With No. 10 Michigan’s loss to No. 3 Texas in Ann Arbor, the Wildcats’ nine-game winning streak, which includes the final seven games of last season, is the longest in college football.

Arizona won despite the loss of several notable players: running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, left tackle Rhino Tapa’toutai, free safety Gunner Maldonado, wide receiver Reymello Murphy and center Josh Baker, who did not play but did not compete. Baker had started 28 consecutive games before Saturday (26 as a center, two as a guard). Redshirt sophomore and Chandler native Grayson Stovall made his first career start at the UA.

With two starters out, Arizona made changes to the offensive line. Jonah Savaiinaea made his first start at left tackle in place of Tapa’toutai, and left guard Wendell Moe, Stovall, right guard Leif Magnuson and right tackle Ryan Stewart, who started at right guard last week, also came in.

After posting the eighth-most offensive yards (671) against New Mexico last week, the Wildcats’ offense struggled in the first half on Saturday, managing just 55 passing yards in the first two quarters. Arizona finished with 361 total yards of offense. Arizona had more rushing yards (188) than passing yards (173) for the first time since the 2022 Territorial Cup game against Arizona State.

Arizona star receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had 10 catches for 304 yards and four touchdowns in his record-setting performance last week, had just two catches for 11 yards on six attempts. McMillan’s second target, quarterback Noah Fifita’s first incomplete pass of the night after completing his first six throws, was thrown into double coverage near the NAU sideline and intercepted. Fifita completed 18 of 26 passes for 173 yards, one touchdown and one interception. That’s the fewest yards for Fifita as a starter — and the first time the Arizona star has thrown for fewer than 200 yards.

Arizona closed its first-half offensive streak with field goals from Tyler Loop (33 and 48 yards), but had three punts and an interception in between. Arizona running back Quali Conley’s 58-yard run in the first quarter was the Wildcats’ only run over 20 yards. The Wildcats were 0 of 10 on third-down conversions on Saturday.

With the help of a trick play, a jet sweep handoff to wide receiver Isaiah Eastman, who completed a completely open pass to receiver Xander Werner for a 25-yard touchdown, and a 38-yard field goal, NAU built a 10-6 lead at halftime.

Arizona got a defensive spark in the second half when linebacker Jacob Manu and edge rusher Chase Kennedy made a stop on fourth down at the line of scrimmage at the NAU 34-yard line. The Wildcats converted the turnover on downs into a touchdown after junior college transfer receiver Jeremiah Patterson caught a swing pass near the UA sideline, broke through two NAU defenders and scored a 17-yard touchdown in the third quarter to take a 13-10 lead.

With freshman punter Michael Salgado-Medina limited to field goal-holder duties, walk-on and Phoenix product Jordan Forbes took over punting duties. Forbes, who averaged 46.3 yards per punt on Saturday, kicked a 46-yard pass that was stopped at the NAU 1-yard line by defensive back Owen Goss, who transferred from Colgate.

With NAU under pressure in the north end zone of Arizona Stadium, UA defensive tackle Chubba Ma’ae tackled running back Darvon Hubbard for a safety.

Ole Miss transfer running back Kedrick Reescano ran for a 56-yard touchdown on his first collegiate offensive play to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 22-10. San Jose State transfer edge rusher Tre Smith, who had six quarterback pressures and no sacks last week, sacked NAU quarterback Ty Pennington and caused a fumble to secure the win for the Wildcats.

Arizona (2-0) prepares for a battle of undefeated top-20 teams for the Wildcats’ road opener Friday against No. 17 Kansas State (2-0), which is coming off a 34-27 victory over Tulane in New Orleans. The final nonconference game of the season will be in Manhattan.