There had been some hope the Arizona defense showed some flashes of turning a corner, but those hopes ended quickly as the Utah offense ran all over the Wildcats leading to a 45-20 blowout loss for UA in a rainy environment Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Jayden de Laura lost a fumble on the opening drive one play after a 38-yard screen pass to Michael Wiley. It was the first of many mistakes on the night for the Wildcats on the offensive side of the ball as they fumbled the ball seven times and lost four of them.
After a Utah touchdown on short field for the first score of the game, the Wildcats were able to quickly answer with a touchdown run by de Laura from three yards out. It initially looked like Wiley had taken a 58-yard run to the house, but the refs called him down at the one-yard line after further review.
After that score, it quickly went downhill for Arizona as Utah would go on to score three unanswered touchdowns in the first half in a span that included the Wildcats going for it on 4th-and-20 at the Utah 34-yard line.
Jacob Cowing had a rare miscue trying to field a punt over his shoulder in that same span and the Utes were able to take advantage scoring a touchdown on the next play. He fumbled the ball again late in the final quarter before being helped off the field.
The Wildcats were ultimately unable to stop the run all game. Utah had a hobbled Cam Rising under center while missing their top pass catcher in Dalton Kincaid yet they were still able to run all over the Arizona defense. They compiled 306 yards across 55 carries with five touchdowns on the ground as a team.
Freshman RB Ja'Quinden Jackson led the Utes with 97 yards and a score across 13 carries on the ground. Utah's usual lead back in Tavion Thomas also limited as he saw eight carries, while backup QB Nate Johnson found the end zone twice lining up under center with designated quarterback runs. Nine players in total saw at least one carry for Utah.
It was a very quiet night for de Laura as he faced constant pressure from the Utah pass rush. de Laura completed 10 of 20 passes for 159 yards with a fumble. He had a couple of big gains to Wiley and Tetairoa McMillan, but he was otherwise quiet all night as Cowing and Dorian Singer combined for just 38 yards on six receptions.
The running game was the highlight of the night offensively for Arizona as they ran for 156 yards on 25 carries as a team. Wiley led the way with 64 yards on six carries, while Arizona saw the return of freshman RB Rayshon Luke who ran for 42 yards on a couple of big runs.
Noah Fifita saw the field for the third game of the season late in the fourth quarter, completing 5 of 10 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown pass to his high school teammate in McMillan.
The competition will only get tougher next week as the Wildcats head to Pasadena to take on another highly-ranked Pac-12 team in UCLA.
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