Arizona overcame a two-game skid against Top-10 teams and sprinted through the bye-week finish line with a 44-6 win over No. 19 Washington State in Pullman.
The Wildcats’ 38-point win was their largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent on the road in program history. It also marked the largest margin of victory against Washington State since the Wildcats beat the Cougars 45-6 in 1983.
“We spent the whole week preparing to have our best outing of the year today. I believe we did that against a very good team. Washington State is Top 20 in the country and we went on the road and played our best brand of football,” Arizona coach Jedd Fisch said. “More importantly, we as a staff are excited about the direction of the program. We know that Arizona football has gotten to a spot where we’re competing with everybody in the country.”
Here are pertinent storylines, quotes and statistics from Saturday evening in Pullman, along with a look ahead to the next week for Arizona.
Pertinent storylines
Wildcats ‘flex’ on defense
Arizona legend Tedy Bruschi was in town to speak at the Arizona Bowl Kickoff Luncheon this week, which should’ve been an omen for the UA defense dominating on Saturday.
The Wildcats held the Cougars to a season-low six points, which were scored on the opening 75-yard touchdown drive; WSU had 234 yards of total offense on Saturday. Similarly to Washington’s offensive game plan, the Cougars moved the ball with quick passes and dump-offs.
After that? Woof.
Washington State finished two drives in Arizona territory, which resulted in a fumble and turnover on downs. The Wildcats forced three takeaways, including two interceptions — their first of the season — by cornerbacks Ephesians Prysock and Tacario Davis and a fumble forced by defensive tackle Bill Norton and recovered by linebacker Justin Flowe.
Arizona cornerback Ephesians Prysock lines up for a play during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Washington State, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)
The message was simple after the drive, said Prysock: “’Just keep swarming to the ball. I think that’s pretty much it. Just keep swarming and trying to take the ball away.’”
Saturday was the third time this season Arizona’s rushing defense held an opponent to under 100 yards rushing. Arizona’s rushing defense currently ranks third in the Pac-12.
The 35 rushing yards Arizona surrendered against Washington State are the lowest since its win over Cal in 2021, when the Golden Bears had only 28.
“The goal is to always make an offense one-dimensional,” Fisch said. “We felt as if we had a really good plan for their running game. If we can do that and know they were going to have to throw the ball to beat us, that allows you to out together the type of plan you want to have. It gives you some chances to blitz, it gives you some chances to play different coverages, it gives you a chance to intercept the football, and it started with not giving them any space in the running game.”
Arizona deployed a new defensive scheme on Saturday, the “Arizona flex defense,” which had three defensive linemen, three linebackers and five defensive backs. The third linebacker added to defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen’s 4-2-5 scheme was Jeremy Mercier, who played 16 snaps and “spied” WSU quarterback Cameron Ward.
Arizona linebacker Jeremy Mercier stands on the field during the second half of the game against Washington State. After allowing a quick touchdown, the UA defense stifled the Cougars.
The flex defense was a scheme UA assistant Duane Akina brought from the Canadian Football League to Arizona during the celebrated “Desert Swarm” era under Dick Tomey in the 1990s.
“We went back to our roots a little bit, when Desert Swarm was Desert Swarm,” Fisch said. “Coach Akina put in a little bit of the flex defense this week with Coach Nansen and we thought it was going to be a great little add to what we’ve been doing, and continuing to get as many defensive linemen in the game as possible.”
Arizona running back Jonah Coleman carries the ball past Washington State linebacker Kyle Thornton during the first half of Arizona’s 44-6 win in Pullman, Washington. Coleman had 11 carries for 71 yards and three touchdowns, while also catching four passes for an additional 98 yards through the air.
Coleman headlines RBs
Arizona running back Jonah Coleman didn’t have any rushing touchdowns this season, then tallied three at Washington State, which tied the injured Michael Wiley, who was held out for the third straight game with an ankle injury, for the most touchdowns by a UA running back under Fisch.
