Arizona Wildcats football at BYU final score: Offensive struggles continue for Wildcats in road loss to Cougars

The venue retains altering, however Arizona’s inconsistent, inefficient offense has remained the identical.

The Wildcats as soon as once more failed to complete drives after getting deep into opposing territory, discovering the tip zone on their first drive and never once more till it was too late in a 41-19 loss at No. 14 BYU on Saturday afternoon.

Arizona (3-3, 1-2 Huge 12) received contained in the Cougars’ 30-yard line on six of its first 9 drives, however like final week’s 28-22 house loss to Texas Tech that’s when the offense fell aside. The Wildcats gained 51 yards on 19 snaps contained in the 30 in comparison with 338 on 65 performs exterior the 30.

The UA was 11 of 19 on third down, a giant enchancment from the 3-of-14 efficiency per week in the past, however the failures on third down included one other interception by Noah Fifita on a throw to the tip zone. That got here in a 7-7 recreation within the second quarterback.

Fifita turned it over 4 occasions, together with twice on Arizona’s first three snaps within the second half, which turned a 14-7 halftime deficit right into a 24-7 margin. The redshirt sophomore was 26 of 52 for 275 yards with a landing but in addition a career-high three interceptions and a fumble, and for the season has thrown 9 picks towards eight TD passes.

BYU (6-0, 3-0) was held beneath 400 yards by an Arizona protection that was already with out senior defensive backs Gunner Maldonado and Treydan Stukes however then misplaced junior linebacker Jacob Manu to a concentrating on ejection 4 performs into the sport. The Wildcats held the Cougars to 4 of 11 on third down and received one other fourth-down cease early however had been inclined to massive performs, with BYU getting 224 yards on 12 chunk performs.

Down seven on the half, Arizona’s first two drives within the third quarter lasted a mixed three performs, with two of these leading to turnovers. Fifita was intercepted on the primary snap after his throw to Sam Olson within the flat was picked off after which misplaced a fumble on the third.

BYU wanted one play to make it 21-7 after the interception, with BYU QB Jake Retzlaff hitting Chase Roberts on a 9-yard TD move, however after the fumble restoration the Cougars settled for a subject purpose and a 24-7 edge.

The Wildcats gained 5 yards on their first three post-halftime drives earlier than getting 22 on the fourth, however that was sufficient to chop the deficit to 24-10 on a 47-yard subject purpose by Tyler Loop with 6:30 left within the third. Arizona once more received contained in the BYU 30 earlier than stalling, although, with Fifita getting tripped up making an attempt to scramble on 3^rd and eight.

The Cougars added one other subject purpose to make it 27-10 with 1:47 left within the third, and Arizona once more received it again to a 2-score recreation on a 21-yard Loop subject purpose with 9:02 remaining, however that got here on the finish of an 18-play drive that used up greater than seven minutes. The Wildcats had 1^st and purpose on the BYU 8 however threw three straight occasions, getting solely 5 yards.

BYU then put the sport away with a 1-yard TD run by LJ Martin with 5:38 to go.

Arizona lastly returned the tip zone with 2:58 remaining on a 2-yard run by Quali Conley, his 6^th dashing rating of the season, then went for 2 and didn’t convert to make it 34-19. It received the ball again with 2:49 after recovering a BYU fumble however turned it over on downs.

Capping the scoring was a pick-six by BYU’s Isaiah Glasker with 1:02 left after Fifita was operating for his life in his personal finish zone on 4^th and 10 and threw up a useless duck.

The Manu ejection got here on the fourth play of the sport, serving to BYU get shortly into the UA pink zone. However then the Wildcat protection stiffened, with backups Kamuela Ka’aihue—who got here in for Manu—and Dominic Lolesio every posting tackles for loss earlier than Retzlaff threw incomplete out of the tip zone on 4^th and 4 from the 5.

It was Arizona’s seventh 4th-down cease of the season, fifth within the state of Utah.

The UA then marched all the way in which downfield on its opening drive, gaining 100 yards en path to taking a 7-0 lead. The additional 5 yards had been the results of a penalty on 3^rd and 4, which erased a play that might not have gotten the primary down, and as a substitute Fifita discovered McMillan on a 39-yard catch.

Three performs later Fifita linked with Montana Lemonious-Craig for a 14-yard TD move, additionally on third down.

BYU tied it at 7 early within the second quarter on a 20-yard TD move from Retzlaff to Parker Kingston, the rating coming one play after the Cougars transformed on a 4^th and three from the UA 35.

Arizona was simply exterior the pink zone on its second drive however Fifita was intercepted by BYU’s Tanner Wall on the 1-yard line. It was the eighth consecutive recreation with a choose for Fifita.

The Cougars maximized that UA mistake, taking a 14-7 lead with 6:30 left earlier than halftime on a 33-yard TD move from Kingston to Martin on a trick play. Kingston took a backward move from Retzlaff after which hit Martin, who had run a wheel route.

Arizona’s third drive once more received contained in the BYU 30 however once more fell aside, this time developing brief on 4^th and a couple of when Quali Conley’s 2-yard achieve—that was confirmed by the chains—was then overturned on replay.

The UA returns house for its subsequent two video games, internet hosting Colorado on Oct. 19 for Homecoming after which West Virginia on Oct. 26 for Household Weekend. The Wildcats’ subsequent recreation has already offered out and will likely be one other day recreation, the earliest within the yr they’ll be enjoying at house in the course of the day since 2016.