TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — No. 20 Arizona had a memorable opening game under coach Brent Brennan on offense, racking up huge numbers in a blowout win over New Mexico.
The Wildcats weren’t nearly as good on defense, missing numerous tackles while failing to get much pressure on agile Lobos quarterback Devon Dampier.
Arizona had a week to shore up its defensive deficiencies and gets a chance to see if the improvements stick in Saturday night’s game against Northern Arizona.
“In terms of the film versus New Mexico, that’s put to bed. We’re all about NAU now,” Brennan said during his weekly news conference on Monday. “We can fix those errors and we had some correction work in practice today, but now it’s all about the next opponent. We don’t have time to look backwards. You have to look forward.”
From an offensive standpoint, Arizona (1-0) picked up where it left off last season.
Quarterback Noah Fifita was sharp and repeatedly found receiver Tetairoa McMillan in stride for long gains.
McMillan set a school record with 304 yards receiving and matched another with four touchdown catches on 10 catches. Fifita finished finished with 422 yards and four touchdowns on 19-of-31 passing with an interception in an offense that racked up 627 total yards in Arizona’s eighth straight win over two seasons.