Jedd Fisch’s weekly Monday press briefing featured an unusual lament, at least in 2022.
“We weren’t very good in any area in the passing game,” the Arizona coach said.
The Wildcats had a season-low 15 pass completions in their 45-20 loss at Utah on Saturday. Their 50% completion rate tied for the worst this season (Mississippi State). Starting quarterback Jayden de Laura’s 159 passing yards were a season low (220 vs. MSU). He also failed to throw a TD pass for the first time this year before being lifted early in the fourth quarter.
“There were a couple of times that we left our read early,” Fisch said. “I thought that we got a little bit excited back there — that the (wet) ball, the elements, were affecting us. We didn’t really handle the full passing game the way we normally would.”
Arizona had three dropped passes, according to Pro Football Focus. The first pass of the game, a slightly high seam pass to tight end Tanner McLachlan, also could have been ruled a drop.
McLachlan had one later, on a middle screen, that led to a fourth-and-20 scenario in the second quarter. The Wildcats ended up turning the ball over on downs, squandering a potential scoring opportunity.
Receiver Jacob Cowing had a drop along the sideline, a muffed punt and a fumble after catching a pass and gaining a first down. Arizona was charged with seven fumbles, four of which were lost — a season high.
“I was about ready to lose my mind,” Fisch said. “We put the ball on the ground seven times, the quarterback and wide receiver position, Jacob and Jayden particularly. That’s not OK. They know that.
“All of that is preventable. I didn’t see any fumble that I would say wasn’t a preventable fumble. The question becomes how much the elements affected the ball. I would say a lot. But I would also say that’s not an excuse.”
De Laura was involved in five fumbles, two of which were lost. Fisch removed him from the game with 10:08 remaining.
De Laura has shown the ability to bounce back this season. After he threw three interceptions against MSU, he completed 71.4% of his passes without a pick the following week against North Dakota State. After he threw two interceptions at Cal, he passed for 484 yards and six touchdowns against Colorado.
Despite the off game at Utah, de Laura ranks second in the Pac-12 and seventh nationally with 2,813 passing yards. He’s tied for third in the league and tied for 14th nationally with 22 touchdown passes.
Cowing update
Fisch did not have a definitive update regarding the health of Cowing, who left the Utah game in the fourth quarter because of an apparent knee injury.
“We’ll know more in the next few days,” said Fisch, whose teams visits UCLA on Saturday. “Don’t know yet exactly if he’ll be good to go or not. We’ll see Tuesday if he’s going to be limited or not. I’ll know better tomorrow morning after we get another day of treatment in.”
Arizona wide receiver Jacob Cowing, left, leads the Pac-12 with 65 receptions and is tied for first with seven touchdown catches. His status for the UCLA game is unknown after he suffered an apparent knee injury at Utah.
Cowing leads the Pac-12 with 65 receptions and is tied for first with seven touchdown catches. He ranks second with 858 receiving yards.
If Cowing were unable to play against the Bruins, the Wildcats likely would utilize a combination of sophomore Anthony Simpson and freshman Kevin Green Jr. in his place. Simpson had a 51-yard reception vs. the Utes.
Civic engagement
In 2020, Election Day was a mandatory day off for all NCAA Division I student-athletes. That’s no longer the case.
Earlier this year, the Division I Council approved an amendment for “teams competing in the championship segment of their playing season.” The new rule says that student-athletes must have a day off within 15 days of Election Day for “civic-engagement opportunities.”
Fisch said he gave the team that opportunity around the time of Arizona’s Oct. 22 bye. The last day that would have fit in the 15-day window was Monday, Oct. 24, which was a day off for the players.
The Wildcats will practice as normal Tuesday. Fisch noted that the players don’t have any team obligations until 2 p.m., so they can vote in person before then if they’re from or registered in Arizona.
The team and athletic department also have addressed the topic of voting.
“We had a roundtable discussion for the student-athletes to learn about all the different options in terms of how to vote, how to use the mail-in votes, how to handle it if you’re out of state,” Fisch said. “We also brought in some people to talk about the reason why voting is so important. We tried to get everybody registered to vote. We have constant communication.”
Extra points
Fisch changed his mind regarding Cowing’s muffed punt. After initially stating that Cowing should have tried to field the ball, Fisch said Monday that Cowing should have let it go. “The wind started howling. You gotta let it bounce,” Fisch said. “I thought at the moment we should have fielded it. But then the more you watch it, you watch the TV copy, that ball just spun at the last second. If you can’t field it, we just gotta live with it. That was a tough one.”
Fisch had no issues with most of Simpson’s decisions to bring the ball out on kickoffs that landed short of the end zone. A fair catch places the ball at the 25-yard line. Simpson failed to reach the 25 four of six times. “You can fair-catch it,” Fisch said. “But we do tell them that if we have a return set up, we would like to take the return. We don’t usually fair-catch outside of the goal line.”
Arizona’s next-to-last home game against Washington State on Nov. 19 is scheduled for a noon kickoff. The game will be televised by Pac-12 Networks, the Wildcats’ seventh appearance on the league’s networks this season. None of Arizona’s games will air on an ESPN network this year.
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for the third straight time. Only one player, Arizona QB Khalil Tate in 2017, has won the award four times in a row.
Arizona (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12) opened as a 14.5-point underdog at UCLA (8-1, 5-1). The line had swelled to 19.5 by Monday afternoon. The Bruins are ranked ninth in this week’s AP Top 25. They were 12th in the initial College Football Playoff rankings.
UCLA defensive coordinator Bill McGovern was a standout at Bergen Catholic High School, in Oradell, New Jersey. Fisch first got the itch to become a football coach while serving as a ball boy for Bergen Catholic.
