Did you see what you wanted to see at Arizona Stadium Saturday night?
Well, lightning delay aside, of course.
The storm really happened in the stadium after the delay.
Mother Nature provided the lightning; Arizona provided the thunder.
Arizona showed power, potential and pretty good domination over the visiting but-not-so-good Weber State in Arizona’s 48-3 win was all present.
Arizona finished with 556 yards in total offense, the second time in Brett Brennan’s UA coaching career.
From Noah Fifita’s dominating night to the defense’s seek-and-destroy mindset, it was all there.
That makes it two games in a row – although you can temper the enthusiasm given the quality of opponent.
There, that’s my disclaimer.
Still, Arizona faced who it had on the schedule and dominated from start to finish. The game was all but over before the first quarter finished as UA scored 24 points in the first quarter, scoring on its first five possessions. It was the most first-quarter points since 2014 (Washington State).
“We came in this game expecting to win, and we did that,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “I thought the offense was rolling again, and second week in a row the defense holds the team without a touchdown. You gotta be fired up about that.”
Impressive is a good word.
The defense forced two turnovers – adding to last week’s five – to keep an opponent to under seven for the second consecutive time. It allowed just 184 yards in total offense.
Brennan talked about “effort and execution” being there – and it was.
“I feel we’ve shown that we fly to the ball,” Harris said. “We try to get as many heads to the ball as possible before the whistle is blown. We’ve shown that we’re relentless.”
So far so good.
Arizona was on the edge of picking up a shutout, but Weber State was able to hit a field goal with nearly 13 minutes left in the game, but by then UA had its huge lead.
“Of course they were,” said Brennan when asked if they were disappointed there was no shutout. “You always talk about that, especially when you go that deep into a game and you have a chance to get it done. Part of that also is, we gave some other guys a chance to play. I think (the starters) were happy to see some of those guys play, some of those freshmen get out there and run around and make some tackles and block some guys and run the football.”
More on that later.
The defense was stout and Fifita was productive, a week after some – many – were wondering about his first week’s effectiveness.
Fifita passed for 353 yards and had a career-high five touchdown passes. He was so good he completed his first 10 passes, finishing 17 for 23 through the air.
He has thrown a touchdown pass in nine consecutive games.
“I don’t think Noah necessarily looks at it as trying to make up for (the first week), but he wants to play better,” Brennan said, “he just has such a high standard for himself. And, we all have such a high standard for him. I thought it was great the way we executed the first half on offense.”
By the late third quarter Brennan pulled Fifita for Braedyn Locke with UA leading 48-0. Arizona then went to the second team, getting a chance for others to get reps – much needed given the long season.
“It’s good for those guys to get some live reps and get the feel from the speed of the game and get an opportunity to play,” Brennan said. “Those guys work every day just as hard as everybody else, and so when you do get an opportunity like that, it’s great to get those guys out there. It’s kind of a win-win.”
