'They outplayed us, outcoached us': Utes left flat-footed against budding Wildcats

TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch has gone out of his way over the last three years to praise Kyle Whittingham.

Fisch has watched the longtime Utah head coach build a program from its days in the Mountain West Conference to that of an upstart program looking to make a splash in the Pac-12.

As the two-time reigning Pac-12 champion, Whittingham's culture and consistency was the envy of Fisch when he took over an Arizona program mired in mediocrity.

On Saturday afternoon, though, Fisch beat Whittingham at his own game.

"We've got to accept the fact that they outplayed us, outcoached us, and that's that," Whittingham said after the game.

For 60 minutes, Fisch's team was in the driver's seat and dictated the terms of the game. Even when Utah made a late push and scored a touchdown with 41 seconds left to play to close the gap — a gap that was never really in doubt — Fisch went after Utah one more time.

Arizona didn't line up in victory formation, but instead allowed former starting quarterback Jayden de Laura to take a shot down field to Tetairoa McMillan — about 27 yards away — who then did the rest to finish off a 51-yard touchdown catch to give the Wildcats a 42-18 lead.

"I wanted Jayden to go out with a touchdown pass this season," Fisch said, while adding that the score was in response to Utah fighting to the end. "I think that he deserves that."

It was an uncharacteristic play given Arizona's lead, but one Whittingham said he'd never criticize, and one that Fisch knew he could do to show Arizona wouldn't back down to Utah.

"Shoot, that's their prerogative to be able to call whatever they want. It's our job to defend," Whittingham said. "So I've got no problem with that at all if that's the play they want to run. We've got to defend it; it's plain and simple."

The final score meant little in the end; Utah didn't show up early to make it a competitive game.

It's that early part of the game, though, where Utah quickly found itself on the losing end of a 28-0 deficit, and where Whittingham is most frustrated — with his players, with his coaching staff, with the preparation leading up to the game.

Maybe there was a letdown after a close loss to Washington the week prior, or a team coasting on the last fumes of an injury-riddled season that has seen at least 11 season-ending injuries to key players. Or it was an Arizona team that was simply better than Utah Saturday afternoon.

"I hate to think that — as an athlete, I never needed a carrot in front of me to play hard and play my best, and I don't think our guys quit, and I don't think they were unmotivated," Whittingham said. "But there could be — some of that could have crept in; I guess we wouldn't rule it out. But we've played in the championship, what, four years in a row now, and maybe psychologically somewhere in the back of your mind that was a factor, but I didn't sense that."

While all of that may be true and contributing factors, the point remains that Utah no-showed while Arizona took the opportunity and made Utah pay.

It started on defense as Arizona freshman quarterback Noah Fifita moved the ball down field with ease on the opening possession, and then it was carried over to the offense, where the Utes went three-and-out and then had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown.

And just like that, Utah's slow start led to a two-score deficit that only ballooned to a 28-0 lead with just over 14 minutes left in the second quarter. By then, the damage was done.

Fisch's team was in control for the first time against Utah since 2015, in a style of play that often resembled how Utah took care of business against Arizona over the years.

"I think it signifies that we've had a great year and we're not going to back down from anybody," Fisch said. "We feel really good about trying to continue to improve, get more physical, get tougher. I have the utmost respect for coach Whittingham. I think he is, by far, proven to be one of the best coaches to ever coach college football. His teams are constantly competing for championships, his teams are physical, his teams are aggressive.

"It was a big win for our team, but it's one game."

It's one game, but one that may have sent a message that Arizona isn't the punching bag of the conference anymore.

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