Arizona found itself too many mistakes and errors in to close against Texas Tech Saturday night in which the Wildcats simply stumbled their way to a 28-22 loss at home.

There are a couple factors that all attributed to this lackluster performance such as a missed field goal attempt from an otherwise flourishing night out of kicker Tyler Loop making five of his six kicks, a missed fourth down conversion in the redzone early in the game, along with a Tetairoa McMillan fumble that put the Red Raiders in Wildcats territory to put the game out of reach with a touchdown run.

None however were more impactful than the performance of Arizona's signal caller who put up one of his worst games as a Wildcat.

Quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 301 yards with no touchdown passes and two interceptions and have TTU just enough opportunities to close out with a win.

This was the first game in Fifita's career where he's turned the ball over multiple times as one interception was a deflected pass at the line of scrimmage and the other a forced throw into double coverage.

The only other time Fifita went scoreless with at least a turnover was earlier in the season when Arizona traveled to Kansas State throwing one interception to no touchdowns.

It was also his most inaccurate game in his two years as he only completed 28 of his 49 passes which is good for a 57% completion percentage. It was the lowest since 2023's matchup with Colorado where he completed 21 of 35 passes (60% comp. percentage) for 214 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-31 victory.

Inefficient passing made for an inefficient offense as a whole for Arizona as it had 10 drives that went into plus-territory, four of which were red zone opportunities.

In each of those scoring chances the Wildcats managed to score just one touchdown all game thanks to a productive Quali Conley day.

All game long Fifita looked uncomfortable in the pocket and lacked chemistry with his receivers as some passes landed too high or over led.

Tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Matt Adkins that recently took over play-calling duties didn't call a perfect game but certainly had receivers open for Fifita to throw to on various plays that he just missed or didn't see.

It's mightily apparent that the offense has regressed from the illustrious 2023 season that brought so many expectations when Arizona retained most of it's offense this year.

Fifita is struggling to get the ball to his receivers on time and accurately, so there are a couple remedies that could assist in salvaging the year for a talented unit.

It's not ideal to be five games in and continue to struggle offensively as the defense certainly has figured it out, but the offense could definitely benefit from more rhythm and timing passes to ease Fifita throughout the game.

While Fifita can create plays with his legs, it's not the kind of player he is. There is a theme of long development in both the passing and run games that give the opposing defense a head start.

Getting the ball out quickly could help keep the defense honest, play to Fifita's strengths while giving him confidence, and open up the passing game when the long-developing plays are called.

Arizona had success offensively the last time it traveled to the state of Utah and has a tall task ahead of itself trying to patch up inefficiencies in it's next game against No. 17 BYU on Saturday.

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