5 takeaways from Arizona football's 52-17 victory at Colorado | Michael Lev

About 15 minutes before kickoff Saturday night, Arizona football posted a message on social media: “Gotta have it.”

The Wildcats really needed a win at Colorado, for many reasons.

They left no doubt.

The Cats bludgeoned the Buffaloes 52-17. It was so one-sided that fans at Folsom Field started leaving early in the third quarter. It was so lopsided that Arizona put in its second-string offense midway through the period. It was such a blowout that UA fans could watch Game 7 of the World Series without FOMO.

The second road win of the Brent Brennan era ended a two-game losing streak and put Arizona on the brink of a bowl bid at 5-3.

With two winnable home games left — and Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt out for the season — the Wildcats have a chance to blast past the 6-6 record that would secure a postseason berth.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Here are my top five takeaways from the beatdown in Boulder:

1. Breaks and mistakes

Brennan’s No. 1 key to success on the road: Don’t beat yourself.

Arizona didn’t play a perfect game by any means. But the Wildcats kept major mistakes to a minimum — and took advantage of multiple Colorado blunders.

The Buffs had nearly twice as many penalties as the Cats. Colorado had more than twice as many turnovers.

Arizona finished plus-3 in turnover margin — its best mark since the opener vs. Hawaii (plus-5). It was the Wildcats’ best margin in a road contest since Oct. 14, 2023, at Washington State. More on that game later.

Arizona unquestionably played a cleaner brand of football than Colorado, which followed an awful performance at Utah with an equally lackluster outing Saturday night. It was hard to come away from the game thinking the Buffs were well-coached.

How many times did they negate positive plays with penalties? It felt like a gazillion.

In the second quarter, after Arizona took a 24-7 lead, Kaidon Salter connected with Sincere Brown for a 75-yard touchdown. The only problem: The Buffs lined up incorrectly and had an ineligible receiver downfield.

Later in the period, Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita made a rare mistake, forcing a pass downfield that was intercepted. But the turnover was negated by a roughing-the-passer foul.

In between, Ismail Mahdi fumbled ... and the Wildcats recovered. After two one-score losses in which it seemed like Arizona couldn’t catch a break, multiple breaks went the UA’s way vs. Colorado. Those things tend to even out over time — especially if you do the right things.

2. Big plays, short fields

It’s really hard to pass the ball against Arizona. Colorado became the latest team to learn that.

Four CU quarterbacks combined for 170 yards on 35 attempts (4.9 ypa). Three UA defensive backs picked off passes.

The first two were almost identical — smart, veteran DBs taking advantage of poor QB play.

First it was Salter, then it was Ryan Staub. Both stared down receivers and threw the ball behind them. Dalton Johnson got the first interception, Jay’Vion Cole the second.

Johnson returned his pick to the Colorado 8-yard line. All five UA takeaways led to possessions that started at the CU 35 or better.

Arizona ended up with a 20-yard advantage in average starting field position — its 49 vs. Colorado’s 29. That’s a formula for domination.

It also led to some statistical anomalies.

The Wildcats had four touchdown drives of three or fewer plays. They had three of 17 or fewer yards. They had three that took less than a minute off the clock.

If you looked only at total offensive plays (Colorado 77, Arizona 63) and time of possession (34:09-25:51), you would have thought the score was the other way around. Sometimes those numbers don’t tell the story.

More meaningful: The Wildcats averaged 6.6 yards per play to the Buffs’ 3.9, resulting in a 417-299 advantage in total yards. Arizona also had twice as many tackles as Colorado (8-4) on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

The defensive front accounted for most of those TFLs. When the front and the secondary work in concert, it’s a sight to behold.

3. Receiver revival

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Entering the season, Brennan was certain that Arizona had upgraded its receiving corps. Most media who observed spring and preseason practices held the same belief.

It didn’t look that way for a while. The unit was plagued by dropped passes, and some questioned whether the wideouts could separate from quality defensive backs.

The receiving corps has responded in a big way the past two games.

Against Houston, Fifita completed 24 of 26 pass attempts; that doesn’t happen if the quarterback and his pass catchers aren’t on the same wavelength.

A couple of largely inconsequential drops aside, the receivers took another step forward against Colorado. Arizona completed only 11 passes — another statistical oddity — and 10 of them went to wideouts.

