Arizona vs BYU: Notable stats from the Wildcats’ 18-16 loss

Taking a look at some key numbers in Arizona’s loss to BYU

The Arizona Wildcats were on the receiving end of yet another tough loss in a hyped up game. We didn’t see the usual Rich Rodriguez offense putting up big numbers. Instead, we saw a stout Marcel Yates defense providing pressure all night long.

Now we take a look at some stats from the game that had a huge impact on the outcome.

138 Nick Wilson rushing yards

Nick Wilson came back to form in the fourth quarter, blowing through the BYU defense for touchdowns of 15 and 49 yards out. Those were the team’s only touchdowns of the night.

While Arizona was only ever down by nine points at the most, Wilson only touched the ball 17 times, with Orlando Bradford and J.J. Taylor only seeing one carry each. Wilson ended up averaging 8.1 yards a carry, a number aided by some long runs.

69 receiving yards for Nate Phillips

The senior wideout led both teams with 69 receiving yards. He also had the most targets amongst both teams, getting the ball thrown his way nine times. With Samajie Grant working the outside, Nate Phillips could be the beneficiary this year, working the inside routes.

18 points to beat Arizona

It only took 18 points for the Cougars to beat Arizona, which means that the defense was able to limit Taysom Hill and the BYU offense to only 18 points.

The defense did all they could, having short rests in between each series. Out of 11 offensive series for UA, six of them were less than 2:05 in game time, making the defense work a little harder to catch their breath.

3 points through three quarters

Arizona’s offense put up only three points through three quarters. For having a high-powered offense led by an experienced starter behind center, a young stable of talented backs and some veteran wideouts, the offense struggled. But it starts up front and you can’t run the ball or have the time to develop a passing game without an effective offensive line.

2 Anu Solomon interceptions

Anu Solomon had a few off throws, but no two were more costly than his interceptions. In the second quarter, Solomon was running for his life to the right side of the field and tried to do a little too much to find Trey Griffey on the comeback route, but just didn’t put enough behind it.

The next was extremely timely, late in the fourth quarter. Solomon soared a pass over the middle to Tyrell Johnson, which killed a drive that had a lot of momentum behind it.

Solomon has proven that he can take care of the football over the last two years, throwing only 14 interceptions in 25 starts. He doesn’t throw a lot of interceptions, and when he does, it really makes you scratch your head.

1 Arizona sack

Arizona did a pretty good job of providing pressure on BYU’s offense, but just didn’t have enough speed to track down Taysom Hill. While the defense was swarming in the backfield, generating seven tackles for loss, they only came away with one sack.

That one sack was produced by walk-on linebacker Carrington Vaughn early in the first quarter. That seemed to be his only series of the night.

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