There are plenty of items to pull away from Arizona’s 27-10 win over 20th-ranked UCLA Saturday night. It was historic for multiple reasons.
Arizona’s triumph pushed the Wildcats to six wins, becoming bowl-eligible for the first time since the 2017 season. The sixth win of the season ties the win total from the previous two seasons under head coach Jedd Fisch.
“We’re excited about that,” said Jedd Fisch. “We’re excited about getting to that spot. Six wins is a big deal and for us to get there nine games into the season, I’m really excited about that.”
The Wildcats’ third straight win earned the Wildcats a spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll at No. 23, which was their last ranking number in October 2017.
Bowl-bound, ranked. Life is good for Arizona football nowadays. Here are notable storylines, statistics and quotes from the Wildcats’ historic night on Saturday:
‘We belong’
There have been a few memorable moments at Arizona Stadium during the Fisch era, but Arizona’s boss said the “white out” crowd at Arizona Stadium “was the best environment that we’ve had since I’ve been the head coach here.”
“The crowd was great, they were into it, they stayed, they were fired up, the student section was awesome,” Fisch said. “I hope we don’t have to beg for sellouts. I hope they just start happening now. ... Our kids embraced it and our kids loved it.”
Fisch certainly doesn’t have to ask for AP votes anymore, and he might not have to beg and plead for fans to buy tickets and show up to Arizona Stadium anymore. Arizona fans want to back a winning product? Here it is — and it could be a team better than its record shows.
Besides the Wildcats’ six wins, their three losses this season are by a combined 16 points, including overtime games at Mississippi State and then-No. 9 USC.
“We’ve been so close, just right there (in games),” said Arizona running back Jonah Coleman, who led the Wildcats with 77 rushing yards against the Bruins. “All of our losses, we were right there. We know that we’re good and that we can do it. The mindset is every time you step on the field, you expect to win.”
Including Arizona’s win over UCLA last season, the Wildcats are 8-4 in their last 12 games after starting 4-17 under Fisch. The Wildcats have taken down three straight ranked opponents in consecutive weeks for the first time in program history. Arizona beat those three opponents by a combined 98-40. In a loaded Pac-12 race, the Wildcats are in the top half of the standings and tied for fourth.
“Our team believes they’re going to win every game we play and I think they’ve proven themselves that they can,” Fisch said.
Arizona’s high-scoring, triple-overtime loss to USC was a “turning point in our program for this season,” Fisch said.
“Everyone ran into that locker room with a sense of ‘we belong.’ When you feel you belong, you go into every game after that with an expectation to win,” Fisch said. “When you feel you don’t belong is when you feel like you have to hope and pray.
“I think our team feels they belong.”
Arizona defensive back Martell Irby celebrates after making a stop on a UCLA run in the Wildcats’ 27-10 win at Arizona Stadium on Nov. 4, 2023.
Unlimited on defense
Arizona second-year defensive coordinator has deployed several defenses. Some schemes are designed to stop the run, while some are for pass-centric offenses.
The Wildcats defense to start against UCLA was designed for both, with defensive back and former Bruin Martell Irby playing “Mike” linebacker in place of Justin Flowe, who played one defensive snap, alongside Jacob Manu against a UCLA team that utilizes play-action.
“Whatever coaches bring to me Sunday for the game plan, I’m going to buy in,” Irby said. “That’s what our whole team does regardless. ... I don’t even ask questions as this point. I trust my coaches from top to bottom.”
UCLA’s offense was averaging 30.9 points per game entering Saturday, but the Wildcats’ defense held the Bruins to 10. The Wildcats have held five consecutive opponents below their scoring average. UCLA was 6 for 14 on third-down conversions, 0 for 2 on fourth-down conversions, and missed two field goals; the second one was blocked by UA cornerback Ephesians Prysock. The Bruins only scored on two of five trips to the red zone.
Irby said Arizona’s success on defense this season is “because we love each other.”
“That’s all,” he said. “It’s not too much. It has nothing to do with ball. We’re just close. ... We’re all going after the same thing, so we’re on board together and it’s a day in, day out grind.”
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4) slips the tackle of UCLA defensive back Alex Johnson (36) after a catch in the first quarter of their game at Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., November 4, 2023.
T-Mac’s impact felt
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan wasn’t viewed as one of the top 50 wide receivers entering the college football season and was left off the Biletnikoff Award watch list. He didn’t pay too much attention to it.
McMillan has 52 catches for 753 yards and seven touchdowns and is averaging 14.5 yards per catch this season. Four of his touchdowns are from longtime teammate and Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita.
McMillan’s four catches for 81 yards and a touchdown Saturday was another day at the office for “T-Mac,” but his catches were impactful in the moment, like his leaping catch on third-and-8 on Arizona’s first touchdown drive and his turnaround catch on a corner route in the end zone despite smothering coverage by UCLA in the fourth quarter.
“I think you gotta give T-Mac credit,” said UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who is 1-2 against Fisch. “We always felt he was one of the top receivers — if not, the top receiver — in the country. The catches he made today, we had people on him, they were contested and he still makes the catch. ... He’s a heck of a player. He ran two deep over routes, guys are draped on him and he makes the catch. Sometimes you just gotta tip your hat. He’s a really good football player and I thought the quarterback put the ball specifically where he can catch it and he came up with it.”
By the numbers
$25,000: Arizona becoming bowl-eligible means Fisch will receive a $25,000 bonus this season. Fisch could also receive an additional $50,000 if he wins Pac-12 Coach of the Year and $25,000 if the Wildcats finish in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Wildcats could conceivably make a New Year’s Six Bowl, which would give Fisch a $100,000 bonus.
1: Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura attempted his first pass since suffering an ankle injury in the Wildcats’ win at Stanford to begin Pac-12 play. De Laura lined up as a wide receiver, caught a screen pass from Fifita, then launched a cross-field throwback pass to running back Michael Wiley that was incomplete.
66: UA running back Rayshon Luke took a swing pass, shed one tackler and burst into space for a 66-yard gain in the fourth quarter, which set Arizona up for a field goal to take a 27-10 lead.
They said it
Fisch, on Fifita’s first-quarter interception: “We just misread the play. The play should’ve gone to somebody else, but he snapped right back. ... We all just reset and went to the next play. He reset, wound up making great decisions the rest of the game and made some spectacular throws.”
Coleman, who is averaging 4.8 yards per carry after contact this season, referenced former NFL star Marshawn Lynch when talking about his physicality running the ball. Said Coleman: “It’s a mentality. Make a play and make them not want to tackle. When you keep running through somebody over and over and over and over again, you’re not going to want to keep coming back. Make ‘em fold.”
Looking ahead
For the first time since Arizona’s Pac-12-opening win at Stanford, the 23rd-ranked Wildcats are favorites to win a game. The UA opened up on Sunday as a two-score favorite to beat the Colorado Buffaloes this upcoming Saturday afternoon in Boulder.
Arizona is a 10-point favorite to knock off Colorado, according to Caesar’s Sportsbook; Draft Kings has the Wildcats as 9.5-point favorites. The Wildcats have the best record (8-1) against the spread among Power 5 teams. Arizona’s only loss against the spread was their 21-20 win over Stanford, when it entered the contest as 13-point favorites.
In Colorado’s first season under head coach Deion Sanders, or the self-titled “Coach Prime,” the Buffaloes are 4-5 overall and have only won one of their last six games after starting off the season 3-0; they’re 1-5 in Pac-12 play.
Arizona’s final three games on its schedule are against three future Big 12 schools that are joining the Wildcats in 2024: Colorado, Utah for Senior Day and the regular season finale at Arizona State for the Territorial Cup.
