Arizona lost its third straight game in falling 34-7 to the star-powered Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday at Arizona Stadium.
Here are notable storylines, statistics and more from the UA鈥檚 loss:
Deflating onside kick sets tone
Saturday had sizzle. The 70-degree kickoff temperature with the sun shining bright on a (nearly) sold-out crowd for homecoming.
The Colorado Buffaloes, led by star head coach Deion Sanders and superstar tandem of quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy hopeful Travis Hunter, already brought enough buzz.
The sidelines and stands were filled with roughly 300 former UA football players back in 优蜜传媒for the weekend, along with a plethora of recruits on visits.
Coupled with Colorado鈥檚 star power, the Wildcats brought high-caliber players of their own in wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea and cornerback Tacario Davis 鈥 all projected first-round picks by ESPN. Seventeen NFL scouts, including Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort and Chargers GM Joe Hortiz, were in attendance, which is the most at Arizona Stadium for a game in recent years.
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For the Wildcats, it was a chance to right the ship and get back to a winning record. They added to the excitement with an onside kick to begin the game, but Colorado recovered, when second-year wide receiver Jackson Holman could鈥檝e dove for the ball to execute the play. An attempt to steal a possession from Colorado resulted in the Buffaloes starting the game at the UA 46-yard line.
Following Sanders鈥 46-yard shot to LaJohntay Wester on third-and-15, the Buffaloes jumped on Arizona early 7-0. Arizona head coach Brent Brennan said the Wildcats were 鈥渁ll-in鈥 on the decision to onside kick early.
鈥淜ind of seemed like he was waiting for it,鈥 Brennan said of Holman. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 one of those things where you can鈥檛 wait. You gotta go. You gotta just put your face on it, get to the ground and go dogpile. Just with their alignment, we thought it was there and we thought it was a chance to steal a possession.鈥
Deion Sanders said Arizona鈥檚 onside kick was 鈥渒ind of disrespectful, too, you know, starting off like this, like we鈥檙e not gonna get the onside kick because you鈥檙e thinking that we鈥檙e not prepared.鈥
鈥淲e prepare for a lot of situational football throughout the week, especially on Friday,鈥 Sanders said. 鈥淪o, hats off to the special teams and the guys up front. We put guys up there that are athletes so they could recover onside kicks or whatever may happen. And that was a surprise and we鈥檙e happy that we got it.鈥
From that point, the juice was lost at Arizona Stadium, and the deflated Wildcats played catch-up and didn鈥檛 even come close to catching up, because...
Offense hits new low
The biggest issue with Arizona鈥檚 offense leading up to Saturday was its inefficiency in the red zone. The Wildcats often moved the ball into plus-territory, but settled for field goals or turned the ball over.
Besides the 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, the Wildcats didn鈥檛 sniff the end zone on Saturday. Ten of Arizona鈥檚 13 drives ended on the Wildcats鈥 side of the field. Arizona had just as many punts as points 鈥 and it punted six straight times between the second and fourth quarters.
Since scoring 61 points in the season opener against New Mexico, the Wildcats have averaged 16.7 points per game, with a high of only 23.
Arizona鈥檚 245 yards of total offense on Saturday are the fewest since the Wildcats鈥 home opener against San Diego State in 2021, the season the UA finished 1-11. Arizona鈥檚 seven points are also the first the Wildcats had a game with single-digit scoring since the 70-7 Territorial Cup loss in 2020. Not company any Arizona football team wants to be a part of.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita passed for a career-low as a starter with 138 yards and extended his interception streak to nine games dating back to last season. Fifita has 10 interceptions, two fumbles and nine touchdowns this season. His top target, McMillan, was only targeted five times and had five catches for 38 yards.
Prior to Arizona Stadium clearing out by the end of the game, UA fans booed the offense in the third quarter for its dispirited performance.
鈥淥bviously, we need to play better on offense, and we need to give our quarterback and our playmakers opportunities to move the football effectively. ... We are extremely disappointed, and we have a lot of work to do as a football team,鈥 Brennan said. 鈥淲here we鈥檙e at right now is 100% my fault.
