Jayden de Laura throws 4 INTs in loss to WSU; UA shifts focus to Territorial Cup

It was a critical moment in the game — an opportunity to rally.

Trailing 21-6 to Washington State after an uninspiring first half, Arizona faced third-and-3 at its 32-yard line. The Wildcats even called time out to make sure they ran the play right.

Jayden de Laura lined up under center ... and the ball hit the ground. He had to fall on it. Arizona had to punt.

It was that kind of day for de Laura and the Wildcats. Everything felt slightly off. Even the pregame flyover was about 10 seconds late.

One week after upsetting No. 12 UCLA at the Rose Bowl, Arizona played one of its worst games of the season Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats fell to the Cougars 31-20 in front of announced crowd of 40,717 at Arizona Stadium. The UA trailed 31-6 entering the fourth quarter.

The loss dropped Arizona to 4-7, 2-6 in the Pac-12. The Wildcats won’t play in a bowl game for the fifth straight season. They lost the game before the Territorial Cup for the seventh consecutive time. All that’s left to play for the Cup. Arizona State has held it since 2017. The Wildcats and Sun Devils are set to square off at 1 p.m. Friday.

“We have to treat adversity and prosperity the same,” UA coach Jedd Fisch said. “To me, the Territorial Cup is its own game. It’s an 11-game season plus one. It’s our job to figure out a way not to let that plus-one affect any outcome of any other game.

“Today was not good enough on offense. It was not good enough, really in the end, on defense, because we let up too many points and we didn’t score enough. So as a team, we didn’t play well enough. We need to be better. We know that. We can’t put the ball on the ground. We can’t throw interceptions.

“The locker room is very hurt right. The locker room also knows and understands that we’re on to the Team Up North. That’s where our focus is starting now.”

A week before Saturday’s game, de Laura suggested he’d have something special in store for Washington State, his former school. “Just watch,” he said. “This game, it’s personal.”

The Cougars (7-4, 4-4) appeared to be the ones who took it personally, making life miserable for their former teammate. De Laura threw a career-high four interceptions, all coming in the second half. The second was returned by Derrick Langford Jr. for a touchdown. The second and third appeared to be the result of miscommunication between de Laura and his receivers — first Jacob Cowing, then Tanner McLachlan.

Fisch didn’t get the sense that de Laura was trying to do too much.

“I don’t think anything had to do with pressing,” Fisch said. “There were some plays that could be made that weren’t made for a lot of reasons.”

“His head space was where it’s supposed to be,” UA tailback Michael Wiley said. “Sometimes you have a game where things don’t go your way. It’s just part of the game. I know for a fact that Jayden’s gonna watch this film and just get better and be ready for ASU.”

In the first half — Arizona’s first touchdown-less first half of the season — video emerged showing de Laura and teammate Dorian Singer shoving each other along the sideline.

“It was just two competitive guys,” Fisch said. “There was a play that we were hoping to make and we didn’t. So that was just two competitive guys disappointed in each other. They’re fine.”

The Wildcats, who entered Saturday averaging 31.2 points per game, didn’t score a touchdown until 10:41 remained. De Laura scrambled into the end zone from 11 yards out. It was nothing more than a consolation prize for de Laura, who barely celebrated before taking a seat on the bench. Arizona trailed 31-13 at that point.

De Laura’s 47-yard TD pass to Singer made it 31-20 with 1:16 to play. Arizona failed to recover the ensuing onside kick.

Singer had a career-high 176 yards on nine catches. Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward threw for a touchdown and ran for one. Cougars tailback Nakia Watson had a pair of scores.

The offense’s lackluster performance overshadowed an admirable effort by the UA defense. The Wildcats set a season high with eight tackles for losses. They limited the Cougars’ offense to three points in the second half — a field goal after WSU had advanced inside the 1-yard line.

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“I thought our defense played really well today,” Fisch said. “I thought our defense played with great passion and effort and energy.”

Third and fourth downs played a critical role for both sides. The Cougars were 5 of 7 in those situations in the first half. The Wildcats were 2 of 9.

Arizona failed to score in the first quarter for the first time this season. WSU entered this week having allowed the fewest points and having accumulated the most TFLs in the Pac-12. It showed, as the Cougars made things hard on the Wildcats.

It was especially evident on a fourth-and-2 play at the WSU 25. It appeared that Arizona was trying to run a reverse, with Wiley flipping the ball to Jamarye Joiner, who was then supposed to throw it to de Laura. But penetration by the Cougars forced Wiley to keep the ball. He was pushed out of bounds just short of the marker.

“Just a play we had that got screwed up,” Wiley said. “Miscommunication.”

WSU had a 7-0 lead at that point, having marched 75 yards on the game’s opening possession. Watson finished the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ward.

The Cougars threatened to go up two scores later in the quarter when Ward connected with Donovan Ollie just outside the red zone. But Christian Roland-Wallace punched the ball out of Ollie’s hand at the UA 20. Tacario Davis recovered it at the 7.

WSU did take a two-score lead in the second quarter after again stopping Arizona on fourth down. This time it was fourth-and-4 from the 40. De Laura, under pressure, threw incomplete over the middle.

Ward’s 17-yard run made it 14-0 with 9:06 left in the half. Ward kept the ball on a zone-read play and waltzed untouched into the end zone.

The Wildcats finally scored on the next possession, thanks mainly to a 47-yard pass from de Laura to Tetairoa McMillan. But they stalled at the WSU 21 and had to settle for Tyler Loop’s 38-yard field goal.

More efficient play from Ward — timely scrambles and precise passing — enabled the Cougars to increase their lead to 21-3. Watson finished the 12-play, 63-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run.

Arizona drove for a field goal just before halftime. Loop’s 47-yarder trimmed the Wildcats’ deficit to 15.

That was a close as they would get until the end of the game. No one was lingering on WSU afterward.

“Normally we have a 24-hour rule to move on,” Fisch said. “We have a 24-minute rule. It’s time to move on and get ready for the Cup.”

Extra points

Sam Langi made his second career start in place of the injured Jordan Morgan. It was Langi’s first start at left tackle.

Arizona was missing three defensive linemen for undisclosed reasons: veteran tackles Paris Shand and Dion Wilson Jr. and freshman end Sterling Lane II.

Cornerback Treydan Stukes returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous three games. Freshman Ephesians Prysock, who had been starting, was used in the Wildcats’ dollar package.

WSU receiver Renard Bell returned after a four-week absence and led the Cougars with seven receptions. He got hurt again in the third quarter and didn’t return.

Photos: University of Arizona falls to 4-7 with a 31-20 loss to Washington State, Pac 12 football