Posts tagged: Arizona

The venue keeps changing, but Arizona’s inconsistent, inefficient offense has remained the same.

The Wildcats once again failed to finish drives after getting deep into opposing territory, finding the end zone on their first drive and not again until it was too late in a 41-19 loss at No. 14 BYU on Saturday afternoon.

Arizona (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) got inside the Cougars’ 30-yard line on six of its first nine drives, but like last week’s 28-22 home loss to Texas Tech that’s when the offense fell apart. The Wildcats gained 51 yards on 19 snaps inside the 30 compared to 338 on 65 plays outside the 30.

The UA was 11 of 19 on third down, a big improvement from the 3-of-14 performance a week ago, but the failures on third down included another interception by Noah Fifita on a throw to the end zone. That came in a 7-7 game in the second quarterback.

Fifita turned it over four times, including twice on Arizona’s first three snaps in the second half, which turned a 14-7 halftime deficit into a 24-7 margin. The redshirt sophomore was 26 of 52 for 275 yards with a touchdown but also a career-high three interceptions and a fumble, and for the season has thrown nine picks against eight TD passes.

BYU (6-0, 3-0) was held under 400 yards by an Arizona defense that was already without senior defensive backs Gunner Maldonado and Treydan Stukes but then lost junior linebacker Jacob Manu to a targeting ejection four plays into the game. The Wildcats held the Cougars to 4 of 11 on third down and got another fourth-down stop early but were susceptible to big plays, with BYU getting 224 yards on 12 chunk plays.

Down seven at the half, Arizona’s first two drives in the third quarter lasted a combined three plays, with two of those resulting in turnovers. Fifita was intercepted on the first snap after his throw to Sam Olson in the flat was picked off and then lost a fumble on the third.

BYU needed one play to make it 21-7 after the interception, with BYU QB Jake Retzlaff hitting Chase Roberts on a 9-yard TD pass, but after the fumble recovery the Cougars settled for a field goal and a 24-7 edge.

The Wildcats gained five yards on their first three post-halftime drives before getting 22 on the fourth, but that was enough to cut the deficit to 24-10 on a 47-yard field goal by Tyler Loop with 6:30 left in the third. Arizona again got inside the BYU 30 before stalling, though, with Fifita getting tripped up trying to scramble on 3^rd and 8.

The Cougars added another field goal to make it 27-10 with 1:47 left in the third, and Arizona again got it back to a 2-score game on a 21-yard Loop field goal with 9:02 remaining, but that came at the end of an 18-play drive that used up more than seven minutes. The Wildcats had 1^st and goal at the BYU 8 but threw three straight times, getting only five yards.

BYU then put the game away with a 1-yard TD run by LJ Martin with 5:38 to go.

Arizona finally returned the end zone with 2:58 remaining on a 2-yard run by Quali Conley, his 6^th rushing score of the season, then went for two and didn’t convert to make it 34-19. It got the ball back with 2:49 after recovering a BYU fumble but turned it over on downs.

Capping the scoring was a pick-six by BYU’s Isaiah Glasker with 1:02 left after Fifita was running for his life in his own end zone on 4^th and 10 and threw up a dead duck.

The Manu ejection came on the fourth play of the game, helping BYU get quickly into the UA red zone. But then the Wildcat defense stiffened, with backups Kamuela Ka’aihue—who came in for Manu—and Dominic Lolesio each posting tackles for loss before Retzlaff threw incomplete out of the end zone on 4^th and 4 from the 5.

It was Arizona’s seventh 4th-down stop of the season, fifth in the state of Utah.

The UA then marched all the way downfield on its opening drive, gaining 100 yards en route to taking a 7-0 lead. The extra five yards were the result of a penalty on 3^rd and 4, which erased a play that would not have gotten the first down, and instead Fifita found McMillan on a 39-yard catch.

Three plays later Fifita connected with Montana Lemonious-Craig for a 14-yard TD pass, also on third down.

BYU tied it at 7 early in the second quarter on a 20-yard TD pass from Retzlaff to Parker Kingston, the score coming one play after the Cougars converted on a 4^th and 3 from the UA 35.

Arizona was just outside the red zone on its second drive but Fifita was intercepted by BYU’s Tanner Wall at the 1-yard line. It was the eighth consecutive game with a pick for Fifita.

The Cougars maximized that UA mistake, taking a 14-7 lead with 6:30 left before halftime on a 33-yard TD pass from Kingston to Martin on a trick play. Kingston took a backward pass from Retzlaff and then hit Martin, who had run a wheel route.

Arizona’s third drive again got inside the BYU 30 but again fell apart, this time coming up short on 4^th and 2 when Quali Conley’s 2-yard gain—that was confirmed by the chains—was then overturned on replay.

The UA returns home for its next two games, hosting Colorado on Oct. 19 for Homecoming and then West Virginia on Oct. 26 for Family Weekend. The Wildcats’ next game has already sold out and will be another day game, the earliest in the year they’ll be playing at home during the day since 2016.