5 takeaways from the Arizona Wildcats’ 34-7 loss to Colorado | Michael Lev

It was a beautiful afternoon in Tucson.

Then the football game started.

The underperforming, injury-riddled Arizona Wildcats spoiled the homecoming bash. By the middle of the third quarter, the stands at Arizona Stadium already were emptying.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Brent Brennan was supposed to take the baton from Jedd Fisch and keep the resurgent UA program humming.

Another 10-win season might have been a stretch. Now, after a disheartening 34-7 loss to Colorado on Saturday afternoon, Arizona (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) will be fortunate to make a bowl game.

What’s gone wrong? It’s a lengthy list.

Many of the problems that have plagued the Wildcats this season were on display Saturday. Here are five takeaways on Arizona’s third consecutive defeat:

1. Missed opportunities

Brennan and the coaching staff made a bold decision to start the game — trying a surprise onside kick.

They saw a vulnerability on film, and they knew it’d be advantageous to steal a possession against a high-powered Colorado offense — especially with Arizona’s defense missing several key components.

It almost worked. Tyler Loop sent the ball tumbling toward the right sideline. Redshirt freshman Jackson Holman was in position to scoop it up. But Holman hesitated. He needed to charge that groundball. Instead, he let it roll. Colorado recovered and took possession at the UA 46-yard line.

The shorthanded Arizona defense was undaunted. A stop for no gain on first down. A sack on second down.

The Wildcats had Shedeur Sanders and the Buffaloes right where they wanted them: third-and-15. But then safety Genesis Smith, arguably Arizona’s best defender this season, lost leverage on a post route. LaJohntay Wester got behind him for a 46-yard gain. Two plays later, Colorado had a 7-0 lead.

If Arizona had recovered that onside kick and scored — no sure thing given the state of the UA offense — the tenor of the game would have changed. The near-capacity crowd was looking for something to get excited about. The Wildcats didn’t finish the play — a season-long theme.

A stop on third down would have had a similar effect. Arizona couldn’t get that done either.

2. Make up your mind

If nothing else, the onside kick attempt seemed to indicate that the Wildcats would take an aggressive approach to a critical game. It was the right way to go. The team had been struggling. It was undermanned. What did Arizona have to lose?

Subsequent coaching decisions did not reflect said approach.

With the score 21-7 in the second quarter, the Wildcats faced fourth-and-8 at the CU 34-yard line. Brennan elected to attempt a field goal, which Loop hooked to the left after the snap-and-hold operation weren’t completely clean.

A 52-yard field goal is well within Loop’s range. But field goals weren’t going to win this game. The Buffs scored 34 points and easily could have had more; they took their foot off the gas in the second half with the game out of hand.

Another example of Brennan lacking clarity of purpose occurred in the fourth quarter. Arizona was down 31-7. The Wildcats had just regained possession via safety Jack Luttrell’s second interception.

The Cats advanced from their 14-yard line to their 32, where they faced fourth-and-5. Noah Fifita, Tetairoa McMillan and most of the UA starters were still in the game — a sign that Arizona was still trying to win.

Then Brennan elected to punt.

I asked him about it afterward, and he cited the offense’s struggles and not wanting to give Colorado good field position. But what would it have mattered at that point?

About nine minutes remained. It was a three-possession game (with successful two-point conversions). It was the longest of long shots, but the Wildcats still had a chance.

And if you were conceding at that juncture, why play Fifita and T-Mac? None of it made sense.

3. From bad to worse

We’ve dissected Arizona’s struggling offense every which way, but it reached a new level of ineptitude vs. Colorado.

The Wildcats averaged just 4.1 yards per play. They allowed as many sacks as they scored points. They had as many punts as they had points.

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Arizona tried to throw a bubble screen in the second quarter — one of the most basic plays in modern football. The play was so disjointed that Fifita had to spike the ball into the turf.

That play was part of a sequence that saw the two teams turn the ball over on three consecutive possessions. The UA defense took the ball away twice. The UA offense couldn’t so much as gain a first down.

The first post-turnover drive ended with Fifita getting sacked and fumbling. Most of the seven sacks Arizona allowed — one more than its season total entering Saturday — were the offensive line’s fault. This time, Montana Lemonious-Craig appeared to be open in Fifita’s sightline. For whatever reason, he didn’t release the ball in time.

The second drive was a three-and-out — a run for no gain, the aforementioned botched bubble screen and a throwaway after Fifita was pressured.

Since the opener, the offense has failed to display any continuity or consistency. If there’s a plan, it’s impossible to decipher what it is.

The larger problem is that there’s no clear path to fixing it this year. Arizona already changed play-callers during its first bye. You can’t install a new offense in the middle of a season.

4. Admirable effort

The offense was missing a key piece in tight end Keyan Burnett, and the O-line fell apart after left tackle Rhino Tapa’atoutai left the game late in the first half.

But the injury list on that side pales compared to the carnage that has afflicted the UA defense.

Arizona entered Saturday without defensive tackle Chubba Ma’ae and defensive backs Gunner Maldonado, Treydan Stukes and Marquis Groves-Killebrew. Then — during warmups — defensive tackle Isaiah Johnson got hurt to the point that he had to be helped off the field. And then — during an apparent celebration — linebacker and leading tackler Jacob Manu suffered a noncontact leg injury.

Additionally, star cornerback Tacario Davis started but clearly wasn’t 100% and sat out the second half.

And yet ... the defense played hard. It got a handful of stops. It picked off Sanders twice.

Was the unit great? No. Could Colorado have scored more if it had kept trying to score? Yes. But you couldn’t ask for much more from a depleted group that keeps losing bodies.

Defensive coordinator Duane Akina also deserves kudos for at least trying something different. He utilized a dime defense featuring three down linemen, a roaming pass rusher and one linebacker to try to combat CU’s normally pass-first offense.

With both of Arizona’s 300-pound D-linemen (Ma’ae and Johnson) unavailable, the Wildcats were inviting the Buffs to run. They did so fairly effectively, churning out 148 net yards on 39 attempts. But that was a sacrifice worth making.

It's also worth noting that the defense is getting virtually no help from the offense. The Wildcats are constantly playing from behind, allowing opponents the freedom to run or pass. Colorado’s average starting field position Saturday was its 42-yard line — 19 yards better than Arizona’s.

5. Already embattled

It can’t be sugarcoated: Brennan’s tenure has been a borderline disaster so far.

He deserves considerable credit for helping to keep the team together in the wake of Fisch’s departure. The roster lost several key pieces and lacked depth but had plenty of returning starters and top-end talent not seen at Arizona in decades.

But Brennan and his staff haven’t gotten the most out of that talent. Not even close. Star offensive players such as Fifita have regressed. Even the uber-talented McMillan — oddly underutilized Saturday — isn’t making the weekly impact he ought to make.

Most of the issues are on offense. That unit hasn’t clicked since Week 1, and whatever efforts have been made to try to fix it have been unsuccessful.

Fifita clearly has lost confidence and doesn’t look like the same player as last year. The offensive line is getting worse. Consistent complementary weapons have yet to emerge.

Brennan showed at San Jose State that he could build a program and create a culture. He seemed like the right guy at the right time when former athletic director Dave Heeke came calling in mid-January.

Brennan still could succeed here. But he’s dug himself a hole. And the more Arizona struggles, the harder it’s going to be to dig out of it.

Fans already have lost faith. Recruits could jump ship. Veterans could flee via the transfer portal.

Just as quickly as they rose from the ashes, the Wildcats could be looking at a total rebuild.

Will Brennan get the chance to oversee it?

Photos: University of Arizona gets run over by Colorado 34-7, Big 12 football