It only took two hours and 10 minutes for Arizona to start its second game of the season but that did not prevent a 2-0 start.
In a 48-3 routing, UA took care of business. Brent Brennan has now begun his first two seasons with 2-0 starts.
Here are the grades for the offense, defense, special teams, and coaching:
Offense: A
Speaking of lighting strikes, the offense wasted no time after the rain delay, as Noah Fifita found Javin Whatley from 31 yards out.
Once again on the next drive, Fifita wasted no time and found
Whatley from 85 yards out to make it a quick double score lead.
Kris Hutson made his first reception of the season on a 40 yard pass. However, Arizona did not find the endzone on the drive and had to settle for a field goal.
After a takeaway on defense, Fifita’s third touchdown of the night went to Tre Spivey from ten yards out.
Luke Wysong had a 27 yard reception in the second quarter. Sam Olson would drop an easy touchdown catch, and the offense could not finish the drive while settling for a field goal.
Wysong would almost break off a long touchdown catch but stepped out of bounds which turned an 81 yard touchdown to a 31 yard catch.
Fifita found Brandon Phelps for his fourth passing touchdown of the night. It was Phelps’ first career touchdown reception.
Adding to his stats, Fifita would throw his fifth touchdown to Ismail Mahdi on a screen pass, converting a third and 25.
Late in the game, Mason Bray would come in and complete a pass to Anthony Wilhite for 22 yards.
Arizona totaled 490 yards with 364 through the air and 126 on the ground.
Defense: A+
The defense started off strong as the first two drives resulted in zero points for Weber State.
On the third drive, off a Weber State wide receiver deflection, Genesis Smith plucked it out of the air for his first interception of the season.
Deshawn McKnight and Dominic Lolesio would combine for a first half sack. UA would keep Weber State off the score board in the first half.
In a bend don’t break moment, the defense stood strong to start the second half forcing Weber State into a field goal attempt. Weber State would miss, keeping the shutout intact for Arizona.
Eventually, the defense would get in on the scoring as Jay’vion Cole took an interception from 27 yards out.
The shut out would not remain as Weber State hit a late field goal to get on the score board.
Special Teams: A-
Michael Salgado-Medina continued his strong start to the season as he hit from 32 yards in the first quarter.
One negative on special teams was a negative seven yard return by Jeremiah Patterson.
Salgado-Medina made his second field goal of the night, this time from 31 yards out.
Despite the blowout, the punt coverage team did let up a 20 yard punt return, something to fix for next week.
Tyler Prasuhn would attempt his first field goal of the season, but would miss it from 39 yards out.
Coaching: A
It was clear that Brennan had his guys prepared to completely dominate their opponent and handle business. Now there are some things to clean up.
On offense, there were multiple holding penalties that will need to be cleaned up. Two of the holding calls took away two rushing touchdowns by Fifita.
The defensive side played a near perfect game. It held Weber State to 2-14 on third down and only allowed 11 first downs. Overall, it kept Weber State under 100 yards passing.
The real test begins next week as Kansas State comes to town for Friday night lights. It will tell how much Arizona has improved since last season and if it is a Big 12 contender this season.
