LOS ANGELES – Arizona’s defense once again failed to show up as the Wildcats fell to USC 48-41 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. Here are some telling facts and figures from Arizona’s fourth consecutive loss:
468: USC quarterback Matt Barkley completed 32-of-38 passes for 468 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. The junior quarterback eclipsed Carson Palmer, who threw for 448 yards in 2001, for the most passing yards in program history.
Barkley found wide receiver Robert Woods for an 82-yard score on USC’s second offensive play from scrimmage and the Trojans didn’t look back from there. With LaMichael James rushing for a school-record 288 yards against Arizona last Saturday, the Wildcats have now allowed back-to-back record-breaking performances.
255: Wide receiver Robert Woods caught 14 balls for a career-high 255 yards and two scores. Woods was six receiving yards short of the school record. The Wildcats secondary had no answer for the true sophomore, who is now the NCAA’s leading receiver with 747 yards.
Woods is also tied for the nation lead in receptions with 55. With Woods and Barkley posting career-bests, Arizona has allowed four players in the last three games to go for career-highs against it – Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor, James, Woods and Barkley.
0: USC punted the ball zero times on Saturday. Not including the Trojans’ final possession where they kneeled to run the clock out, USC scored on every drive but one – Arizona cornerback Shaquille Richardson intercepted Barkley near midfield.
55: With USC scoring 17 points in the first quarter the Wildcats have now allowed 55 first-quarter points in their last four games – all losses. Oklahoma State started the trend by scoring 14 first-quarter points, while Stanford followed that up with 10 and Oregon with 14.
3: Arizona has scored only three first-quarter points in the last four games, meaning they’ve been outscored 55-3 in the first 15 minutes of play.
9: The Wildcats have lost their last nine games to FBS opponents. The losing streak dates back to October 29, 2010 when Arizona defeated UCLA and is the longest such streak in the Pac-12.
2,259: Arizona’s given up 2,259 yards in its last four games, coming out to an average of 564.8 yards per game. The Wildcats were finally able to stop the run as they gave up 114 rushing yards, but their inability to stop Barkley and the USC aerial attack led to their downfall.
2: Despite finishing the game with 425 yards and four touchdowns, quarterback Nick Foles threw two interceptions on Arizona’s first two drives of the game. Foles’ last interception came in the 2010 Alamo Bowl against Oklahoma State. The senior went 210 pass attempts between interceptions.
70%: USC converted 70 percent (7-of-10) of its third downs, while going 1-for-2 on fourth down. Arizona converted 50 percent (6-of-12) of its third downs.
11: Kicker Alex Zendejas missed two extra points – one blocked – to give him 11 career missed extra points. Nine of those 11 misses have been blocked at the line of scrimmage.
37: The Wildcats picked up 37 first downs, the most ever for a USC opponent. The Trojans finished with 26 first downs.
1: Shaquille Richardson’s third-quarter interception was the Wildcats’ first interception since Trevin Wade picked up one against NAU. Arizona has had only one combined sack and interception in their it’s three games.