One drive into its first real test of the Brent Brennan era, Arizona looked like it was built to play in the Big 12. By the end of the night the Wildcats were more than glad to have this one not count toward the league standings.
20th-ranked Arizona scored on its first possession and not again, falling 31-7 at No. 14 Kansas State on Friday night. The loss ended the UA’s 9-game win streak, which was tied for the longest in school history and had been the longest active streak in FBS.
The battle of the Wildcats went convincingly to the home team, which handed Arizona its first loss since a triple-overtime defeat at USC last October. Quarterback Avery Johnson made it three mobile passers in as many games to give the UA fits, as the sophomore threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 110 yards.
K-State (3-0) gained 235 yards on the ground, the most allowed by Arizona since 2022.
Arizona (2-1) had 324 yards of offense, its fewest in more than two years. Noah Fifita threw for 268 yards on 26-of-42 passing but was intercepted once and did not throw a TD pass for the first time since the first game of the win streak. Tetairoa McMillan tied his career high with 11 catches, hauling in 138 yards, and Montana Lemonious-Craig had six catches for 75 yards, but the UA couldn’t do anything on the ground after the first drive.
Quali Conley had 48 yards and a TD on 14 carries as Arizona ran for a season-low 56 yards.
The UA failed to reach double figures for the first time since being shut out at Colorado in 2021.
Penalties were again an issue for Arizona, which committed seven in the first half and nine for the game, several of which either stalled drives on offense or extended them on defense. And special teams had one of its worst games in recent memory, allowing a punt return TD.
Down 14-7 at the half, Arizona fell behind two scores midway through the third on a 9-yard TD catch by Kansas State’s Brayden Loftin. It was the second TD to a tight end who had begun the play in the backfield, and came at the end of a drive that included K-State completing a 48-yard pass on 3rd and 12 and a face mask penalty that moved the ball into the red zone.
A 1-yard run by DJ Giddens made it 28-7 in the final minute of the third, a second consecutive scoring drive of 80-plus yards for K-State. Arizona then turned it over on downs inside the K-State 40 early in the fourth, leading to a 35-yard field goal.
The UA would turn it over on downs its last two possessions, gaining only 137 yards in the second half.
Arizona scored on its opening drive for the third straight game, going 73 yards in 14 plays and using up nearly half the first-quarter clock to get in the end zone. Quali Conley scored on a 1-yard run for his fourth TD of the season to give the UA a quick 7-0 lead.
Kansas State was just as methodical, and successful, tying it at 7 with 1:01 left in the first on a 3-yard TD catch by tight end Will Swanson to cap a 15-play drive.
A 3-and-out by Arizona and a line drive by kicker Tyler Loop—serving as punter, making that three in three games—led to Kansas State taking a 14-7 lead when Dylan Edwards fielded the punt on a bounce and went untouched 79 yards for a TD and a 14-7 lead early in the second.
Fifita was picked off in the end zone on the next drive but K-State couldn’t capitalize, missing a 48-yard field goal. Arizona’s final drive of the first half stalled near midfield despite gaining 53 yards because it had 30 on penalties, but again it avoided disaster when K-State’s Johnson didn’t recognize the clock running out and ran out of bounds at the UA 14 to end the first half.
The UA is off next week, returning to action Sept. 21 for its Big 12 opener at No. 12 Utah.
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