The Arizona Wildcats lost to UCLA 31-30 on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl. Here are some pertinent notes, quotes and statistics:
NOTES
- For the third time this season, Arizona lost a game by less than a touchdown and couldn’t get the ball back to try for the winning score. The Wildcats lost by five points to BYU, by four to USC and by one to UCLA. Arizona lost by a single point for the first time since Dec. 2, 2010, against Arizona State (30-29 in double overtime).
- Arizona scored on six of its seven trips into the red zone but had to settle for field goals three times.
- Arizona rushed for 289 yards, its second-highest total this season. The Wildcats had 294 rushing yards in their three previous games combined.
- Tailback J.J. Taylor finished with 154 yards on 19 carries for his fifth-career 100-yard rushing game and second this season.
- Tailback Gary Brightwell rushed for a career-high 121 yards on 15 carries. It’s Brightwell’s second career 100-yard rushing game. His 72-yard run in the third quarter was Arizona’s longest play from scrimmage this season and the longest of Brightwell’s career.
- Arizona did not punt in the second half. The Wildcats’ drives ended as follows: field goal, touchdown, field goal, interception, touchdown, field goal.
- Arizona finished with 12 tackles for losses and four sacks, marking new season highs in both. The Wildcats’ previous bests were 10 and three against Oregon State.
- Arizona did not allow a sack for the second time this season. UCLA had just one TFL, the fewest by a UA opponent this year.
- Linebacker Colin Schooler finished with a team-high 10 tackles, marking his fourth game with 10 or more this season. Schooler had three tackles for losses, including a sack, raising his season total to 14.5.
- Defensive tackle Dereck Boles registered the first sack of his Arizona career in the third quarter. Boles also forced a fumble on the play and recovered the ball.
- Four UA players made their first career starts: quarterback Rhett Rodriguez, left guard Michael Eletise and cornerbacks McKenzie Barnes and Christian Young.
- Receiver Shawn Poindexter had six catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the senior’s first career multiple-touchdown game and second career 100-yard receiving game.
- Kicker Josh Pollack tied his career high with three made field goals.
QUOTES
Poindexter on his highlight of the night: “Just Rhett, man. Just overcoming everything that’s been thrown his way this past year. For him to come out here, have high energy, continue to push the guys to get better every single day and to play the kind of game he played today, that’s a highlight for me.”
Rodriguez on whether he was nervous: “I was nervous, but you should be nervous. If you’re not nervous, then you don’t love the game. But I felt pretty calm out there. It wasn’t a bad nervous, I guess.”
Rodriguez on the advice he received from his father: “He watched some film this week, and he kind of told me what he thought. But at the end of the day, he was just telling me (to) just be myself. Have fun out there, be myself, and it’s all going to be fine.”
Rodriguez on the team’s effort: “Effort with this team is never the question. This team always plays hard. So I wasn’t surprised. We felt good going into the game. At least I felt good going into the game. I was confident that we were gonna come out with the victory. We were just one point short.”
Schooler on not being able to get a stop at the end: “It’s really frustrating. But it’s not necessarily a play at the end of the game. When you lose by one point, it’s what happened in the first quarter, first half, the opening drive of the second half. There’s a lot of factors that go into that. It’s not necessarily making plays at the end there. We would like that, but it’s, what could we have done throughout the entire game?”
UA coach Kevin Sumlin on the difference in the game: “You’ve got to give UCLA credit, how they handled a tight situation in the second half. But we also did some things that allowed them to extend drives – some penalties that we did not have in the first half. That’s critical. We had two turnovers in the end zone … which certainly would have translated to more than one point. We had our opportunities.”
Sumlin on the UCLA loss vs. the Utah loss: “Last Friday was a completely different situation. But nobody in that locker room’s happy. One point, 21 points, it still goes the same way. We continue to play hard with different guys on the field. Nobody’s going to question these guys’ effort. It’s the decision-making in critical moments that hurt us in a game like this.
“It’s a learning experience for some guys, and it should be for our whole team. That was the message in the locker room. We’ve been in a bunch of less-than-one-score games. For whatever reason, we haven’t been able to close them out.”
UCLA coach Chip Kelly on CB Darnay Holmes punching the ball away from Taylor: “It was just a great hustle play on his part. And it just is the type of player that he is. He’s a heady guy. Not only did he prevent a touchdown from happening, but he turned it into a turnover, and then he recovers it. That’s just a heck of a play. That’s something that you’ll see on ‘SportsCenter.’ ”
STATS
- Arizona had 22 first downs; UCLA had 23.
- Arizona had 520 total yards and averaged 7.2 per play; UCLA had 460 yards and averaged 5.6.
- Arizona had six penalties for 64 yards; UCLA had 12 for 103.
- Arizona possessed the ball for 27 minutes, 18 seconds; UCLA had it for 32:42.
- Arizona converted 7 of 15 third downs; UCLA converted 8 of 18.
- Arizona’s average starting field position was its 32-yard line; UCLA’s was its 23.
- UCLA’s Joshua Kelly carried 31 times for 136 yards and a touchdown.
- Rodriguez completed 15 of 34 passes for 231 yards with two TDs and two interceptions.
- UCLA quarterbacks Wilton Speight and Dorian Thompson-Robinson combined to go 22 of 35 for 307 yards with three touchdowns and zero picks.
- UCLA punter Stefan Flintoft averaged 48.4 yards on seven punts, placing two inside the 20-yard line.
- UA linebacker Tony Fields II had nine tackles and one quarterback hurry.
- Safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles had seven tackles, including one TFL.
- Defensive tackle Finton Connolly had 1.5 TFLs, including a sack.
