Arizona QB Noah Fifita Has a Chance to Enter the Heisman Trophy Race

Oct 10, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Arizona Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita (1) celebrates after defeating the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images November is often when Heisman Trophy contenders are solidified. Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita has a prime opportunity to insert himself into the 2026 season’s Heisman conversation when the Wildcats host undefeated and No. 2-ranked Utah.Fifita has lingered on the periphery of the national consciousness throughout the season, as much for his unique status as a one-team player as for his production.A prized recruit of Jedd Fisch alongside blue-chip receiver and Servite High School teammate Tetairoa McMillan, Fifita was the quintessential transfer-portal candidate. He stepped in as Arizona’s starting quarterback a month into the 2023 campaign and led the Wildcats on a seven-game winning streak.Their 10-3 finish, culminating with an Alamo Bowl defeat of Oklahoma, marked the program’s best since 1998. For all intents and purpose, 2023 was UA’s third-best season in a history that predates Arizona gaining statehood.As the breakout star from a program not known for sustained gridiron prowess, Fifita was already the exact type of player who launches a thousand columns premised on where, not if, he should transfer.And that was before Fisch abruptly left Tucson for Washington in January 2024.Brent Brennan retaining Fifita in the wake of Fisch’s sudden exit marked the first and still most impactful recruiting win of Brennan’s time at UA. The quarterback has been a cornerstone for what could be the most prosperous three-season ever in the Sonoran Desert, with the Wildcats three wins shy of their fourth-ever 10-win campaign.“He is the best story in college football,” Brennan told CBS following a 34-24 win at Washington State in September, a game in which Fifita passed for a hair less than 300 yards and four touchdowns. “He keeps choosing his teammates. He keeps choosing the UofA. He keeps choosing Tucson, Arizona.“He’s special in every way,” Brennan added.One need not be a staunch opponent of the current open transfer market that dominates college football to appreciate the rarity of Fifita’s story. As a one-time redshirt turned four-year starter, he’s a throwback in one regard.Fifita is also a throwback in another facet, reminiscent of Doug Flutie in his Heisman-winning season at Boston College.Like Flutie, whose dazzling deep ball garnered him the award in 1984, Fifita is listed at 5-foot-10. That’s undersized for a Div. I quarterback, and in both cases, arguably a fabricated measurement.Perhaps closer to 5-foot-9 or even 5-foot-8, Fifita sees the field in ways that should not be possible at his size. Likewise, his diminutive frame belies his arm strength.Fifita’s 12 passing plays of 40-plus yards rank fourth among all FBS quarterbacks, and he’s tied for second with three passes going for at least 70 yards. His collection of highlight-reel explosive plays includes a 94-yard touchdown at Texas Tech when, on third down deep in Wildcats territory, Fifita rolled away from Red Raiders pressure.On the move, Fifita uncorked a laser-precise ball 30 yards in the air to Isaiah Mizell. The pass hit Mizell perfectly to give the receiver a clear runway to the end zone.The touchdown is one of five between Fifita and Mizell over a four-game stretch, during which Arizona’s wide-receiver corps has been decimated with injuries. Top wideout Tre Spivey’s season-ending broken foot against Cincinnati on Oct. 3 is the most prominent among a multitude of missed games for Wildcats pass-catchers.Still, Fifita has continued to pass at a pace ranking him among the nation’s leaders. His production has actually increased among the bevy of injuries, with a streak of four straight 300-plus-yard games going into Utah’s Nov. 14 visit to Tucson.Continuing on that trajectory against the Big 12 Conference-leading Utes — and, more importantly for his Heisman candidacy, remaining undefeated at home — Noah Fifita’s presence in a suddenly wide-open race cannot be overlooked.