Houston walks off Arizona after Wildcats’ fourth quarter rally

Instead of the Texas-sized win Arizona was looking for on Saturday, the Wildcats wound up with a Texas-sized let down against the Cougars. After a red hot start, Arizona was held scoreless in the second and third quarter, and couldn’t do enough to complete the comeback, falling to Houston 31-28.

Red (and Blue) hot start

Two of the biggest question marks heading into the game were Arizona’s effectiveness in the red zone and how involved Tre Spivey would be in the passing game. Seth Doege essentially answered both on the Wildcats opening drive, as Noah Fifita found Tre Spivey on a third and five, who shed a tackle and exploded for a 70-yard touchdown to open the game up. It’s the longest reception of Spivey’s career and fifth receiving touchdown of the season.

But Houston responded on its opening drive. The Cougars picked up 23 yards on three-straight carries, before opening things up in the passing game with Conner Weigman finding wide receiver Amare Thomas, who forced three missed tackles on the way to a 52-yard touchdown, knotting the game at seven apiece with 12:00 remaining in the first quarter.

The Wildcats continued their hot start on their second drive of the game. Noah Fifita orchestrated a methodical 11-play, 73-yard drive, that included two third down conversions and receptions to six different receivers. Seth Doege confirmed any red zone woes with a 13-yard touchdown to Luke Wysong at the 6:18 mark of the first quarter, giving Arizona a 14-7 lead over Houston.

The UA’s defense responded on its second drive, forcing a three and out to give Fifita the ball back. Linebacker Max Harris and defensive back Genesis Smith combined for a a crucial quarterback pressure and pass breakup to get the Cougars off the field. But Arizona couldn’t take advantage of the gift from the defense, after its ensuing drive stalled after a holding call on Sam Olson forced a third and long.

Second quarter stalls

Houston blitzing off the corner was the story heading into the second quarter. The Wildcats’ first drive of the second frame stalled after back-to-back sacks by the Cougars forced Arizona to punt it away for the second time. Isaac Lovison pinned Houston deep at its own 4-yard line, but the Cougars drove 96 yards, including a 33-yard pick up by running back Dean Conners on fourth and three, which set up a 10-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Conner Weigman, tying the game at 14 with 5:52 remaining in the first half.

Arizona tried to chew clock to end the second quarter and ensure Houston did not get another crack at it before getting the ball to start the second half. But the Wildcats couldn’t get it done inside the two-minute warning. Kedrick Reescano was stuffed on a 4th down conversion attempt, giving the ball back to Houston with just 96 seconds remaining in the first half. Conner Weigman opened the drive with a 28-yard keeper, before finding 6-foot-7 tight end Tanner Koziol for a 15-yard touchdown to cap off the 80-second drive, giving Houston its first lead of the game.

Third quarter “crisis” continues

The Wildcats came out of the locker room with a little more juice, but the Cougars still marched down the field to start the third quarter. Conner Weigman strung together a 17-play drive that burned up a whopping 9:04 on the clock. Houston got some help on a questionable third down call early in the drive where receiver Harvey Broussard appeared to juggle the ball on the way out of bounds. Two plays later, one of the Wildcats’ defensive assistants picked up a sideline interference penalty, giving the Cougars a free 15 yards. Arizona’s defense was unable to get off the field on third and fourth down opportunities later in the drive, before Weigman found Amare Thomas for his second touchdown reception of the game, extending Houston’s lead to 14 with 5:56 remaining in third third quarter.

Wildcats claw back in fourth quarter

The Wildcats tried to claw back with and bring the game back within one score. Seth Doege and the offense needed the remainder of the third quarter, plus one play, to make that happen. Arizona used a balanced attack of seven runs and six passes to march 75 yards in 13 plays, capped off by a Tre Spivey jet sweep, his second touchdown of the day. With that score, Arizona cut Houston’s lead in half, trailing 28-21 with 14:55 left to play in the game.

With as much criticism as the defense faced throughout the game, it strung together one of its best possessions of the day to give the ball back to the offense. After the Cougars cruised into Arizona territory, the Wildcats’ defense brought pressure on back-to-back plays with Chase Kennedy and Genesis Smith, forcing Houston to settle for a 48-yard field goal try by kicker Ethan Sanchez. The kick was no good, keeping the score at 28-21 with 11:40 remaining, highlighting the defense’s ability to bend, but not break, even with some adversity after struggling for much of the game.

Seth Doege’s squad took advantage of the gift from Danny Gonzales and Co. Arizona overcame an early holding call on Chubba Maae with an 18-yard pickup by Kris Hutson. Four plays later, Kedrick Reescano was able to keep the offense on the field with a fourth down conversion at midfield. Back-to-back defensive pass interference calls set Arizona up with fresh downs at the Houston 2-yard line, where the Houston-area native Reescano was able to punch it in to the end zone, tying the game at 28 with 4:48 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Wildcats walked off

But Arizona’s rally was not enough to overcome the disastrous second and third quarters. Houston kept it on the ground, running the ball on eleven of its final 12 offensive plays, which set up a walk-off 41-yard field goal by kicker Ethan Sanchez.

Noah Fifita finished the game 24-26 for 269 yards and two touchdowns, but the Wildcats went 6-12 on third and fourth down combined and were kept out of the end zone in the second and third quarter of the game. Arizona converted on all three red zone trips against Houston, but its overall offensive struggles were too much. Defensively, the Wildcats allowed nearly 400 yards, including 232 yards on the ground and four Conner Weigman touchdowns, including three through the air, after allowing just one passing touchdown coming into the game.

Arizona heads to its second bye-week of the season with a 4-3 (1-3) record and some soul searching to do. The Wildcats face a familiar foe in Colorado on the other side of the break, as they look to snap the two-game skid and inch closer to bowl game eligibility.