (0-2) had only 65 total yards and four first downs (two by penalty).
In the end, Arizona had 556 yards of total offense compared to Weber State’s 184.
Fifita’s fifth touchdown pass, a 27-yard strike to former Texas State running back Ismail Mahdi, increased the lead to 41-0 with 7:44 left in the third quarter.
Mahdi led Arizona in rushing with 51 yards on nine carries.
Jay’Vion Cole returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown to end Weber State’s next possession.
Weber State’s Jackson Gilkey completed 10 of 24 attempts for 68 yards with two interceptions. He also led his team in rushing with 40 yards on nine carries.
Arizona’s defense has yet to yield a touchdown after two games. Hawaii converted two field goals in Arizona’s 40-6 win last week.
–Field Level Media
