The Arizona football team was defeated by the University of Washington Huskies on Saturday, Oct.15, by a score of 49-39. Here are a few key stats from the loss which drops Arizona to 3-4 on the season.
400 Passing Yards for de Laura
Sophomore quarterback Jayden de Laura never looked comfortable in the pocket on Saturday, but he still managed a passer rating of 211.2 as he threw for 400 yards and four touchdowns on 25-34 attempts. He narrowly beat Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.’s passer rating of 210.3, as he himself threw for 516 yards and four touchdowns on 36-44 attempts. Penix had a clean pocket for the entire game as Arizona couldn’t get consistent pressure on him, while de Laura continuously was forced out of the pocket and had to use his legs. He picked up 41 additional yards on 13 carries. Neither quarterback committed a turnover as they tried to put their teams in position for the win.
8.2 Yards per Play for the Huskies
Arizona’s defense needed to be up to the task to pull off the upset in Seattle on Saturday. Although the Wildcats trailed 21-14 at halftime, the defense had managed to turn the Huskies over on downs on two separate drives in the first half as they were marching deep into Arizona territory, killing those scoring opportunities.
Washington got rolling in the second half, scoring touchdowns on four consecutive drives, going back to their last drive before halftime. The defense failed to force a turnover to make up for allowing 8.2 yards per play to the Huskies and over 500 yards passing. For the season, Arizona’s defense is giving up 6.94 yards per play, which is the fifth worst in the country.
132 Yards and 2 TD’s for McMillan
It was another big day for freshman wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan as he set career-highs with 132 receiving yards on seven receptions and two touchdowns. He caught a pass from de Laura late in the first quarter and took it 46 yards for the touchdown after making a defender miss to tie the game 7-7, which was also his longest reception on the season. His second score brought the Wildcats within one possession, as he rose up over Washington sophomore defensive back Kamren Fabiculanan for the amazing catch to make the score 42-39 Huskies in the fourth quarter.
Arizona’s wide receiver trio of Jacob Cowing, Dorian Singer and McMillan all had upwards of 90+ receiving yards on Saturday, but it was the freshman McMillan who paced the team with a whopping 18.9 average yards per reception. His 6 touchdown receptions on the season lead all FBS freshman. On Monday, he was named Pac12 Freshman of the Week, his second of the season.
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