This season it feels like if it's not one thing it's another for Arizona. Early in the game Saturday the offense was able to move the ball better than it has in recent weeks – even with some quarterback shuffling thrown in – yet the defense had one of its worst performances of the season at the same time. Eventually the defense was able to clean things up to keep the Stanford offense in check, but the UA offense sputtered to end the game in a 41-31 road loss to the Cardinal.
It marks the sixth straight loss to Stanford for the Wildcats, but UA had its opportunities to pull out a victory Saturday afternoon. UA wanted to establish its running game early and it was able to have success on the ground against Stanford ending with 222 yards on the ground and two 100-yard rushers, but turnovers and poor execution prevented the Wildcats from truly gaining any kind of control at Stanford Stadium.
Defensively Arizona had problems slowing down Stanford in the first half and while it was able to hold the Cardinal to 10 points and 145 yards of offense in the second half the damage had already been done.
"We just couldn't answer," UA head coach Kevin Sumlin said during his postgame radio show about his team's performance Saturday. "When we got off the field and we scored the game became close and in the end we got two turnovers and they didn't have any I believe. When we win the turnover battle we're in a better position than we were today. We turned it over twice and they did not.
Consistency has been a theme for Arizona this season, but the Wildcats looked like two different teams during Saturday's game with the offense and defense not playing well at the same time. In addition to that the Wildcats decided to use two quarterbacks once again in the loss with freshman Grant Gunnell coming in on the third drive of the game to spell starter Khalil Tate who was only able to lead the Wildcats to three points in his first two drives.
Sumlin has made it clear that there are no plans to redshirt the quarterback from Texas, and that is now officially off the table after Saturday's contest since he has now played in five games this year. Gunnell had his struggles with a key sack and loss of yards that took UA out of field goal range early in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats alternated quarterbacks during different moments in the game, but after the sack Tate came in to finish out the day.
"We had a plan coming into the game to get Grant in on the third series no matter what," Sumlin said. "He came in and moved us. Khalil responded and came back in the first half, so I thought that both those guys understood coming in what their roles were. I thought for the most part, particularly in the first half, those guys operated pretty well."
The Cardinal welcomed back quarterback KJ Costello after he missed several games with an injury and the Wildcats simply didn't have an answer for him early in the game. He finished the day with 312 yards passing and three touchdowns and just 13 incompletions.
"He's a quality player and I don't know what his percentage was, but he didn't miss many of them," Sumlin said. "He's a leader and they had energy. We tried to match that, but I thought Costello played very, very well."
The loss puts Arizona at 4-4 on the season and the Wildcats now sit at 2-3 in conference play. UA returns home next weekend to begin the final month of its season with a game against Oregon State.
DISCUSS: Arizona's 41-31 loss to Stanford
