The Arizona Wildcats lost to Mississippi State 39-17 in the home opener Saturday night at Arizona Stadium. Here are some pertinent notes, quotes and statistics from the loss:
Notes
Arizona fell to 1-1. The Wildcats were seeking their first 2-0 start since 2015. They haven’t won two games in a row since 2019.
Arizona dropped its first matchup with Mississippi State. The Wildcats are 1-6-1 all-time against SEC opponents.
After scoring 38 points in Week 1, Arizona managed only 17 vs. MSU. It was the 14th time in their past 16 games that the Wildcats failed to score at least 20 points.
Arizona’s 40 net rushing yards marked its lowest total since Oct. 29, 2011, when the Wildcats had 36 rushing yards against Washington.
Mississippi State’s longest play from scrimmage was 20 yards. Arizona held San Diego State without a play of 20-plus yards in the season opener last week.
Arizona had three takeaways, upping its turnover tally to five through two games — one shy of the Wildcats’ total for the entire 2021 campaign.
Receiver Jacob Cowing extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 34, which is the second-longest such streak in the nation. He finished with a team-high seven receptions but had only 38 yards after gaining 152 in Week 1.
Cowing has four touchdown receptions through two games, matching last year’s leader in that category, Michael Wiley.
Wiley’s 34-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the longest rushing TD of his career, surpassing his 20-yard score in the 2020 Territorial Cup.
Linebacker Jerry Roberts reached double-digit tackles against the Bulldogs (10) to achieve the feat in a second consecutive game. Roberts has reached double figures in each of the past three full games that he’s played.
Hunter Echols (nine) and Kolbe Cage (five) set career marks in tackles. Kyon Barrs and Paris Shand tied their career highs with five tackles apiece. Shand also had 1.5 sacks for his second career multi-sack game.
Cornerback Treydan Stukes‘ interception in the second quarter was the first of his career. Stukes was on a snap count coming off an injury and didn’t record any other stats.
Kicker Tyler Loop connected on his lone field-goal attempt – a career-long 43-yarder – and both extra-point tries to remain perfect for his career (14 of 14 on field goals, 19 of 19 on extra points). Loop also had a tackle on a first-quarter kickoff.
Quotes
UA coach Jedd Fisch on Arizona’s subpar rushing attack: “It was very hard to run the football tonight. What was very frustrating was that we wound up snapping the ball over our head, and now it’s a second-and-19. We never got into the good down and distances that would allow us to continue to run the football.”
Fisch on Wiley, who had 103 scrimmage yards on 11 touches: “My thoughts on Michael Wiley at all times are very strong, because I think he’s just a fantastic person and fantastic kid. He was our Wildcat of the Week last week. He does everything right.”
Fisch on Jaxen Turner‘s forced fumble and return: “That was everything that we ask them to do. We ask them to lawnmower the football, which is just get your hand in there and rip it out. He did it tremendously. The ball was loose on the ground, he scooped it up and ran it all the way back. Jaxen does that. He’s got a great feel for the ball. He almost had a pick today. Had a pick last week. Took the ball away that time. I appreciate his efforts every day.”
Fisch on giving freshman QB Noah Fifita the final series: “You’re always one play away at quarterback. That was a lot for him, right? You’re going in there against a very good football team, you’re down three scores at the time and have to drive the field. ... It was a great opportunity for Noah.”
Fisch on the crowd: “I want to thank our fans. Our student section was incredible tonight. It was packed when we came back in the third quarter. It was packed really all the way through. We made a couple of huge stops on third and fourth down because of the student section. They were awesome tonight. I thought our fans in general were great. As we’re building our program, we need them to keep fighting with us.”
Wiley on the crowd: “Very nice. That’s a major key in winning football and success in general. Having a crowd like that, it brings the juice and gets everybody going. Even when you’re sometimes unmotivated.”
Mississippi State coach Mike Leach on the win: “I thought both teams played really hard. I thought when we played with 11, they didn’t stop us. I thought it was a complete team win with offense, defense and special teams.”
Leach on each team having three turnovers: “Turnovers really washed out. But our biggest thing was our defense getting multiple stops on fourth down. (Arizona was 1 of 4).”
Mississippi State QB Will Rogers on the Bulldogs’ defense: “It was huge the way they got stops there at the end and really all throughout the game. We got a turnover and then we gave it right back to them, which is just awful on our part.”
Rogers on beating a Power Five opponent on the road by 22 points: “I think we played pretty bad at times. I think we can play a lot better. I don’t want to be negative. I’m so proud of how we came out here to win a night game. It’s 2 o’clock back home. I’m proud of the team, but we have so much to work on. And we’re about to find out what we’re made of this week (at LSU).”
Stats
Mississippi State had 27 first downs; Arizona had 19
MSU averaged 4.4 yards per rush; Arizona averaged 1.8
The Bulldogs completed 80% of their passes (40 of 50); Arizona completed 50% (27 of 54)
MSU had 426 total yards; Arizona had 316
MSU averaged 5.8 yards per play; Arizona averaged 4.2
Mississippi State had 7 penalties for 80 yards; Arizona had 6 for 46
MSU possessed the ball for 36 minutes, 57 seconds; Arizona had it for 23:03
MSU converted 5 of 12 third downs; Arizona was 4 of 14
MSU scored touchdowns on 5 of 6 trips to the red zone; Arizona was 1 of 2
MSU’s average starting position was its 36-yard line; Arizona’s was its 35
MSU’s Caleb Ducking and Austin Williams each had two TD receptions
UA freshman WR Tetairoa McMillan had 4 catches for 69 yards
Turner had 8 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 1 pass breakup
