No. 20 Arizona had an exciting start to the season under coach Brent Brennan, putting up impressive numbers in a big win over New Mexico.
The Wildcats didn’t perform as well on defense, missing many tackles and struggling to put pressure on the quick Lobos quarterback Devon Dampier.
Arizona had a week to fix its defensive problems and will have a chance to see if they made improvements in Saturday night’s game against Northern Arizona.
“In terms of the film versus New Mexico, that’s put to bed. We’re all about NAU now,” Brennan said during his weekly news conference on Monday.
“We can fix those errors and we had some correction work in practice today, but now it’s all about the next opponent. We don’t have time to look backwards. You have to look forward.”
From an offensive view, Arizona (1-0) continued from where it left off last season.
Quarterback Noah Fifita was precise and consistently found receiver Tetairoa McMillan for long gains.
McMillan set a school record with 304 yards receiving and matched another with four touchdown catches on 10 catches. Fifita ended up with 422 yards and four touchdowns on 19-of-31 passing, with one interception.
The offense accumulated 627 total yards in Arizona’s eighth consecutive win over two seasons. On defense, the Wildcats seemed like they were still working through some first-game issues.
Arizona allowed New Mexico to score 24 points in the first half and led by only three at halftime. Lobos quarterback Devon Dampier escaped the Wildcats throughout the game, totaling 390 yards and five touchdowns.
Arizona’s defensive problems were worsened by many missed tackles and too many penalties, including two unsportsmanlike conduct flags on cornerback Tacario Davis, which led to his ejection in the fourth quarter.
