Offensive struggles, injuries continue in Arizona football's blowout loss to Colorado Buffaloes

New week, same offensive issues, more injuries and the same result for the Arizona Wildcats football program. 

In front of a sell-out crowd in picture-perfect weather, the product on the field left a packed Arizona Stadium lifeless, as the Colorado Buffaloes routed the Arizona Wildcats 34-7 Saturday afternoon in Tucson.   

Arizona's loss to Colorado is the third straight setback for the Wildcats, who hadn't lost that many in a row since 2022. The Wildcats (3-4) are sub-.500 for the first time since the '22 season, when they finished 5-7.

Colorado's (5-2) win puts the Buffaloes' ahead of their own win total from a year ago.

The Wildcats' 27-point loss is the largest margin of defeat at home since also losing by 27 to No. 12 Oregon in that same 2022 season. The Wildcats also finished a game with single-digit scoring at Arizona Stadium for the first time since their 70-7 loss to Arizona State in the 2020 Territorial Cup.

First-year Arizona head coach Brent Brennan started his postgame press conference apologizing to the roughly 300 UA football alumni who were in attendance on Saturday after the Wildcats "didn't give them enough to cheer about."

"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."

Arizona came out with an aggressive approach and attempted to steal a possession early with an onside kick on the opening kickoff. The ball dribbled to the feet of wide receiver Jackson Holman, but the redshirt freshman "seemed like he was waiting for it" didn't jump on the ball in time and Colorado recovered in UA territory.

"That's one of those things where you can't wait," Brennan said of Holman. "You gotta go. You gotta put your face on it, get to the ground and go dogpile rules on that play. Just with their alignment, we thought it was there. We thought it was a chance to steal a possession. ... That was our plan, to steal the opening possession."

Brennan said the UA players "were all-in" on the decision to onside kick at the start of the game. 

"Do I wish we had gotten it? Of course. But we were being aggressive coming off the blocks there, went for it and just didn't get it."

That was one of three Colorado drives to begin on Arizona's side of the field in the first half, with two of them resulting in touchdowns.

The Buffaloes scored on each of their first three drives to help build a 28-7 at halftime. Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata was responsible for the entirety of the game's second-half scoring with a pair of field goals. 

CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders completed 23 of 33 passes (70%) for 250 yards, two touchdowns and an interception; he also had a rushing touchdown.  

Arizona cornerback Tacario Davis, who was questionable with a groin injury, started and covered Colorado star Travis Hunter — also questionable with an injury this week — for a majority of the first half until the Heisman Trophy hopeful was held out of the second half for preventative measures. Hunter finished with two catches for 17 yards on offense while recording one tackle on defense.

But Davis also left in the second half; he was replaced by Miami transfer Demetrius Freeney, who played his first defensive snaps in last week's loss to BYU.

Davis wasn't the only Wildcat to leave with an injury on Saturday. 

Arguably the most significant loss was the UA's defensive ringleader and captain, linebacker Jacob Manu, in the second quarter. After celebrating a third-down stop, Manu went down with a leg injury and didn't return. The Wildcats' injury-riddled defense, already without defensive backs Treydan Stukes, Gunner Maldonado and Marquis Grove-Killebrew, also saw defensive tackle Isaiah Johnson leave pregame warmups with a leg injury. 

The only defensive starter from last year's unit to finish the game was strong safety Dalton Johnson.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Arizona's injuries are "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."

Arizona's offense also endured injuries. Left tackle Rhino Tapa'atoutai exited the game at the end of the second half with a leg injury and was replaced by Oregon transfer Michael Wooten, who struggled in his first appearance. 

The Wildcats allowed seven sacks on Saturday, after allowing just six in the previous six games combined. It was the most sacks for Colorado's defense since 2019. Wooten had two false-start penalties and was also called for holding until the UA moved right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea to left tackle and reserve guard Ryan Stewart at right tackle.

Arizona's offense — once again — failed to score points and find a rhythm. 

After redshirt sophomore wide receiver Chris Hunter scored his first touchdown as a Wildcat, which was a 1-yard shovel pass from quarterback Noah Fifita, on the second drive, the Wildcats' following drives were the following: 

• Missed 52-yard field goal by kicker Tyler Loop
• Fumble
• Punt
• Punt
• Punt
• Punt
• Punt
• Punt
• Interception
• Fumble
• End of the game

Arizona had just as my punts as points — and had more penalties (9) than points. Since scoring 61 points in the season opener against New Mexico, the Wildcats have averaged 16.7 points per game.

The Wildcats' woes on offense "is a collaborative effort."

"Just the little details, slacking here and there, a couple of penalties, more turnovers on my part and just little details that we have to clean up," Fifita said. 

Arizona's 245 yards of total offense are the fewest since the Wildcats' home opener against San Diego State in 2021, the season the UA finished 1-11. 

"We need to play better on offense, and we need to give our quarterback and playmakers opportunities to move the football effectively," Brennan said. "From the start, I thought Colorado had a good plan with some of the edge stuff that they were doing, and they hit us with a couple of pressures. We really have to evaluate that and think about what can we do with the men that we're playing with and lean into their strengths and level of experience and just give us a chance to play clean football." 

Even when Arizona's defense forced two takeaways in the first half, the Wildcats' offense responded with a fumble and a three-and-out. Fifita threw his 10th interception of the season and extended his interception streak to nine straight games dating back to last season.  

Fifita finished with 16 completions on 28 pass attempts for 138 yards with one touchdown and one interception. UA wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, named earlier this week a midseason Associated Press All-American, caught five balls for 38 yards.

"The biggest part is that I need to do a better job of coaching this team," Brennan said. "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."

A season after Arizona won 10 games for the fourth time in school history, the Wildcats now have more losses than the 2023 squad. 

"We have a standard and we're not really living up to it," Fifita said. "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."

Extra points

• There were 17 NFL scouts from 13 different teams in attendance for the Arizona-Colorado game. Arizona Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and Los Angeles Chargers GM Joe Horitz were among the credentialed NFL scouts.  
• Arizona nose tackle Chubba Ma'ae (leg) missed his fourth straight game. 
• Arizona honored the late Heath Bray, who died in March at 54 years old, at Arizona Stadium following the first TV timeout. Bray was a defensive back, quarterback and special teams captain for Arizona under late UA coaching icon Dick Tomey from 1988-92.
• The Wildcats' defense deployed a dime package with three defensive linemen — Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei, Stanley Ta'ufo'ou and Tre Smith — with edge rusher Chase Kennedy as a stand-up blitzer and rover linebacker, linebacker Jacob Manu and six defensive backs. Redshirt freshman Jack Luttrell, a transfer from Tennessee, made his first start at free safety, while sophomore Genesis Smith started at nickel back; senior Owen Goss was the additional defensive back in the six-man secondary.

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