The opting out of standout safeties Dalton Johnson, Treydan Stukes and Genesis Smith from playing in the Holiday Bowl against SMU was not the only reason why Arizona lost Friday night, but it was a significant one, especially early on as the Wildcats tried to adjust without them.
To make matters worse, backup safety Dajon Hinton suffered a leg injury in the first half and did not return.
The 24-19 loss at San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium included Arizona’s offense struggling in the first half, but coming alive after halftime with three Noah Fifita touchdown passes.
But it was too little, just late.
Arizona’s defense also awoke after the 24-0 halftime deficit with interceptions by Thomas Dansby in the end zone and Riley Wilson in SMU territory.
Wilson gave Arizona hope with his second interception, setting up the Wildcats with the ball at SMU’s 49 with 4:52 left.
Fifita followed with his first interception of the game, a ball that bounced off the helmet of defensive tackle Terry Webb into the hands of linebacker Alexander Kilgore at the SMU 40 with 3:06 left.
After Arizona’s defense turned a three-and-out, the Wildcats had another opportunity to cut into the lead but time was dwindling with 2:46 left and Arizona at its own 25 with no timeouts left.
Fifita engineered a drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Barmore with 33 seconds left, cutting the lead to 24-19. It was Fifita’s 29th program-record touchdown pass.
Barmore, a tight end, led Arizona with 61 yards on five receptions.
The onside attempt by Michael Salgado–Medina after Barmore’s touchdown reception was fielded by SMU, which then went into Victory Formation.
Arizona finished its season 9-4, coming up short to be the fifth Wildcat team to reach 10 wins.
The Wildcats’ fortitude was impressive and it was generated by the relentless Fifita and resourceful defense in the second half.
SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings, who owned the first half, threw more interceptions (three) than SMU produced first downs (two) in the second half.
Jennings was 18 of 23 for 248 yards in the first half, and 3 of 9 for 30 yards with three interceptions in the second half. He finished 21 of 32 for 278 yards.
Fifita was 7 of 13 for 43 yards in the first half. After halftime, he was 21 of 30 for 222 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Fifita was also Arizona’s leading rusher with 73 yards on 13 carries. He was sacked only once by SMU’s physical front.
Arizona outgained SMU 309-64 in the second half.
The second play of the game was an ominous sign early for Arizona and its patchwork defensive secondary.
Jennings connected with a wide-open Matthew Hibner on a flea-flicker play. Hibner caught the ball in stride along the sideline and ran 80 yards before Thomas Dansby caught him at the 1.
T.J. Harden ran the ball into the end zone on the next play and SMU led 7-0 only a minute and two seconds into the game.
Arizona forced SMU to punt on its next possession, but Jennings was unstoppable in the next two.
The Mustangs (9-4) had touchdown-scoring drives of 87 and 94 yards to increase the lead to 21-0 with 9:33 left in the second quarter.
Jennings at that point was 14 of 17 for 220 yards.
After Arizona turned the ball over on downs for the first of three times in the game, Sam Keltner made a 24-yard field to put SMU ahead 24-0 with 29 seconds left in the half.
Arizona’s 24-0 halftime deficit is the most in its bowl history.
It topped the previous mark of 23 points when the Wildcats trailed Nebraska 23-0 at the half en route to a 33-0 loss in the 2009 Holiday Bowl.
The next highest was an 18-0 deficit at halftime in Arizona’s first bowl in 1921 against Centre (Ky.). Arizona lost that game 38-0.
All of the games were in San Diego.
Arizona finally got some life with 2:36 left in the third quarter when Fifita’s 28-yard scoring strike to Javin Whatley capped a 15-play, 96-yard possession that took 7:31. A two-point conversion run by Quincy Craig was stopped.
The Wildcats’ next possession stalled at the SMU 10 with a turnover on downs.
After SMU was forced to punt after another three-and-out, Fifita then orchestrated a 10-play scoring drive that culminated on a 10-yard pass to Tre Spivey. Fifita’s two-point try on a pass failed and Arizona trailed 24-12 with 8:40 left.
Recommended for you
