Five reactions and takeaways from Arizona’s 31-28 loss at Houston

Brent Brennan didn’t mince words on Saturday following Arizona’s second one-possession loss on the final play of the game in as many weeks. After jumping out to a hot 14-7 start, the Wildcats failed to score in the second and third quarter, before trying to mount a 4th-quarter comeback. The UA now has an opportunity to use its upcoming bye-week to do some soul searching and get back on track, as it looks to snap a two-game skid. Check out our five reactions and takeaways following the Arizona Wildcats’ 31-28 loss at Houston.

1) Defense getting the runaround

After heading into the BYU game with the nation’s 10th-best defense, the Wildcats have struggled in back-to-back weeks against the plus-one run. BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns, while star running back LJ Martin rushed for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown in the double-overtime loss at home.

After the success BYU had on the ground, Houston said anything you can do, I can do better. Cougars’ signal caller Conner Weigman picked up 98 yards and a touchdown on the ground on Saturday, while running back Dean Conners added another 100 yards on the ground.

Brent Brennan said after the game that having a physical, athletic quarterback puts the defense at a disadvantage, given the offense an extra blocker up front.

“Normally your quarterback hands the ball off. And then he can’t block anybody on defense, so he can’t account for anybody. So defensively, you’re normally even or plus-one on defense. You have one more than they can block. When the running back is now blocking and the quarterback is your runner, you’re now adding. So to me, that’s the challenge of it. That’s why people do it. It’s effective. We do it too. And I thought they had a good plan for us.”

When Arizona returns to the field in two weeks, it will face a scrappy Colorado team that also likes to run the ball with its quarterback. Buffaloes’ signal caller Kaidon Salter is the team’s second-leading rusher, with 270 yards and five touchdowns on the ground this season.

Danny Gonzales and the defensive staff will need to head back to the drawing board with extra time to prepare for Colorado, because the game plan the last two weeks frankly has not worked.

2) Third quarter “crisis” spills into the second

Arizona has struggled this season with slow starts to the second halves of games. Since starting Power Four play, Arizona has been held to 24 total points in the third quarter, and is scoreless the last two weeks in the third frame. Following the Oklahoma State game, Brent Brennan called Arizona’s third quarter lulls a “crisis”. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that crisis spilled into the second quarter at Houston.

After gashing the Cougars for 190 yards and jumping out to a red hot 14-7 lead in the first quarter, the Wildcats strung together just 45 yards of total offense in the second quarter and failed to reach the end zone. But it wasn’t just the lack of production that hurt Arizona, it was the scenarios in which it happened. Arizona failed to convert a crucial fourth down inside the two minute timeout, paving the way for a perfectly executed two-minute drill by Houston, which took a 21-14 lead into the locker room at half time, before getting the ball to start the second half.

On the game, Arizona showed improvement on fourth down, going 2-of-3 overall, including 2-of-2 in the second half, but still struggled on third down, going just 4 of 9 overall on the game.

The offense is light-years ahead of where it was last season, but still has plenty of work to do as Noah Fifita continues getting more and more comfortable with his third offensive coordinator in as many seasons.

3) “Spivey senses” aren’t tingling enough

Saturday felt like an improvement for wide receiver Tre Spivey’s opportunities, but the numbers tell a different story. While the Kansas State transfer found his way into the end zone twice, the big-bodied receiver still had just one catch on two targets, breaking lose for a career-long 70-yard touchdown reception.

Spivey has emerged as a touchdown machine for Arizona this season, but that can only happen if he has the ball in his hands. The Arizona native is finding his way into the end zone nearly every other time he handles the ball, scoring five touchdowns on 11 touches through seven games this season.

Seth Doege acknowledged heading into the Houston game that he is trying to get Spivey the ball more, but until the numbers improve in the box score, this continues to be a head-scratching game plan for the Wildcats.

4) Fifita on fire

While Arizona wound up on the wrong side of the final score for the second week in a row, quarterback Noah Fifita orchestrated one of his best games of the season. The Wildcats’ signal caller completed 24-of-26 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns, while also not turning the ball over. That 92.3% competition percentage is tied for the best mark in program history (alongside Khalil Tate’s 12-of-13 performance at Colorado in 2017).

Noah Fifita’s 92.3% completion rate is the third-best for a college quarterback on the road since 1996, behind only Sean Renfree and Jameis Winston. Fifita’s performance was also just the ninth in the FBS since 1996 to meet the following criteria: road game, minimum 90% completion rate, minimum 25 pass attempts.

It’s an encouraging sign for Brent Brennan and new offensive coordinator Seth Doege, showing that while the offense still has opportunities to improve its efficiency, particularly on third and fourth down and in the red zone, Noah Fifita is starting to settle in and take command of this offense.

5) The Cats are close

While there are plenty of opportunities for Arizona to continue improving in all three phases of the game, the Wildcats are close. Over the last two weeks, the UA went toe-to-toe with then-No. 18 BYU, which remains undefeated and has climbed to No. 11 in the AP Top 25 poll since then, and then rallied back from a 14-point deficit on the road at Houston.

At the end of the day, no one likes a moral victory, but it’s clear that the Wildcats are leaps and bounds better than a year ago, and a just a few critical plays away on offense from those Ls being Ws in the box score.

If Arizona can diagnose and correct its third and fourth down woes, score at a more consistent clip, and get back on track defensively, there is no reason Brent Brennan’s squad can’t win at least three more games this season and still secure a bowl game berth.