The same struggles that have cost Arizona all season continued Saturday afternoon in Seattle as Washington defeated the Wildcats 49-39 handing UA its second-straight loss.

Michael Penix Jr. had all day in the pocket for the majority of the game, completing 36 of 44 passes for 516 yards and four touchdowns.

The Wildcats did a good job of stopping the run, holding the Huskies to 2.7 yards per carry but that didn't stop Washington from getting anything and everything they wanted in the passing game.

"We turned them into a one-dimensional passing team," Jedd Fisch said. "Unfortunately, they did it extremely well. When they passed the ball like they did today, it was hard to hold them back and I think it was just one of those games that both teams had over 500 yards. It was one of those football games that unfortunately didn't go our way, but I think our guys competed until the very last second."

Arizona had zero sacks on Penix and did not pressure him much either. Hunter Echols took responsibility for that on him and the rest of the defensive line.

"Honestly I put it all on myself and I would say me and [Jalen Harris] and some of those other guys on the defensive line," Echols said. "We got to make them plays and that is just the reality of it. You want to get sacks every game you play, sometimes you don't. Sacks are hard to get, picks are hard to get but the reality of it is we have five more games or six more games left to play and we just need to go make some plays and show the world what we can do. Hats off to Washington."

It was a bounce-back performance for the offense, as well as Jayden de Laura, who threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns, but the defense simply could not get enough stops to keep Arizona in the game.

The score could have been even more lopsided, but the Wildcats came up with two huge stops on downs in the first half with Washington in the red zone. Making those stops were safety DJ Warnell Jr. and linebacker Jacob Manu while making their first starts at the STAR and WILL position.

"I think there was some really big time stops and those are what I call turnovers," Fisch said. "I told them that. I said we got two stops on both of those we scored touchdowns on."

The Arizona wide receiver trio of Jacob Cowing, Dorian Singer and Tetairoa McMillan all did their part, but the Wildcats struggled to get much going on the ground. DJ Williams picked up one 14-yard run, but they were limited to less than three yards per carry overall.

It was ultimately the defensive struggles that continue to haunt the Wildcats though, this time through the air as Penix Jr. was having all the time he needed in the pocket to find wide open receivers all over the field.

On a fourth-and-short in the fourth quarter, Washington elected to finally kick a field goal which backfired on Peyton Henry missed the kick, giving Arizona a chance late 42-31.

The Wildcats offense took advantage, driving down the field for a touchdown and two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 42-39, but the struggles defensively continued as Penix Jr. and the Washington offense drove right back down and scored a touchdown of their own to make it a 49-39 game with just over five minutes left.

De Laura drove Arizona back down the field, but a missed field goal attempt with just over one minute left to seal the faith for the Wildcats.

Quarterback Noah Fifita had to come in the last couple of plays on offense for de Laura, who appeared to sustain an injury on a sack.

Fisch and de Laura both confirmed after the game he will be fine. They simply took him to get checked and only had a 30 second timeout so they had to put Fifita in the game for the one play.

"I'm excited about where we're headed," Fisch said. "Also, I'm excited about the five games that we have left and watching our team get better every week."

Arizona will now have a bye next week before USC comes to Tucson.

• WATCH: Jedd Fisch talks after Arizona's 10-point loss to Washington

• WATCH: Jayden de Laura, Hunter Echols talk after Arizona's loss to UW

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