TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - No. 22 Arizona's rise through the rankings and toward the top of the Big 12 Conference standings has been fueled by an aggressive, attacking defense, confidence-inspiring coaches, talent and depth on offense.

But the biggest reason for the Wildcats' success lies with one of the smallest players on the field.

Quarterback Noah Fifita has made the most of his decision to return for a fifth season in the desert, putting up huge numbers while leading Arizona to its best start in 12 years.

"He´s obviously incredibly special and for him, to not being talked about as one of the absolute best quarterbacks, best players in the country right now, I don´t understand that," coach Brent Brennan said. "I don´t understand that, because he played really well a year ago."

Fifita had a superb third season as Arizona's starter in 2025, earning Big 12 offensive player honors after throwing for 3,228 yards and 29 touchdowns on 64.1% passing.

He has been even better this season.

The 5-foot-10 quarterback has thrown for 2,064 yards and 18 touchdowns with four interceptions through seven games in his second season under offensive coordinator Seth Doege. He is completing 74.2% of his passes, second nationally behind Miami's Darian Mensah (81.4%).

With Fifita leading the way, the Wildcats (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) have their best record since the 2014 team opened 6-1. They are a half-game behind No. 6 Utah in the Big 12 standings heading into Saturday's showdown at No. 13 Texas Tech.

"That quarterback drives everything," Red Raiders coach Joey McGuire said. "He´s pretty special and Seth´s doing a great job."

Arizona will face one of its biggest challenges of the season against Texas Tech in Doege's return to Lubbock.

The Wildcats are ninth nationally in passing offense at 310.9 yards per game but will face a defense that's still formidable despite losing six players to the NFL.

It will be Doege's job to find a solution against his alma mater.

Doege had a prolific career as a player at Texas Tech from 2009-12, ranking fourth in school history with 8,646 career passing yards and 69 passing touchdowns. He still holds the school record with a 69% completion rate.

Doege became Arizona's offensive coordinator before last season after a one-stint as Marshall's offensive coordinator. He meshed with Fifita immediately upon arriving in Tucson and the relationship - along with the production - has grown even more this season.

"The one thing that he has done is created a true identity on offense to where they´ve got things that they hang their hat on," McGuire said. "And so it´s going to be real test because that quarterback´s really good."

It will be Doege's job to come up with a plan against Texas Tech (6-1, 3-1) and Fifita's to implement it.

Find a way to pull out a tough road win and the Wildcats will head into the final month of the season with a solid chance of making it to the Big 12 championship game.

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawks in Dallas contributed to this report.

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