Scott, Arizona blast FCS South Carolina State

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona's biggest obstacle Saturday was itself, and the Wildcats couldn't be stopped.

After an upset win over Oklahoma State last week that vaulted Arizona into the national polls, and before a daunting trip to Oregon next week, the 24th-ranked Wildcats managed to stay motivated enough to blow out FCS opponent South Carolina State 56-0 before 43,919 fans at Arizona Stadium.

"As a head coach, I probably worry about (motivation) too much," Arizona's Rich Rodriguez said. "You ask yourself, 'How do you get your guys fired up?' But I thought the focus was good all week, and I thought it was good in the locker room tonight."

The Wildcats stumbled only briefly in the first quarter, with a fumble and missed 25-yard field goal, but otherwise coasted behind another strong performance from quarterback Matt Scott.

Scott had 349 total offensive yards over just three quarters of work. He completed 30 of 36 passes for 288 yards and threw for three touchdowns while rushing for another.

"You can see every weekend, he's hoping to prove himself," Rodriguez said of Scott.

Dating back to the final two games of last season, Arizona (3-0) has won five consecutive games for the first time since 1998. The shutout was Arizona's first since 2008, when the Wildcats beat Idaho 70-0.

"We're coming together," Arizona linebacker Marquis Flowers said. "Hopefully, we will have many more (shutouts)."

South Carolina State rushed for only 65 yards, while quarterback Richard Cue completed 12 of 25 passes for 89 yards. Junior Tyler McDonald led the Bulldogs in receiving with four catches for 47 yards.

The Bulldogs drove into Arizona territory only twice the entire game.

"The game got away from us to the point where it got ugly," South Carolina State coach Buddy Pough said. "I wish we would have played better offensively because if we had, we would have given ourselves a chance to keep the game close defensively."

Things may not get any easier for South Carolina State (1-2), which will play next week at Texas A&M, but Plough said Saturday's experience will help.

"We will emulate some of their style," Plough said of Arizona. "The guys get to see how they go about their business. ... We can look back at some ways that we can improve."

The Wildcats coasted so easily that Scott and most of the starters were taken out in the fourth quarter, yet Arizona scored on the first drive of the period to go ahead 49-0 on a 17-yard pass from B.J. Denker to Sean Willet.

It was the first career TD pass by Denker, a junior college transfer from Cerritos College who was making his Arizona debut, and the first career TD reception by Willet.

"We needed to get him some experience," Rodriguez said of Denker.

On the Wildcats' next possession, Denker threw a 31-yard pass to Willet to set up another touchdown, a 4-yard run by Jared Baker that made it 56-0.

Scott finished a strong first half by leading the Wildcats' final scoring drive before halftime. He completed three passes for 18 yards and rushed for a 10-yard touchdown that gave the Wildcats a 28-0 lead.

Scott finished the half with 236 yards, completing 20 of 26 passes for 175 yards and carrying the ball nine times for another 61 yards.

Running back Ka'Deem Carey was the Wildcats' leading rusher in the first half with 71 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries.

The Wildcats started playing as they were expected to early in the second quarter. They took advantage of an interference call on a punt return to take the ball on their 47 and punch it in for a touchdown seven plays later, going ahead 14-0 when Taimi Tutogi caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Scott up the middle.

Arizona scored another touchdown on its next drive, going 72 yards over 12 plays. The Wildcats made it 21-0 when Carey finished the drive by rushing to the right side for a 7-yard touchdown.

After Arizona scored easily on its first drive of the game, the Wildcats had a spell of sloppiness. Richard Morrison fumbled after taking a pass from Scott at midfield, and kicker John Bonano later missed a 25-yard field goal attempt with three minutes left in the quarter.

Bonano had just been named the Pac-12's special teams player of the week after nailing all three of his field-goal tries in Arizona's 59-38 win over Oklahoma State.

On their first drive, the Wildcats rattled off a nine-play, 75-yard march in less than three minutes, scoring on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Scott to Morrison.

NOTES: Scott entered Saturday tied for the top spot nationally in total offense with 836 yards. ... Carey scored five touchdowns in Arizona's first two games, tying him for third nationally. ... The Wildcats are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since Nov. 22, 2010. ... Arizona and South Carolina State had never played before.