Arizona's comeback bid falls short, Wildcats trip up vs. No. 7 Washington

TUCSON — Against a team like Washington, playing from behind isn't the best recipe for success.

In front of an announced sold-out crowd at Arizona Stadium, seventh-ranked Washington grabbed a two-touchdown lead over the Arizona Wildcats in the first quarter of its 31-24 win on Saturday and barely looked back.

The loss marked Arizona's first setback of Pac-12 play and seventh straight overall to the Huskies in the final matchup between the two programs as conference opponents.

It's the fewest points Washington has scored this season; The Huskies averaged 49.8 points per game before Sunday. Arizona out-scored the Huskies in the second half.

"I wish we could be perfect in everything we do, but I would say we had a lot of great opportunities tonight to be in position to take this game down to the very end," said Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch. "It was just a great game."

In Noah Fifita's first college start at quarterback for the injured Jayden de Laura, the UA redshirt sophomore completed 27 of 39 passes for 232 yards and three touchdowns.

"I thought he did a really good job," Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said of Fifita. "I thought he handled the play-calling well. ... I thought he used his legs at the right time, I thought he was accurate with most of his throws."

In describing Fifita as "everything we expected him to be" Fisch said he thought "

"As I said all week long, if Noah was going to start, there was not going to be one change in what we do," Fisch said. "That's because of how all those guys prepare in that quarterback room."

While de Laura was out after suffering an ankle injury in the second half of Arizona's win over Stanford last week, the Wildcats were also missing senior running back Michael Wiley and right guard Raymond Pulido; both also left the Stanford game with lower-body injuries.

Fisch doesn't have a timetable for de Laura and Wiley's return, but said both "are pushing very hard to come back."

"We didn't really know for sure until when they woke up (Saturday) morning, what they could or couldn't do, and I'd imagine they will be back in the tubs (Sunday) early and fighting to get back on the field," Fisch said. "I think they missed this opportunity very much. What we'll do is see what that looks like all week long, but recognize that Jonah (Coleman) and DJ (Williams) and Noah all stepped up. I think the whole team rallied behind the group and were ready to play."

With Fifita under center, Arizona's first two drives resulted in punts. Since the season-opening drive against Northern Arizona, the Wildcats have not scored any points in the first quarter and are getting out-scored 31-7 in the first quarter this season. Washington is out-scoring opponents 66-15 in the first quarter this season.

"We didn't settle in the way I thought we would initially," Fisch said. "Offensively, I thought we'd be ready to go quicker. Defensively, I knew we were going to get challenges early."

Washington's high-powered and vertical offense, led by Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Michael Penix Jr., took a more horizontal, death-by-a-thousand-papercuts approach against the Wildcats' defense that only allowed 16 points per game entering Saturday. Penix ended the night completing 30 of 40 passes for 363 yards, but it was the first game Penix didn't throw a touchdown pass this season.

Fisch said his message to Arizona's defense "all week long was, 'They're going to make plays. They're going to make plays. Live with it.'"

"They're a very, very good offense, and when that happens, you have to be able to handle it. Don't flinch, don't panic, don't get nervous. Stick with your plan. You have a great game plan ready for these guys. So what if it happens early.'"

Before Saturday, just over 39% of Washington's receiving yards were yards after catch (YAC). The Huskies YAC'd it up in the first half Saturday, using bubble screens and other screen passes on run-pass-option plays, and had 158 yards after catch through two quarters; Penix had 223 passing yards (completing 21 of 25) in the first half, meaning 72.1% of the Huskies' passing yards were YAC.

Arizona free safety Dalton Johnson said the Wildcats "made a lot of sideline adjustments, just realizing what worked and what didn't."

To open the game, Fifita's first possession was a three-and-out, with UA punter Kyle Ostendorp booming a 69-yard punt down to the Washington 5-yard line.

Washington went on an 12-play, 95-yard scoring drive — although, because of a holding penalty, the Huskies actually gained 105 offensive yards on the drive — that chewed up nearly seven minutes of game clock. All three of Washington's first-half possessions resulted in touchdowns, and all three came via rushes virtually at the goal line.

Fifita's first touchdown pass as the starter — the second of his career — was an 8-yard touchdown throw on a corner route to wide receiver Jacob Cowing. The Wildcats' final points of the half were a 30-yard field goal by kicker Tyler Loop, who is a perfect 17-for-17 over his career at field goals between 30-39 yards.

Arizona regularly deployed its "dollar" package defense that uses seven defensive backs. The Wildcats unofficially used the defensive back-heavy 3-1-7 scheme 24 times in 66 snaps against the Huskies' pass-happy offense.

Before Saturday, Washington only had three three-and-out drives — two of them were in the Huskies' first game against Boise State. Arizona's defense forced a three-and-out on the opening possession in the second half, but the UA offense's ensuing drive resulted in a punt. Washington had two three-and-outs on Saturday.

After 11 tackles for loss at Stanford last week, the Wildcats had five against Washington — two of them by former Husky Daniel Heimuli, who started his first game since the Wildcats' overtime loss to Mississippi State. Arizona defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea's stop for loss in the third quarter forced UW to settle for a 37-yard field goal.

Under pressure by Washington linebacker Alphonzo Tuputala, Fifita stepped up in the pocket and before he crossed the line of scrimmage, he attempted to flip a pass to tight end Tanner McLachlan, which was intercepted by UW Vincent Hunley near the start of the fourth quarter. McLachlan said he should've "come back through the ball and knocked it out of the defender's hands." 

"Regardless of the quarterback, we can't be careless with the football," Fisch said. "That was the one time there I would say we wanted back. Other than that, I thought his decision-making was excellent."

Fisch said "the way (Fifita) handled himself, no one would've ever known that was his first college start."

When Washington was prepared to deliver a potential knockout touchdown drive, Arizona showed life in the fourth quarter, when Johnson punched the ball out of UW receiver Germie Bernard's hands, which was recovered by UA defensive tackle Tyler Manoa at the Wildcats' own 5-yard line. Johnson's two forced fumbles against Washington put him at a team-high three on the season.

Late in the fourth, Fifita's third-career touchdown pass was a goal-line pass on play-action in the flat to longtime teammate Tetairoa McMillan; the two starred at Servite High School in Anaheim, California. The duo also connected on a touchdown to cut Washington's deficit 31-24 with 1:08 left to play.

The Wildcats attempted an onside kick but it was recovered by Washington, which ran ran out the clock to secure the Huskies' fifth victory of the season.

"We told our team all week it was going to be a heavy-weight fight," Fisch said. "We felt it was going to go all 12 rounds. We felt like we were going to be in position at the end to win or lose based on the last possession, and that's what happened.

"We had an onside kick, had some other chances throughout the game. All in all, these are the type of games where somebody has to win and somebody's gotta lose," Fisch added. "They have a lot of good things going for them — and so do we.

Fisch said that even after this loss, he's "excited" about the program's direction.

"We're resilient, we're tough, we're good. I thought our defense played outstanding, but not surprising. Our defense has played great all year," he said. "Everyone wants to come up with a reason why. The reason why is they play great team defense. They respect one another, trust one another, love one another and play for each other, and that's what it's all about."

Arizona (3-2) will now turn its attention to eighth-ranked USC in Los Angeles at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

"We competed well, we executed well," Johnson said. "We just gotta put this behind us and focus on USC next week."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's comeback bid falls short, Wildcats lose to No. 7 Washington