Arizona Wildcats Struggle to Remain Undefeated vs. Northern Arizona
The No. 20 Arizona Wildcats were heavy favorites going into their non-conference contest against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Saturday.
The Wildcats won, 22-10, but their ineffectiveness in the first half on offense, combined with the Lumberjacks’ pluck throughout the game, made the matchup much closer than last year’s 38-3 Arizona victory.
Saturday represented the last tune-up before the Wildcats (2-0) begin a streak of 10 games against power conference teams, starting with a Friday showdown against Kansas State. The new Big 12 rivals will play that game as a non-conference affair, as it was scheduled before the Wildcats joined the league in August.
Arizona will have to play much better to beat Kansas State, which will be the Wildcats’ first road game of the season.
After a struggle in the first half, Arizona woke up in the third quarter.
NAU (1-1) had the ball to start the quarter, up 10-6, and opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 at their own 34-yard line. The Lumberjacks failed to convert after Arizona’s Jacob Manu and Chase Kennedy stood up NAU quarterback Ty Pennington.
The Wildcats made them pay four plays later, as quarterback Noah Fifita connected with wide receiver Jeremiah Patterson on a 17-yard touchdown pass to give Arizona a 13-10 lead. NAU committed a facemask on third down, a play that if made, would have limited the Wildcats to a game-tying field goal attempt.
In the fourth quarter, Arizona’s Chubba Ma'ae helped tackle NAU running back Darvon Hubbard for a safety and running back Kendrick Reescano scored on a 56-yard touchdown run.
Fifita finished with 173 yards passing and one touchdown. He also threw an interception. Quali Conley led the Wildcats with 112 yards rushing. Conley also caught five passes to lead the Wildcats.
Little went according to plan in the first half for Arizona.
After an opening drive led to a field goal, the Wildcats’ remaining five drives of the half resulted in three punts, an interception and a field goal.
Sustaining offense was an issue, as none of those drives lasted more than six plays.
The explosiveness the Wildcats possessed last week wasn’t there. Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had one of the biggest receiving games in FBS history last week, had just two receptions in the game.
While Arizona struggled, NAU grabbed a lead as wide receiver Isiaah Eastman threw a pass to wide receiver Xander Werner for a 25-yard touchdown on a gadget play. Marcus Lye kicked the Lumberjacks’ first-half field goal.
The Lumberjacks, an FCS school that plays in the Big Sky Conference out of Flagstaff, Ariz., played well but still only finished with 198 total yards.
MATT POSTINS