Arizona football digs out of early hole to win at Washington State
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It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
Arizona shook off another terrible start, this time resulting in a 14-0 deficit, to win 34-24 at old Pac-12 foe Washington State on Saturday night. The Wildcats are 3-1 for the fourth consecutive season, the first time since doing so from 2012-15.
Noah Fifita bounced back from an early pick-6 to throw four touchdown passes, including the game-winner to freshman Caleb ‘Jet’ Smith late in the 3rd quarter, going 22 of 36 for 297 yards. Tre Spivey had two TD catches in the first half, when he got nearly all his seven catches and 129 yards, and 6th-year senior Tre Smith had a blocked kick and a fumble recovery.
The UA ran for 150 yards, 103 in the second half, with Ismail Mahdi gaining 63 on 10 carries.
Arizona limited Washington State (1-3) to 10 points after the first seven-plus minutes, allowing only 22 yards during a 5-possession stretch when it went from down three to up 14. The Wildcats recorded two takeaways, had three sacks and seven tackles for loss and limited the Cougar run game to under 100 yards after it gained 300-plus last week.
WSU quarterback Caden Pinnick had 276 yards of total offense and two total TDs but he also threw an interception and lost a fumble.
The UA trailed 17-14 at the half but had a chance to take the lead early in the 3rd quarter. After forcing WSU to punt, Caleb ‘Jet’ Smith returned the kick to the Cougars’ 33, but the Wildcats couldn’t get a first down and then came up empty when Michael Salgado-Medina was wide right from 42 yards out.
A few plays later, Everett Roussaw forced a fumble and Tre Smith recovered it, but the UA got nothing from the takeaway when Salgado-Medina’s 43-yard attempt was blocked.
Given a third chance, Arizona turned to Jet Smith on three consecutive plays to take its first lead. A 3-yard reception was followed by a diving 41-yard catch down the middle before Fifita hit him in stride for a 38-yard TD and a 21-17 advantage with 4:02 to go in the third.
Arizona got into the WSU red zone early in the 4th quarter but had to settle for another field goal try, this one made by Salgado-Medina from 32 yards out to make it 24-17. The UA made it a 2-score lead on an 11-yard TD catch by Isaiah Mizell with just over nine minutes to go.
The Cougars scored their first points since the first quarter when Pinnick beat the blitz on 4th and 10 for a 46-yard TD pass to Branden Ganashamoorthy, cutting it to 31-24 with 7:15 remaining.
Arizona iced the game when Salgado-Medina nailed a 52-yard field goal with just under two minutes to go, then forced a turnover on downs in the final minute.
Arizona went 3-and-out on its first possession for the second week in a row, with Fifita again taking a sack on the opening snap. WSU easily marched downfield to go up 7-0 on an 11-yard run by Pinnick.
After a drive stalled in Cougar territory, the Wildcats caught a break when Pinnick threw an ill-advised pass on a trick play that was picked off inside the 10 by Cam Chapa, but four plays later Fifita threw his own interception. WSU’s Jackquintin Ball returned it 25 yards for a TD and a 14-0 edge with 2:05 left in the 1st quarter.
Down two scores early for the second straight game, Arizona’s offense started to find its groove. Most of that was due to Fifita and Spivey connecting over and over, including on a 38-yard pass on 3rd and long that set up Spivey’s 28-yard catch-and-run TD with eight seconds left in the opening quarter.
The UA defense forced a stop, and its offense then marched 78 yards on 13 plays to tie it on a 4-yard pass from Fifita to Spivey midway through the second.
The Cougars got to just outside the red zone on their next drive before having to settle for a 39-yard field goal attempt, which was blocked by Tre Smith, but Arizona couldn’t take advantage and had to punt away.
The ensuing possession saw Arizona commit a trio of 15-yard penalties, two on late hits and another on pass interference. Throw in an interception by Jay’Vion Cole overturned on replay and WSU turned that into points, going up 17-14 with 22 seconds left in the half on a 36-yard field goal by Jack Stevens.
Arizona moves back to Big 12 play next week, hosting Cincinnati on Saturday night. The Bearcats (4-0, 1-0) beat Kansas State 31-26.
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