Brent Brennan Says 'That Hurts' When Told About Arizona's Struggles in Key Stat
Well, the Arizona Wildcats are 2-0 on the year, but neither win was necessarily comforting.
In the opener, Arizona looked unstoppable on offense as they totaled 627 yards en route to scoring 61 points that was headlined by Tetairoa McMillan's record-setting performance that put him into the Big 12 history books and earned him national honors.
On the defensive side of the ball, though, there was much to be desired with 471 yards given up and 39 points scored against them.
It was the complete opposite on Saturday.
The Wildcats put up a great performance on defense, holding Northern Arizona to 198 total yards and just 10 points as they remained undefeated with a 22-10 victory.
As the final score line would suggest, Arizona had a hard time on offense, and in reality, saying they struggled would be putting it lightly.
This unit was disjointed throughout the entire game, looking like a completely different team than the one who was moving the ball with ease just a week ago.
Noah Fifita had a hard time getting comfortable behind his struggling offensive line, resulting in an 18-of-26 showing where he threw for 173 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
McMillan was completely taken out of the game with just two catches totaling 11 yards.
While those numbers might be eye-opening considering it occurred against FCS level Northern Arizona, there was an even more alarming statistic that surprised head coach Brent Brennan when it was revealed to him.
"I didn't know it was that bad. That hurts," he said per Justin Spears of The Arizona Daily Star.
What he's referencing is going 0-for-10 on third down, something that should not happen with an offensive personnel group this talented.
Arizona was completely disjointed in all phases of the passing attack as Fifita was running for his life almost immediately when taking a snap, and he struggled to find his go-to playmaker whenever they needed to move the chains.
That's something offensive coordinator Dino Babers has to figure out during the short week as they get prepared to play Kansas State this upcoming Friday in their first road contest of the year that could have major ramifications on the Big 12 title chase.
BRAD WAKAI