STANFORD, Calif. — The common theme defensively for Arizona over the last three games was how inconsistent it has been on that side of the ball.
UA’s defense allowed an average of 457 yards and 44 points to Washington, USC and Stanford.
Saturday’s 41-31 loss was slightly different than the performances against the Trojans and Huskies.
UA coach Kevin Sumlin said last week that Arizona’s defense was good enough in the first half to win the games before collapsing in the third and fourth quarter.
The first half against the Cardinal was a different story.
Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello returned to the offense after missing over a month with a hand injury and threw for threw for 223 yards just in the first half alone. The Cardinal scored 31 points in the first half, which was the most since its 2018 contest against Oregon State.
“First half, I don’t know what happened. … It’s not the coaches. It’s us,” said safety Tristan Cooper in a frustrated tone.
“The first half, how did we give up 31? It all comes — giving up 31-plus points, 41-plus points every game the past three games.
“Sometimes people need to start looking at themselves and be like, man, is it me? Because, obviously, somebody’s not doing their job. That’s where it takes into ownership. I bust plays. Nobody’s perfect. But if you’re consistently busting plays, you’ve got to look yourself in the eye and be like, ‘man, I’ve got to get my stuff together.’ ”
Arizona has relied on pressuring the quarterback with not just its defensive linemen but linebackers Colin Schooler, Tony Fields and Anthony Pandy. Saturday was the first game since Colorado earlier this month that Arizona didn’t record a sack.
Even with senior defensive tackle Finton Connolly back in the starting rotation after exiting the game against USC with a right arm injury, the Wildcats were unable to establish a pass rush.
The best “pass rush” was junior college transfer defensive tackle Trevon Mason batting down Costello’s passes. Mason was only recorded to have one pass breakup, but his hand deflected the ball a few times throughout the game.
“I mean, man, I guess we underestimated their (offensive) line,” Cooper said. “We didn’t think their line was going to be that good. They came out balling. They’re better on the field than they are on film.”
Tate runs again
Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate finished the game with 103 rushing yards, which was the most since the UA’s win over Texas Tech in September and the highest in a Pac-12 game since against Oregon State on Nov. 11, 2017. Tate ran for a combined minus-55 yards against USC and Washington.
Wasted opportunity
The question looming for Arizona after Saturday’s loss: Was that a must-win game if the Wildcats want to make a bowl?
The Wildcats will face Oregon State at Arizona Stadium before another bye week, but after that will face three current top 25 teams: Oregon, Utah and ASU.
But Tate likes Arizona’s chances with four regular -season games remaining in his collegiate career.
“I think we’re still in good shape in the Pac-12 South. We need a few things to happen, but other than that, all we can do is play our game,” he said. “Like I said, we haven’t played a complete game yet.
“That’s the exciting thing about this team. We haven’t played a complete game, and we’ve been in all of these games.
I think the biggest thing for us is really to just use this. We’ve used the last few weeks as steppingstones and just learn a lesson just to be complete in all areas of the game — special teams, offense, defense — and us really just coming together as a whole because we haven’t done that in the past.”
Freshman cornerback doesn’t travel
Arizona freshman cornerback Bobby Wolfe didn’t travel to Stanford for undisclosed reasons.
When asked why Wolfe couldn’t travel, Sumlin said, “He was not here. It was internal.”
Wolfe, a Houston native, was rated as a four-star prospect in Arizona’s 2019 recruiting class. He appeared in the previous seven games.
