Noah Fifita led the comeback after Jayden de Laura was injured
Ugly victories are better than beautiful defeats.
Arizona won a game it was trying so hard to lose, defeating Stanford 21-20 on Saturday night in Palo Alto, California.
The Wildcats (3-1, 1-0) won their Pac-12 opener for the first time since 2019, ending a six-game losing streak against the Cardinals and taking the lead in Palo Alto for the first time since 2006. And so they did with a fourth-quarter comeback led by their backup quarterback and their third-string running back.
DJ Williams’ The 2-yard touchdown run with 7:42 remaining was the game winner, and he came with it Noah Fifita at quarterback. Fifita came into play after that Jayden deLaura appeared to injure his right ankle, and the sophomore went 4 for 4 for 47 yards on the final two drives and had two runs for nine yards.
Fifita completed a third down pass Jacob Cowing With less than three minutes left, Williams gained eight yards on the ground and slid the ball in with less than 1:40 left to secure the win.
Williams had 39 yards on 11 carries, his most since the 2022 season opener at San Diego State. He and Jonah Coleman (12 carries, 75 yards) filled in admirably for the senior Michael Wileywho had two runs in the first quarter before limping off the field and not returning.
De Laura was 14 of 26 for 157 yards and a touchdown, providing a rushing score, but looked out of action for most of the game. After the game, he was seen wearing a protective boot on his right foot.
Arizona was outnumbered 358-349 but couldn’t turn the ball over for the first time since its upset win at UCLA last November. The Wildcat defense recorded five sacks, the most since November 2018.
Trailing 10-7 at halftime, Arizona forced a punt and then took the lead on a 7-yard run by de Laura with 5:53 left in the third period. The Wildcats converted a 4th-and-1 near midfield to keep the drive alive, then de Laura remained safe for the score after selling an RPO handoff and keeping it.
Stanford’s Sedrick Irvin scored from less than a yard away to take a 17-14 lead with 1:49 left in the third period. The drive was sustained by a pair of catches on 3rd and 1st, both to receivers protected by safety Shooter Maldonado.
De Laura was injured at the end of the next drive, a three-and-out, in which he fell to the sideline after having to throw the ball away. After Arizona got the ball back after a second missed long field goal attempt, it was Fifita’s turn, who had seen nothing but garbage time in his career.
Fifita completed both passes on the ensuing drive, including an 18-yarder Tanner McLachlan to get the Wildcats into the red zone. A few plays later, Williams scored from two yards out to give Arizona a 21-17 lead with 7:42 left.
Stanford cut the score to 21-20 with a 46-yard field goal with 3:09 left and had to settle after a minute Jacob Manu Sack and a penalty for the QB who threw beyond the line of scrimmage and stopped a drive that had reached the UA 21. The Cardinals were 2 of 4 on field goals after the kicker Joshua Karty had scored 25 consecutive tries entering the game.
Arizona once again got off to a slow start, its three first quarter possessions resulting in a three-and-out, a punt from plus territory and a turnover on downs. Still, the Wildcats only trailed 3-0 after 15 minutes despite conceding a 45-yard missed tackle run on third down on Stanford’s first drive and back-to-back 25-yard catches on its third drive.
The UA defense gave up at the end of both possessions, forcing field goal attempts. With 10:35 left in the first quarter, the Cardinal scored on a 35-yarder to take a 3-0 lead, but missed a 51-yarder on the final play of the first quarter.
The Wildcats have scored just seven points on 11 first-quarter possessions this season. But like every game in 2023, they didn’t score until they had the ball in the second period.
Three straight pass plays, all with double-digit yardage to different receivers, culminated in a 36-yard TD catch by McLachlan that gave the UA a 7-3 lead with 13:37 left in the first half.
Stanford took the lead back with 5:44 before halftime with a 2-yard pass Bryce Farrella result that was aided by a pass interference call Tacario Davis on the previous play when he intercepted the ball in the end zone.
Arizona returns home next Saturday to host No. 8 Washington.
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