Arizona, who was ranked No. 21 in the first AP Top-25 preseason poll and moved up one spot to No. 20 before falling off entirely in Week 4, is now 3-5 overall and 1-4 in conference after their 31-26 loss this past weekend to West Virginia. The Wildcats ending up having to play catchup after the Mountaineers got off to a 10-0 lead with a field goal on their first possession and then a TD on their second from a fake field goal attempt at the Arizona 14 yard line setup by a fumble on the Wildcat’s first possession of the game—holding them scoreless in the 1st Qtr. Both teams scored a TD each in the second quarter to make it a 17-7 game going into the break.
West Virginia would hold Arizona to a three-and-out to start the third quarter and then go out to a 24-7 lead at the end of an 8 play, 44 yard drive, and 20 yard TD run by Junior RB CJ Donaldson Jr. After returning the favor and holding the Mountaineeers to a three-and-out as well, the Wildcats would make it 24-13 on their third possession of the quarter with a 23 yard TD pass from Noah Fafita to Sam Olson but would miss the PAT. After West Virginia scored another TD early in the 4th Qtr on a 54 yard TD pass from Sophomore QB Nicco Marchiol to WR Traylon Ray, the Wildcats would try and comeback—scoring back-to-back TD’s but missed both 2-point conversion attempts and couldn’t keep West Virginia from finding the end zone again themselves. After Noah Fifita’s 3 yard TD run with 4:35 left in the game to get within five at 31-26, West Virginia would run the clock out on a 9 play 19 yard drive to end it.
For Arizona, Sophomore QB Noah Fafita was 21-of-32 for 294 yards, 2 TD’s and zero interceptions to go along with another TD on the ground. Quali Conley would pick up the other one while rushing 16 times for 72 of the Wildcats’ 78 total yards. Junior WR Tetairoa McMillan, who had 780 yards on the year coming into the game, picked up another 202 yards of the team’s 308 yard total and 1 TD on just 10 receptions with Junior TE Sam Olson picking up the other. For the Mountaineers, Sophomore backup QB Nicco Marchiol—in for Senior QB Garrett Greene who was injured the previous week against Kansas State—connected on 81% of his passes multiple times to six different receivers for 198 yards, 2 TD’s—one each to Traylon Ray and Hudson Clement—and no interceptions while rushing 11 times for another 39 yards. Sophomore RB Jahiem White, Junior RB CJ Donaldson Jr., and Marchiol would collectively rush 31 times for 172 of the team’s 207 yards on the ground with Donaldson and Senior Leighton Bechdel picking up a TD each.
West Virginia had possession of the ball for ten more minutes and led in rushing yards, 207-78; total yards of offense, 405-to-386; and not only converted four-of-four 4th down conversions—they scored on three of them. The first on 4th and 2 from the Arizona 14, the second on 4th and goal from the Arizona 3, and the last on a 4th and 1 from the Wildcat 20. In another amazing statistic, pointed out by the AP in their Recap for ESPN, the Wildcats’ Place Kicker Tyler Loop came into the game having never missed a PAT in his entire college career dating back to 2021. He’s now 120-of-121 after missing one late in the 3rd Qtr. With the loss, time is running out for Arizona to become bowl eligible with just four games left—two at home and two on the road with one of those this coming Saturday at UCF.