The Arizona Wildcats defeated Colorado 42-34 on Friday night at Arizona Stadium. Here are some pertinent notes, quotes and statistics:
NOTES
- After its first three drives ended with two punts and a fumble, Arizona scored on eight straight possessions. Half of those drives lasted less than two minutes.
- Arizona won for the first time this season when failing to score first. The Wildcats trailed 10-0 through one quarter.
- The Wildcats scored more than 40 points for the second straight week. Aside from the Southern Utah game, their previous high was 35 vs. Oregon State.
- Arizona scored 26 points in the second quarter, its most in a quarter in a conference game since scoring 36 in the fourth quarter against Cal in 2014.
- Arizona committed 12 penalties totaling 129 yards. It was the second game in a row the Wildcats reached double figures in penalties and triple figures in penalty yardage.
- Arizona’s average starting field position was its 21-yard line; Colorado’s was its 36. Since the start of the 2016 season, the Wildcats had been 2-16 when losing the field-position battle. In each of the previous two wins, the difference was 1 yard.
- J.J. Taylor became the first Arizona tailback to rush for at least 150 yards in three straight games since Ka’Deem Carey in 2013. Taylor finished with 192 yards on a career-high 40 carries. His penultimate carry was his longest run of the night – 21 yards. He has 404 yards on 70 carries over the past two weeks.
- Quarterback Khalil Tate had five completions of 30 or more yards to five different receivers. He is the first UA quarterback to throw five TD passes in three different games in his career.
- Each of Shawn Poindexter’s past four receptions has gone for a touchdown. He has multiple TD catches in three straight games, becoming the first UA receiver to do that since Austin Hill in 2012.
- Arizona had a season-high five sacks, including four in the first half. Defensive end JB Brown led the way with a career-high two.
- Safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles had a season-high nine tackles, including his first career sack, and a forced fumble.
- Linebacker Colin Schooler had nine tackles, including three stops for losses, putting him over the 100-tackle mark for the season. He has 19 TFLs.
- Wideout Cedric Peterson had a career-high 72 receiving yards, including a 57-yard touchdown.
- Bryce Wolma’s 17-yard reception in the first quarter was the first by an Arizona tight end this season since Pac-12 play began.
- Arizona kickers have made their last 10 field-goal attempts. Lucas Havrisik connected on 49- and 55-yarders. Josh Pollack made one from 41 yards.
QUOTES
UA coach Kevin Sumlin on Tate’s ability to throw on the run: “He keeps his eyes downfield. He’s got an unbelievable arm to throw on the run. There’s a lot of people that can (scramble) like that but can’t throw like that.
“There’s the good with the bad. He took off tonight and ran (once). There were two other times tonight he could have done that, probably should have just put the ball down and taken off. But he threw a couple touchdowns doing that too.
“As his health gets better, I think you see a confidence in him right now. That’s as fast as I’ve seen him since spring football.”
Sumlin on Taylor’s performance: “He’s a machine. He wants to play, and he plays hard. You look at some of his big games … he’s ripped off some explosive plays, 40-, 50-, 60-yard runs. Tonight, his longest was what, 21? He worked for every yard he got. I think our offensive line did a nice job, and schematically our offensive staff did a nice job, of attacking the edges.”
Taylor on his 15-yard run on third-and-9 from the UA 2 in the fourth quarter: “The whole situation was to make sure we stay out of the end zone and pick up a first down and seal the deal. That was just the mentality.”
Tate on the difference the past two weeks: “We’ve just been playing all four quarters. That’s something that Coach Sumlin has preached to us since the beginning of the season. The back half of the season, we’re finally starting to understand that. And it’s starting to show up on the field.”
Tate on his evolution as a quarterback: “It speaks on how hard I’ve worked in the offseason. I really took into consideration that I have to become a better passer. Having the receiving corps that I have, having the offensive line that I have and having the running backs that I have, it helps me do my job. It helps all of us.”
Defensive tackle PJ Johnson on Arizona’s penalties: “Very frustrating. We would love to be a more disciplined team. Nobody is great enough to keep giving up 100-plus yards a game in penalties.”
Schooler on being 5-5 and having a legitimate shot at a bowl: “It’s everything to us right now. When we were at the 3-5 part of our season, we kind of came together as a team and we basically said, no matter what happened in the first (eight games), we can’t control that – it’s happened. How are we going to finish the season? We control our destiny. That’s what we’ve been doing. I’m pretty confident that we can win out and go to a good bowl game.”
Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre on the outcome: “Our guys … came out of the chute and they played really, really hard. Arizona made a couple plays by Khalil running around and throwing it up, and that’s basically how they scored three of their touchdowns. I have to give credit to Arizona for doing that and for making those plays.”
STATS
- Each team had 27 first downs.
- Arizona had 216 net rushing yards; Colorado had 40.
- Arizona had 566 total yards and averaged 8.2 yards per play; Colorado had 383 yards and averaged 5.1.
- Arizona converted 9 of 14 third downs; Colorado converted 6 of 15.
- Colorado QB Steven Montez finished 27 of 42 for 343 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
- UA receiver Shun Brown had a team-high five catches for 57 yards and a TD.
- UA linebacker Tony Fields II had 10 tackles and a sack.
- Cornerback Lorenzo Burns had four tackles, including one TFL, and two pass breakups.
