The Arizona Wildcats lost to No. 12 Oregon 49-22 Saturday night at Arizona Stadium. Here are some pertinent notes, quotes and statistics from the UA’s defeat:
NOTES
* Arizona has yet to win two games in a row or lose two games in a row this season. The Wildcats’ results to date: win, loss, win, loss, win, loss.
* Oregon has won five games in a row and has scored more than 40 points in all five games.
* Arizona lost for the third straight time to Oregon. The average margin in those games: 25.7 points.
* Oregon won at Arizona for the first time since Sept. 22, 2011. The Ducks had lost their previous two visits to Arizona Stadium by a combined score of 86-31.
* Arizona allowed 580 total yards and 306 rushing yards. It was the second time in three weeks that Arizona allowed more than 575 total yards and more than 300 rushing yards. It was also the second time in three weeks that Arizona surrendered 49 points. All of those things happened on Sept. 24 at Cal.
* Four Oregon players rushed for at least 67 yards and scored at least one touchdown: Noah Whittingham (6-92-1), Bo Nix (8-70-3), Jordan James (10-69-1) and Bucky Irving (12-67-1).
* Arizona did not record a single tackle for loss. It’s believed to be the first time the Wildcats have failed to record at least one TFL since 2011. Oregon has allowed only one sack this season.
* The Wildcats 10’ third-down conversions were the most by Arizona in a single game since going 12 of 20 against Oregon State in 2019 (also a loss).
* The Wildcats were penalized just three times for 11 yards, marking their third game this year with fewer than five penalties. Arizona recorded just one such game last year (BYU, four) and just three total across the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
* Arizona had three turnovers; Oregon had none. The Ducks have won 19 straight games when winning the turnover battle.
* Kicker Tyler Loop converted all three of his field-goal attempts, tying his career-high mark set in last year’s Territorial Cup. He is 20 of 22 on his career and remains perfect (17 of 17 ) from inside 40 yards.
* Receiver Jacob Cowing extended his streak of games with at least one reception to 38, tied for the second-longest active streak among all FBS players. Saturday was the first time this season that Cowing has been held without a receiving touchdown, snapping a span of five straight games.
* Tailback DJ Williams rushed for a 52-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It marked the longest rush of his career.
* Quarterback Jayden de Laura has thrown at least one touchdown pass in each of the Wildcats’ six games. He is one game shy of tying his career-best seven-game touchdown streak.
* Freshman tight end Keyan Burnett had three receptions - the first three catches of his college career.
* Safety Jaxen Turner made a career-high 13 tackles (eight solo, five assisted). It marked the second time in his collegiate career that he finished a game with 10-plus tackles (10 vs. UCLA on Oct. 9, 2021).
QUOTES
UA coach Jedd Fisch on the loss: “It wasn’t the type of game we wanted to have. They played a complete game. Our players ... we tell them all the time, you win or you learn. And in this case, we learned. We learned how to get better. And now we'll go back and keep working and see if we can have the best Sunday we've had all year.”
Fisch on Cowing fumbling on Arizona’s opening drive: “Every part of the play was executed exactly how we wanted it. We had the formation we wanted, the tempo we wanted. Jacob just didn't give a big enough pocket. As he said, ‘I didn't do a good job taking the exchange.’ He was the first person who ran off the field and said, ‘Hey, that was on me.’ ”
Fisch on improving the run defense: “Our guys are in a really good place mentally to go out there and recognize that it's going to come down to practicing hard. It's going to come down to execution, it’s going to come down to being more physical. And I expect us to do that. We've also gone against some really, really good rushing offenses.”
Fisch on the versatility of Oregon’s offense: “What they do a really good job of is kicking the ball out. So if you sell out inside, they do a really good job on the perimeter – screens, bubble passes. And then what happens is you start cheating up ... they hit two big explosives over the top. You're trying to sell out to stop the run, and that's what happens. But we have to improve there. There's no question about it. We're going to work very hard at it. And we're not going to make excuses. We're just going to figure out how to do it.”
Fisch on de Laura’s demeanor during the game: “I actually thought that tonight his demeanor was the best it's been all year, coming off the sideline, coming to communicate, telling me what he's seeing, telling me what he wants to get to. I actually thought he did a great job. We're all frustrated when we don't win. We're all frustrated when we don't move the ball and score. That's going to always be the case.”
Fisch on Arizona Stadium being sold out for the first time since 2015: “That was awesome. Awesome that they came out in full force today. I want to thank our ZonaZoo, our students who were full go today, our ticket office, our marketing department for selling out.”
UA safety Christian Young on what can be done to improve the run defense: “Tackle better. Making drills translate to the game. Wrapping up, driving our feet, a few basic things that we weren’t doing and we didn’t execute today. That was on us. All the captains on defense, the leaders on defense.”
UA tackle Jordan Morgan on Williams and Jonah Coleman breaking off big runs in the second quarter: “If we’re spot on with our communication and know what we’re doing, it’ll be like that most of the time, opening holes, them being able to read the hole, hit the hole, hit the gap and just take off.”
Oregon coach Dan Lanning on the win: “I’m really proud of our team and winning tonight. I've been looking for a complete game. There are certainly a lot of things that we can get better at, but it's always hard to go on the road competing in this conference. I thought our guys came in, performed, and completed the game.”
Oregon center Alex Forsyth on the Ducks scoring touchdowns on seven straight possessions: “I actually didn't even know we scored on seven straight. You just kind of roll with it, and once you get in that groove it kind of feels natural. Credit (offensive coordinator Kenny) Dillingham for calling a phenomenal game and having us prepared."
STATS
* Oregon had 29 first downs; Arizona had 23
* Oregon averaged 7.5 yards per rush; Arizona averaged 4.6
* Oregon averaged 8.3 yards per play; Arizona averaged 5.3
* Oregon possessed the ball for 33 minutes, 19 seconds; Arizona had it for 26:41
* Arizona converted 10 of 17 third downs; Oregon converted 4 of 8
* Oregon scored touchdowns on 4 of 4 trips into the red zone; Arizona scored on 1 of 5
* Arizona’s average starting field position was its 29-yard line; Oregon’s was its 26
* Coleman rushed for 74 yards on 9 carries
* Williams rushed for 65 yards on 6 carries
* Cowing caught 6 passes for 77 yards
* Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan caught 5 passes for 48 yards and 1 TD
* Arizona punter Kyle Ostendorp averaged 46.8 yards per punt with 3 of 4 placed inside the 20
* Oregon’s Bennett Williams had 4 tackles, 1 sack and 1 forced fumble
* Oregon’s DJ Johnson had 4 tackles, 1 TFL and 1 fumble recovery