Coleman had 168 yards of total offense on 15 touches — 11 rushes and four catches. Coleman is the second-highest graded (90.8) running back nationally with a minimum of 30 rushes, according to Pro Football Focus. Coleman also has the third-highest yards after contact per attempt (5.08), per PFF.
“First off, I want to thank the (offensive) line for giving us a push,” Coleman said. “They put me in the right position to make plays. It felt good, I can’t complain.”
Running backs DJ Williams and Rayshon Luke combined for 108 yards and two touchdowns, including a 40-yard untouched burst up the middle for a score to start the second quarter.
Arizona running back Rayshon Luke, center left, celebrates his touchdown against Washington State with running back Jonah Coleman during the first half Saturday. UA won 44-6, its biggest road win ever over a ranked team.
“Truth be told, as we said, we have really, really good running backs. ... People have to realize now that when you come to Arizona, you’re going to get developed,” Fisch said. “They’re going to see the depth that we build. They’re going to see why we play freshmen, and that’s because freshmen wind up turning into sophomores and make huge impacts in our program when the game of football happens, because injuries do occur.”
Fifita the new QB1?
Fisch said Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura, who has not played the last three games with an ankle injury, didn’t start against his former team “when I saw that Jayden wouldn’t be able to protect himself in the pocket.”
De Laura took the final snap of the game at his old stomping grounds, immediately turned around and hugged Fifita to celebrate the win. Was that a passing-of-the-torch moment with Arizona’s quarterbacks?
The poised Fifita carved up WSU’s defense and completed 34 of 43 passes (79%) for 342 yards. Since Fifita was thrust into the lineup in Arizona’s come-from-behind win at Stanford, he has completed 90 of 121 passes (74%) for 924 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions.
When Fisch was asked if Fifita would be the full-time starter, he responded directly, but politely, “I’ll just talk about the game today.”
Fisch said Fifita “did a great job of running our offense” on Saturday.
Added Coleman: “Noah is great. Stepping up in his first start against three ranked teams and to play like that and have the confidence and passion that he has in every game, that’s not common. Every time Noah takes a snap, he plays it like it’s his last and the confidence that he has is unbelievable. His confidence and passion rubs off on us and that’s how we’re able to do what we do.”
By the numbers
3: The three field goals made by kicker Tyler Loop on Saturday tied a single-game career-high. Loop’s longest of the day — and season — was a 40-yarder in the second quarter.
13: Arizona received 13 votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll on Sunday. That ranks 31st in the country, right behind Washington State. UA didn’t receive any votes in the AP poll.
They said it
Fisch, on Arizona’s close losses this season and dominant win over WSU: “Our team believes they’re good and they know they’re good. They can’t just always hear it from me or our staff. What you sometimes have to do is put it all together — and we put it all together last week. We missed on a play, we missed on another play — maybe there were four or five plays in the course of the game that we would say, ‘Wow that would change the outcome of the USC game.’
“We didn’t win that one, but we knew we were right there. We knew we were right there against Washington, so that’s two Top-10 teams and then we went on the road and beat a Top-20 team and won by 38 points. So I think that tells us that we’re pretty good.”
Coleman, on Arizona’s rushing attack in games: “We win games in the fourth quarter. Games are not won in the first or second quarter. We’re going to keep dominating, keep pounding until they give up. They gave up, so we executed.”
Looking ahead
Arizona (4-3) enters a bye week, then hosts No. 12 Oregon State (6-1) on Oct. 28, followed by No. 25 UCLA in Tucson. Arizona’s final three games of the season are at Colorado, a home finale against No. 14 Utah and the Territorial Cup game at Arizona State.
VIDEO: Arizona football upset No. 19 Washington State 44-6 in Pullman, Wash. on Oct. 14, 2023. Arizona running back Jonah Coleman had 168 all-purpose yards and scored three touchdowns in the win. Quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 342 yards for the Wildcats. The 38-point win matches the biggest margin of victory against a ranked opponent in Arizona program history. (Pac-12 Youtube)
