The Arizona Wildcats hung tough with third-ranked Oregon for much of Saturday night’s game, but the Ducks ran away in the fourth quarter and prevailed 41-19.
Arizona has now lost 16 consecutive games, tied for the longest active streak in the NCAA.
These stats tell the story of UA’s 22-point loss.
17-0
Arizona was very much alive entering the final quarter, trailing just 24-19. But the Ducks ended the game scoring 17 unanswered points and closing out any hopes of a UA miracle upset.
Oregon made a 43-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter, then added two touchdowns in the span of 1:24. Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown threw an 18-yard strike to make it 34-19, then the defense picked off UA’s Jordan McCloud on the next series and ran it back for six points.
The defensive touchdown effectively put the game out of reach for Arizona.
5McCloud, a sophomore transfer from South Florida, made his first start for the Wildcats at quarterback.
McCloud had some bright moments against the Ducks, but he also made too many mistakes. He was intercepted five times, one short of the program record for the most picks thrown in a single game. John Kelly (1949) and Bruce Lee (1968) both threw six.
Oregon capitalized on McCloud’s mistakes, scoring 20 points off the five turnovers. Arizona did not force a turnover, outside of a third quarter safety.
7 for 15
Entering Saturday’s game, Arizona was converting third downs at a 20% clip — the worst rate among Power 5 schools. The Wildcats were much better in that department against Oregon, and it was a key reason the game was close until late.
The Wildcats converted their first four third-down attempts and made 7 of 15 on the night.
10
Big plays surrendered are still an issue for Arizona’s defense. The Wildcats allowed 10 plays of 10 or more yards against Oregon — five passing and five rushing. Three of those plays resulted in touchdowns for the Ducks.
Conversely, UA’s offense was able to make some big plays against the Oregon defense, also having 10 plays of 10-plus yards. However, none of those plays resulted in scores.
37:58
Though the final score won’t reflect it, the Wildcats controlled the ball for nearly 40 minutes of play. A third quarter in which Arizona held the ball for 12 minutes helped tilt the time-of-possession total in its favor.
It was UA’s inability to cash in those opportunities with the ball for touchdowns that hurt. Three of Arizona’s five drives into the red zone ended without a touchdown; two resulted in an interception, the other in a field goal.
4The Wildcats have lost four of their last five matchups against Oregon dating back to the Pac-12 title game in 2014.
During that stretch, Arizona has been outscored 189-110.