鈥淚 have to get to work fixing it. There were some opportunities, some bright moments, but not nearly enough to sustain drives and keep the ball moving against a really active defense.鈥
Injuries 鈥榬are air鈥 for Brennan
A key component in Arizona鈥檚 latest skid has been the overwhelming amount of injuries.
Arizona added another name to its injury list before the game even started, when defensive tackle Isaiah Johnson injured his leg during pregame warmups. Tight end Keyan Burnett, who hasn鈥檛 been 100% all season, was held out due to an injury.
UA star linebacker Jacob Manu suffered a leg injury in the first half and missed the rest of the game; his status moving forward is unknown. Left tackle Rhino Tapa鈥檃toutai went down with a leg injury and was replaced by Oregon transfer Michael Wooten, who had two false starts and a holding penalty 鈥 and gave up four pressures and two sacks, according to Pro Football Focus.
For the second straight week, with Manu and Davis (who missed the second half on Saturday) out, safety Dalton Johnson was the only starter from last year鈥檚 defense on the field to end the game. The Wildcats are already without defensive backs and captains Treydan Stukes and Gunner Maldonado, along with starting cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew and nose tackle Chubba Ma鈥檃e.
Besides quarterback Jayden de Laura鈥檚 ankle, there weren鈥檛 any significant injuries that affected the Wildcats. This year, the Wildcats are wounded, and it鈥檚 鈥渟omething that we have to evaluate,鈥 Brennan said.
鈥淚njuries are such a weird thing that way,鈥 Brennan said. 鈥淏ut our team, myself and all of us are super concerned with where that鈥檚 at. Where we鈥檙e at is rare air for me. We have to evaluate every aspect of what we鈥檙e doing in terms of how we鈥檙e conditioning them, how we鈥檙e training them.鈥
By the numbers
27: Arizona鈥檚 27-point loss to Colorado is the largest margin of defeat for the Wildcats on homecoming since they lost by 30 to UCLA in 2002.
2: Redshirt freshman free safety Jack Luttrell, a Tennessee transfer, had two interceptions in his first start at Arizona. Luttrell is now tied with Genesis Smith for the most interceptions by a Wildcat this season.
7: Sacks allowed by Arizona on Saturday after allowing just six total in the first six games.
42.7: Arizona鈥檚 pass-blocking grade on PFF, the lowest since its 45-20 loss to Utah in 2022.
79: Total point differential in Arizona鈥檚 four losses this season. The Wildcats lost three games by a combined 16 points last season.
They said it
Deion Sanders, on Barack Obama鈥檚 comments on Colorado鈥檚 鈥渃ouple good players鈥 and 鈥渄on鈥檛 bet against the Wildcats鈥 at a rally Friday night at the Davis Indoor Sports Center: 鈥淲e have two good players? We have more than two good players. But you were here, you had to support (Arizona). Mr. President, come on, man. You my man. I love you and appreciate you, but come on, dog.鈥
Fifita, on Arizona not playing up to its preseason expectations: 鈥淲e have a standard and we鈥檙e not really living up to it. Obviously losing makes it even worse. Extremely disappointed, but as long as we get back to work and just continue to believe in each other, not turn on each other and it鈥檚 on to the next.鈥
Brennan, on the 鈥渘eed to do a better job of coaching this team鈥: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where we鈥檙e at, and it鈥檚 really quite that simple. As hard as that is for me to say, that鈥檚 the reality of the situation. I鈥檓 the head football coach, and it鈥檚 my job to get us right. ... I have to get this thing right. What we put out there today was not nearly good enough.鈥
Looking ahead
Arizona鈥檚 upcoming home matchup with West Virginia on Saturday at Arizona Stadium will kick off at 4 p.m. on FS1, the program announced Sunday morning.
It鈥檚 the seventh nationally-televised game for Arizona this season. The Wildcats played four games on Fox and two on ESPN this season. The West Virginia game will be the Wildcats鈥 first game on FS1 this season.
This will be the first-ever matchup for the Wildcats (3-4) and Mountaineers (3-4). WVU lost its last two games to Iowa State and Kansas State.
Arizona is a one-point favorite over West Virginia, according to DraftKings.
Contact Justin Spears, the Star鈥檚 Arizona football beat reporter, at jspears@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @JustinESports