Kris Hutson had a team-high five catches. They produced only 37 yards. But two resulted in first downs, including one on a fourth-and-4. Both were precisely timed stop routes — a sign that Hutson and Fifita have found a connection that was hit-or-miss earlier in the season when Hutson was in and out of the lineup because of injury.

It was also evident on Hutson’s 12-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter — a perfectly placed fade pass into the right corner of the end zone. It was the type of play you’d see all the time from Fifita and Arizona’s previous No. 4, Tetairoa McMillan.

Hutson will run out of eligibility after this season. Tre Spivey and Gio Richardson have bright futures ahead in UA uniforms

Spivey continued his big-play streak with a second catch-and-run touchdown in as many games. The 6-4, 212-pound redshirt sophomore’s ratio of touches (12) to touchdowns (seven) is insane. His ceiling is sky-high, especially considering how much he has improved in just the past few months.

Richardson is one of two uber-talented freshman wideouts on the roster, along with the speedy Isaiah Mizell. Richardson also showed he could rack up the YAC on his first career touchdown. He would have had a second, but it was nixed by a penalty.

Assuming Arizona can keep them all, the Wildcats will enter 2026 with Spivey, Richardson, Mizell and Chris Hunter as their top four wideouts. That’ll play.

4. Areas of (minor) concern

This is the portion of the program where I pick some nits.

It’s hard to do better on the scoreboard than 52-17. But Arizona will face better opponents than struggling Colorado. The Wildcats have room for improvement.

Let’s start on defense. Arizona’s quarterback containment was lacking at times. Salter finished with only 27 net rushing yards, but that’s misleading; the Wildcats sacked him twice for 18 yards in losses.

Colorado’s one sustained touchdown drive featured a scramble for a first down on fourth-and-7 and multiple downhill rushes by running backs. That remains the best way to attack Arizona’s relatively undersized defense. The Buffs couldn’t do it because they fell behind by so much so fast. It also isn’t their M.O.

The key sequence in the game started with a Salter misfire on a deep pass intended for Brown, who likely would have scored a touchdown with a better-thrown ball. Arizona forced a fumble on the next play — and scored a TD on the play after that to go up 17-0.

Kansas’ Jalon Daniels probably makes that throw. Likewise Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby. And Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson. Those are the next three quarterbacks on the schedule.

Colorado freshman Julian Lewis connected on a deep shot in the third quarter to Omarian Miller, who beat one-on-one coverage. UA defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales trusts his cornerbacks implicitly. But it’s a risk-reward style of play that demands exceptional technique and, oftentimes, a favorable whistle from the officials.

On offense, Arizona was too sloppy with the football. Spivey and Richardson had drops. Mahdi, Hutson and freshman running back Cornelius Warren III fumbled.

None of it ended up mattering. But in a closer game against a better team, any of those mistakes could have swung the outcome.

5. Pondering the possibilities

In my column previewing the game, I brought up the idea of dreaming big.

Under a similar set of circumstances two years ago, Arizona thumped Washington State in Pullman to start a seven-game winning streak. History repeated itself Saturday. Could that win be the start of something special?

Kansas arrives for homecoming this upcoming Saturday. The Jayhawks have an explosive offense. They have a below-average defense. They’re beatable.

Cincinnati on the road the following week will be tough. The Bearcats got thumped at Utah on Saturday night — join the club — but Sorsby is the type of big, physical, running quarterback who’s given the Wildcats problems. That also likely will be the coldest game of the season.

The final home game is against Baylor. The Bears snapped a two-game losing streak with an easy win over UCF on Saturday. But they have to face Utah before coming to Tucson. They’ll be feeling that one. They’re also an erratic, self-destructive team with a vulnerable defense. Again, beatable.

Holding serve at home would put Arizona at 7-4 heading into the Territorial Cup. ASU grinded out an impressive win over Iowa State in Ames on Saturday. Leavitt’s replacement, Jeff Sims, was spectacular, rushing for 228 yards. But I’d much rather face Sims than a healthy Leavitt.

The true dream-big scenario here is an upset win in Tempe and an 8-4 regular-season finish — the reverse of last year’s 4-8 flop.

Is that far-fetched? Maybe. But it no longer feels like a fantasy.