Arizona was trying to reach bowl eligibility in Brent Brennan’s second season in Tucson with a homecoming matchup against Kansas. In a 24-20 slug fest, it ended with a happy homecoming win for the Wildcats.
While it was not pretty, Arizona got the job done and now qualifies for a game in the post season.
Here are the grades for the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching from the homecoming win against the Jayhawks:
Offense: B-
It was a quick three and out for the offense to start the game. The second drive
was a lot more successful. It included runs of 12 and 18 by Ismail Mahdi and Noah Fifita, respectively.
Fifita finished the drive with a 16 yard touchdown pass to Sam Olson and moved two touchdowns away from breaking the all-time Arizona passing touchdown record.
A chop block penalty would put Arizona behind schedule and in turn resulted in a quick three and out on the next drive.
It seemed like the offense would finally show signs of life with some nice carries by Kedrick Reescano. However, back to back sacks absolutely killed the drive.
In a must score drive, it was almost a disaster for Arizona. It seemed like Fifita threw a pick six but a holding call on Kansas brought the ball back to the Wildcats.
A couple plays later Fifita connected with Quincy Craig, who needed an extra extension to cross over the pylon for an eight yard touchdown.
Fifita now stands in a three way tie with former Wildcats Willie Tuitama and Nick Foles for most career touchdown passes at Arizona.
After a 38 yard run by Mahdi and a 22 yard catch from Gio Richardson, the offense was starting to click. The offense got into Kansas territory and settled for a field goal to tie the game.
Entering the fourth quarter, another Fifita interception was overturned after review, but another sack killed the drive as the Wildcats could not get anything going on offense.
When Arizona needed it most, the offense found the end zone one last time. Craig ran for 18 yards on third and three, then ran for 24 yards to the house. Almost as if the red(line) sea parted.
Fifita finished 16-31 for 158 yards and two touchdown passes. Mahdi led the Wildcats with 61 yards on seven carries, but Craig had the lone rushing touchdown. He also had a touchdown reception.
Richardson led Arizona with 38 receiving yards on only two catches. The Wildcats finished with 323 yards of total offense with 158 through the air and 165 on the ground.
Defense: B+
The defense was able to get off the field quickly after Treydan Stukes had a nice pass breakup for the third down stop.
Stukes got penalized with a face mask on the second drive but it did not hinder the defense. It was able to get off the field without allowing any points again.
The run issues that have plagued the defense all season long started to show on the third drive of the game. Jalon Daniels finished a short field drive with his legs to tie the game at sevens.
Daniels started to pick apart the defense with a screen pass that went for 22 yards, which was then followed by a 24 yard touchdown pass to give the Jayhawks their first lead of the game.
In a bend don’t break moment, the Wildcats held Kansas to a field goal to do minimal damage to the deficit.
When the defense needed a stop out of the half, they got it forcing Kansas to go three and out.
The next drive would be another bend don’t break moment. Kansas was marching into Wildcats territory, but Arizona held the Jayhawks to a field goal.
Kansas would be unable to find the end zone again, due to Arizona’s defense rising to the occasion time and time again. On the last drive, Myron Robinson forced a fumble but the Jayhawks recovered.
However, that fumble forced a fourth down decision for Kansas where ultimately it decided to go for the field goal. The Jayhawks ended up missing the field goal.
Max Harris, Dalton Johnson, and Taye Brown led the team in tackles with nine each. While the defense may have allowed Kansas to have 369 yards of total offense, it did enough to win the game.
Special Teams: B
To tie the game, Michael Salgado-Medina hit a 41 yard field goal. He also went 3-3 on extra point attempts.
Special teams did their job to help earn the win today.
Coaching: B
In just his second season, Brennan has built his culture in Tucson. While it may not always look good, his team has shown fight all season long.
It has not all been on one person. It has been done by committee in every game. It does not matter which running back gets it done, or which receiver has a big game. They have found a way to put themselves in a position to win in nearly every game.
It is clear as day that this team plays for their coaches and each other. If no fans or all the fans are in Arizona Stadium, they will never quit.
Danny Gonzales’ squad has answered the call time and time again. When the offense has had its struggles, the defense stands its ground.
There are still struggles that persist for Arizona in the run defense. It will be something that teams are more than likely to attack moving forward.
In return, Seth Doege’s offense has done just enough to win games. Again, it may not be pretty all the time, but the offense has the personnel to have good enough production to win games.
The offensive line did struggle for most of the game. It gave up five sacks and numerous hits on Fifita. That will have to be fixed going into next week.
All in all, these coaches are finding their footing in Tucson, and there is still so much football to be played. If they can keep their heads on their shoulders, a strong foundation has been built in Arizona and the future looks bright.
