Arizona vs. UCLA: Notable stats from the Wildcats’ 45-24 loss

What numbers stand out from the game

Yes, the Arizona Wildcats lost by three touchdowns to the UCLA Bruins, and still haven’t beaten their Pac-12 South foe since 2011.

This one felt different though. Arizona’s offense was in control early, and the defense was keeping UCLA at arm’s length for the first half and a chunk of the third quarter.

The injury bug bit Arizona again, forcing a lot of guys that don’t usually come close to seeing the field into action, which allowed the Bruins to run away and hide with this game.

But here are some numbers you should know before the Wildcats move on to the Utah Utes next week.

242 and 125

rushing yards by Arizona and UCLA respectively. The Wildcats’ defensive line has been written off by a lot of people, but they outperformed the Bruins on Saturday. Even without its best three running backs, Arizona was still able to put up almost twice as many rushing yards thanks in large part to athletic quarterbacks Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate.

350 and 145

passing yards by UCLA and Arizona respectively. The Wildcats only had six fewer passing attempts (37 to 31), and were outgained by more than 200 yards in this category. Part of it is the shortcomings of Arizona’s quarterbacks, but a large part of this is also on the Wildcats’ secondary.

10

pass break ups credited to the Wildcats. This shows me that this stat is worse than QB rating.

4-of-12

UCLA’s third down efficiency. This is a marked improvement over the first four weeks for the Wildcats’ defense, and actually moved them ahead of Stanford in the Pac-12 rankings for this stat. If the Wildcats are going to make a run at bowl eligibility this year, this will need to be something that continues to get better.

0

Turnovers by either team. As bad as this game was, somehow the two teams weren’t coughing the ball back up to each other. It was just all punts, including ten by Josh Pollack.

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