After a very rocky first half, it was looking like Arizona had a chance to mount a late comeback in the second half but quarterback Jayden de Laura's third interception of the game put Mississippi State inside the red zone. The costly turnover resulted in a touchdown to essentially put the game away in the final quarter as the Wildcats' home opener in front of over 46,000 fans was spoiled with a 39-17 loss.
"I want to thank our fans," Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch started out the press conference saying. "Our student section was incredible tonight. People told me about people leaving early at halftime. It was packed... We made a couple of huge stops on third and fourth down because of the student section. They were awesome tonight. I thought the fans in general were great."
After a very rocky first half, it was looking like Arizona had a chance to mount a late comeback in the second half but quarterback Jayden de Laura's third interception of the game put Mississippi State inside the red zone. The costly turnover resulted in a touchdown to essentially put the game away in the final quarter as the Wildcats' home opener in front of over 46,000 fans was spoiled with a 39-17 loss.
"I want to thank our fans," Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch started out the press conference saying. "Our student section was incredible tonight. People told me about people leaving early at halftime. It was packed... We made a couple of huge stops on third and fourth down because of the student section. They were awesome tonight. I thought the fans in general were great."
After a four touchdown performance from de Laura in his team debut last week, the Washington State transfer was held in check completing 23 of 45 passes for 220 yards and the three turnovers, the most he has committed in a single game in his collegiate career. He was seemingly rattled all game facing constant pressure and making poor decisions when he did have time in the pocket.
Arizona knew they had a tough test on the other side of the ball against a physical and experienced Mississippi State team and that proved to be evident. After an impressive opening drive by the offense that was capped off by a Michael Wiley 34-yard touchdown run, they were held to just three points the rest of the half. de Laura completed two passes in the opening drive and just one pass in the next four drives.
Despite an extremely poorly played first half, the Wildcats still found themselves down only 18-10 at halftime following two missed extra points by Mississippi State kicker Massimo Biscardi.
It wasn't looking great again for the Wildcats as the Bulldogs opened the second half with a touchdown, followed by a de Laura interception. However, a strip fumble recovered by Jaxen Turner changed all the momentum as two plays later, Arizona found themselves back down one score after a touchdown pass from de Laura to Jacob Cowing.
"The ball was loose on the ground, [Turner] scooped it up and he ran it all the way back to I believe the two-yard line," Fisch said. "Jaxen does that. He has got a great feel for the ball. He almost had a pick today, had a pick last week... I appreciate his efforts every day."
After a quick stop by the defense, de Laura and the offense found themselves back on the Mississippi State side of the field when he threw the aforementioned interception on a quick pass batted up and caught by a defensive lineman.
The Wildcats defense later forced another fumble early in the fourth quarter to put the offense in scoring position trailing 32-17 at the time, but three-straight incompletions by de Laura followed by a delay of game and a 13-yard pass to Wiley gave the ball right back to the Bulldogs.
After averaging over four yards per carry on the ground last week against San Diego State, Mississippi State completely shut down the run game of Arizona holding them to less than two yards per carry.
Cowing, who caught three touchdowns last week, was held to just 38 yards receiving with the leading receiver being tight end Tanner McLachlan, who caught four passes for 51 yards.
Mississippi State controlled the time of the possession all night, holding the ball over 11 more minutes more than Arizona. Jalen Harris, who finished the game with six tackles and half a sack, talked about the defenses mindset as the Bulldogs methodically drove down the field in multiple drives.
"We just try to take it play-by-play and focus on that play," Harris said. "We try to win that down. It doesn't really affect us. We just want to get off the field."
With a few less mistakes made by de Laura and the offensive unit, this game could have been much closer than the final score would tell you but regardless, Arizona seemed to be over-matched by the physicality of Mississippi State on both sides of the ball.
Freshman QB Noah Fifita did see the field for the first time in the final drive for Arizona, completing 4 of 8 passes for 56 yards. Fisch talked about the value of letting Fifita get his feet wet in that drive.
"You are always one play away at quarterback," Fisch said. "That was a lot for him. You are going against a very good football team. You are down two scores, three scores at the time and have to drive the field. He drove us all the way down."
Arizona will close non-conference play next Saturday as they will be hosting North Dakota State with kickoff scheduled for 8:00 pm (MST) on FS1.
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