Arizona Aftermath: Stats, storylines and quotes from the Wildcats' homecoming loss to Colorado

Arizona lost its third straight game in falling 34-7 to the star-powered Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday at Arizona Stadium.

Here are notable storylines, statistics and more from the UA’s loss:

Deflating onside kick sets tone

Saturday had sizzle. The 70-degree kickoff temperature with the sun shining bright on a (nearly) sold-out crowd for homecoming.

The Colorado Buffaloes, led by star head coach Deion Sanders and superstar tandem of quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy hopeful Travis Hunter, already brought enough buzz.

The sidelines and stands were filled with roughly 300 former UA football players back in Tucson for the weekend, along with a plethora of recruits on visits.

Coupled with Colorado’s star power, the Wildcats brought high-caliber players of their own in wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea and cornerback Tacario Davis — all projected first-round picks by ESPN. Seventeen NFL scouts, including Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and Chargers GM Joe Hortiz, were in attendance, which is the most at Arizona Stadium for a game in recent years.

For the Wildcats, it was a chance to right the ship and get back to a winning record. They added to the excitement with an onside kick to begin the game, but Colorado recovered, when second-year wide receiver Jackson Holman could’ve dove for the ball to execute the play. An attempt to steal a possession from Colorado resulted in the Buffaloes starting the game at the UA 46-yard line.

Following Sanders’ 46-yard shot to LaJohntay Wester on third-and-15, the Buffaloes jumped on Arizona early 7-0. Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said the Wildcats were “all-in” on the decision to onside kick early.

“Kind of seemed like he was waiting for it,” Brennan said of Holman. “And that’s one of those things where you can’t wait. You gotta go. You gotta just put your face on it, get to the ground and go dogpile. Just with their alignment, we thought it was there and we thought it was a chance to steal a possession.”

Deion Sanders said Arizona’s onside kick was “kind of disrespectful, too, you know, starting off like this, like we’re not gonna get the onside kick because you’re thinking that we’re not prepared.”

“We prepare for a lot of situational football throughout the week, especially on Friday,” Sanders said. “So, hats off to the special teams and the guys up front. We put guys up there that are athletes so they could recover onside kicks or whatever may happen. And that was a surprise and we’re happy that we got it.”

From that point, the juice was lost at Arizona Stadium, and the deflated Wildcats played catch-up and didn’t even come close to catching up, because...

Offense hits new low

The biggest issue with Arizona’s offense leading up to Saturday was its inefficiency in the red zone. The Wildcats often moved the ball into plus-territory, but settled for field goals or turned the ball over.

Besides the 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, the Wildcats didn’t sniff the end zone on Saturday. Ten of Arizona’s 13 drives ended on the Wildcats’ side of the field. Arizona had just as many punts as points — and it punted six straight times between the second and fourth quarters.

Since scoring 61 points in the season opener against New Mexico, the Wildcats have averaged 16.7 points per game, with a high of only 23.

Arizona’s 245 yards of total offense on Saturday are the fewest since the Wildcats’ home opener against San Diego State in 2021, the season the UA finished 1-11. Arizona’s seven points are also the first the Wildcats had a game with single-digit scoring since the 70-7 Territorial Cup loss in 2020. Not company any Arizona football team wants to be a part of.

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita passed for a career-low as a starter with 138 yards and extended his interception streak to nine games dating back to last season. Fifita has 10 interceptions, two fumbles and nine touchdowns this season. His top target, McMillan, was only targeted five times and had five catches for 38 yards.

Prior to Arizona Stadium clearing out by the end of the game, UA fans booed the offense in the third quarter for its dispirited performance.

“Obviously, we need to play better on offense, and we need to give our quarterback and our playmakers opportunities to move the football effectively. ... We are extremely disappointed, and we have a lot of work to do as a football team,” Brennan said. “Where we’re at right now is 100% my fault.

“I have to get to work fixing it. There were some opportunities, some bright moments, but not nearly enough to sustain drives and keep the ball moving against a really active defense.”

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Injuries ‘rare air’ for Brennan

A key component in Arizona’s latest skid has been the overwhelming amount of injuries.

Arizona added another name to its injury list before the game even started, when defensive tackle Isaiah Johnson injured his leg during pregame warmups. Tight end Keyan Burnett, who hasn’t been 100% all season, was held out due to an injury.

UA star linebacker Jacob Manu suffered a leg injury in the first half and missed the rest of the game; his status moving forward is unknown. Left tackle Rhino Tapa’atoutai went down with a leg injury and was replaced by Oregon transfer Michael Wooten, who had two false starts and a holding penalty — and gave up four pressures and two sacks, according to Pro Football Focus.

For the second straight week, with Manu and Davis (who missed the second half on Saturday) out, safety Dalton Johnson was the only starter from last year’s defense on the field to end the game. The Wildcats are already without defensive backs and captains Treydan Stukes and Gunner Maldonado, along with starting cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew and nose tackle Chubba Ma’ae.

Besides quarterback Jayden de Laura’s ankle, there weren’t any significant injuries that affected the Wildcats. This year, the Wildcats are wounded, and it’s “something that we have to evaluate,” Brennan said.

“Injuries are such a weird thing that way,” Brennan said. “But our team, myself and all of us are super concerned with where that’s at. Where we’re at is rare air for me. We have to evaluate every aspect of what we’re doing in terms of how we’re conditioning them, how we’re training them.”

By the numbers

27: Arizona’s 27-point loss to Colorado is the largest margin of defeat for the Wildcats on homecoming since they lost by 30 to UCLA in 2002.

2: Redshirt freshman free safety Jack Luttrell, a Tennessee transfer, had two interceptions in his first start at Arizona. Luttrell is now tied with Genesis Smith for the most interceptions by a Wildcat this season.

7: Sacks allowed by Arizona on Saturday after allowing just six total in the first six games.

42.7: Arizona’s pass-blocking grade on PFF, the lowest since its 45-20 loss to Utah in 2022.

79: Total point differential in Arizona’s four losses this season. The Wildcats lost three games by a combined 16 points last season.

They said it

Deion Sanders, on Barack Obama’s comments on Colorado’s “couple good players” and “don’t bet against the Wildcats” at a rally Friday night at the Davis Indoor Sports Center: “We have two good players? We have more than two good players. But you were here, you had to support (Arizona). Mr. President, come on, man. You my man. I love you and appreciate you, but come on, dog.”

Fifita, on Arizona not playing up to its preseason expectations: “We have a standard and we’re not really living up to it. Obviously losing makes it even worse. Extremely disappointed, but as long as we get back to work and just continue to believe in each other, not turn on each other and it’s on to the next.”

Brennan, on the “need to do a better job of coaching this team”: “That’s where we’re at, and it’s really quite that simple. As hard as that is for me to say, that’s the reality of the situation. I’m the head football coach, and it’s my job to get us right. ... I have to get this thing right. What we put out there today was not nearly good enough.”

Looking ahead

Arizona’s upcoming home matchup with West Virginia on Saturday at Arizona Stadium will kick off at 4 p.m. on FS1, the program announced Sunday morning.

It’s the seventh nationally-televised game for Arizona this season. The Wildcats played four games on Fox and two on ESPN this season. The West Virginia game will be the Wildcats’ first game on FS1 this season.

This will be the first-ever matchup for the Wildcats (3-4) and Mountaineers (3-4). WVU lost its last two games to Iowa State and Kansas State.

Arizona is a one-point favorite over West Virginia, according to DraftKings.

Photos: University of Arizona gets run over by Colorado 34-7, Big 12 football