Five stats from Arizona football’s loss against NAU

September 19, 2021

Arizona wide receiver, Stanley Berryhill III, lines up wide prior to the play in Arizona Stadium on Sept. 18. Berryhill led the game in receiving with 94 yards in Saturday’s loss to NAU.

The Arizona football team fell to Northern Arizona University 21-19 Saturday night, dropping their 15th straight game. Here are five stats that stood out in the loss.

The all-around production of Stanley Berryhill III:

Berryhill was the star of the night for the Wildcats in both the receiving department and special teams. He not only caught 11 passes for 94 yards, but returned five punts for 73 yards, including one 51-yard return to the NAU 18-yard line and a nifty 11-yard return to just inside midfield where he showed great balance near the sideline.

Execution in the redzone:

The Wildcats had two trips in the redzone, both resulting in field goals.

On the first redzone drive, they had the ball at the NAU 18-yard line, but a holding penalty stalled the drive leading to a 31-yard field goal for Lucas Havrisik. On the second redzone drive, they got to the NAU 14-yard line. They had a 4th-and-2 opportunity at the NAU 6-yard line, but elected to kick another field goal.

Capitalizing on these types of opportunities could help Arizona.

Third down conversions:

The Wildcats were 3-for-14 on third down conversions, a number that isn’t going to cut it against any opponent. They put themselves well behind the chains on a number of those occasions, taking two critical sacks including one on the first play of the game for Jordan McCloud under center.

RELATED: The Wildcats appear to hit rock bottom after shocking loss against NAU

Solid showing from Drake Anderson and Jalen John:

While the running game overall was abysmal, Anderson and John showed some flashes. Anderson rumbled for 72 yards on the ground on 12 carries, while John took five carries for 37 yards. They got a lot of this production on the opening drive of the second half, as Anderson opened up the drive with a 19-yard run before John later ripped off two runs of 15 yards. They were able to do this behind what was a struggling offensive line for the most part.

Turnovers:

The Wildcats had three turnovers, one being a pick-6 thrown by Will Plummer that was critical to give NAU some momentum heading into halftime after they were shutout up to that point.