Wildcats Visit PNW for Clash with Huskies

TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) enter the second half of their season with a trip to the Pacific Northwest for a road game against the Washington Huskies (4-2, 1-2) this Saturday afternoon.

Arizona and Washington will square off at 2:30 p.m. MST on the Pac-12 Networks with Ted Robinson (play-by-play) and Yogi Roth (analyst) on the call.

The Wildcats have already tripled their win total from last season and will look to build on that number in Seattle, a city in which they have not won since 2007.

A complete preview of the Wildcats week seven road test can be found below.
ARIZONA NOTES & NUMBERS

• The Arizona Wildcats travel to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies on Saturday afternoon. Arizona is searching for their first Pac-12 road victory under head coach Jedd Fisch.
• Saturday's game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. MST with a television broadcast on Pac-12 Networks featuring Ted Robinson (PxP) and Yogi Roth (Analyst) on the call.
• The Wildcats trail the all-time series with the Huskies, 11-24-1, and have lost five games in a row. Arizona is 4-15 all-time in Seattle and has not beaten Washington on the road since 2007, a 48-41 decision.
• In the Wildcats victory over Colorado two weeks ago, Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura tied the program single-game record with six passing touchdowns. His 484 passing yards were the fifth most in a single contest in school history.
• Wide receiver Jacob Cowing currently leads the Pac-12 and ranks among the top five FBS players  in receiving TD (T-4th, 7), receptions per game (4th, 7.7), receiving yards (5th, 643), and receiving yards per game (5th, 107.2).
• Tight end Tanner McLachlan hauled in two receptions for 26 yards against the Ducks last weekend. He now has 19 receptions on the year, tied  for eighth most in a single season by a Wildcat tight end and four shy of moving into the top five.
• The Wildcats were penalized just three times for 11 yards against the Ducks, marking their third game of the year with fewer than five penalties. Arizona recorded just one such game last year (BYU, 4) and just three total across the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

38 — WR Jacob Cowing has recorded 38 consecutive games with at least one reception, tied for the second-longest active streak among all FBS players.

338 — WR Tetairoa McMillan made his fourth touchdown grab of the season against No. 12 Oregon. He is second nationally among true freshman with four receiving touchdowns and 338 receiving yards.  

7-0 — QB Jayden de Laura is 7-0 in his college career when throwing for 3+ touchdowns.

10 — RB Michael Wiley has scored a touchdown in 10 of his last 13 games dating back to last season.

19 — TE Tanner McLachlan's 19 receptions this year are the eighth most by a tight end in a single season in program history.
 

VERSUS WASHINGTON: This is the 37th all-time meeting between the Arizona Wildcats and the Washington Huskies. Arizona trails the series 11-24-1. The Huskies have won five straight games dating back to Oct. 31, 2015. Arizona's last win in the series was a 27-26 result on Nov. 15, 2014, at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats last victory in Seattle was a 48-41 win on Oct. 27, 2007. The Wildcats have lost five in a row and are 4-15 overall in Seattle. Arizona is 7-9-1 at home in the series.

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND: Bo Nix threw for 265 yards and ran for three touchdowns; Noah Whittington added an early 55-yard touchdown run and No. 12 Oregon rolled to a 49-22 victory over Arizona on Saturday night. The Ducks (5-1, 3-0 Pac-12) scored touchdowns on seven consecutive drives starting midway through the first quarter, building a 49-13 lead by late in the third. Oregon piled up 580 yards of total offense - including 306 yards on the ground - doing pretty much whatever it wanted against Arizona (3-3, 1-2). Nix was a great on the ground for a second straight game, scoring on a pair of 2-yard runs before breaking free for a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He ran for a career-high 141 yards and two touchdowns last week against Stanford. The Ducks have won five straight since a season-opening loss to Georgia, scoring more than 40 points in every game. They built a 28-13 lead by halftime Saturday. Nix completed 13 of 14 passes for 187 yards as the offense racked up 346 total yards before the break. Arizona managed to stay within striking distance thanks to a 52-yard touchdown run by DJ Williams and a pair of field goals from Tyler Loop, including a 36-yarder as time expired in the second quarter. But the Ducks erased any doubt about the outcome in the third. Oregon opened the second half with an efficient eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped by Nix's second touchdown run for a 35-13 advantage. A few minutes later, Bucky Irving ran for a 22-yard touchdown and a 42-13 lead. Arizona's Jayden de Laura completed 24 of 42 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Oregon had to punt on its first offensive drive but quickly found its offensive rhythm. Whittington gave the Ducks a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter on a superb 55-yard touchdown run. The 5-foot-8, 194-pounder made one quick cut, evading a tackle, and then sprinted straight forward before blowing past Arizona defenders on his way to the end zone. The Ducks added to their momentum early in the second. Nix hit a diving Kris Hutson for a 42-yard gain that was just short of a touchdown. On the next play, Nix kept it himself for a 2-yard touchdown and 14-3 lead. Arizona had a promising first drive snuffed out at the Oregon 11 when de Laura and Jacob Cowing botched a handoff. Oregon's DJ Johnson was there to fall on the fumble. Oregon's Dontae Manning was called for targeting in the second quarter and ejected. He had a helmet-to-helmet hit on Arizona's Cowing.

GAME-CHANGER: The Arizona Wildcats finished the win against Colorado with two receivers recording over 100 yards receiving (Cowing 180 yards, Singer 163) for the second straight week following the 133-yard effort by Cowing and 103-yard performance by Singer at Cal on Sept. 24. Arizona has now notched two games with a pair of 100-yard receivers in a single season for the first time since 2014 (Cayleb Jones 186 & Austin Hill 127 vs. California; Austin Hill 110 & Samaje Grant 101 vs. UNLV). The Wildcats 673 yards of total offense in its 43-20 win over Colorado set a school record for most yards of offense in conference play as a member of the Pac-10/12 Conference. Cowing's 566 receiving yards are the third-most by an Arizona player through the team's first five games since 1996. Only Dennis Northcutt (629 yds, 1999) and Bobby Wade (581 yds, 2002) had more.

TOP RECEIVER: Junior wide receiver Jacob Cowing has made seven touchdown catches in his first six games with Arizona. He is two TD grabs away from moving into the top-10 in single-season touchdown receptions. Cowing is currently tied for 16th for a single season in program history. With three catches for 34 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter vs. Colorado, Cowing eclipsed the 3,000-yard mark for his collegiate career while catching his seventh touchdown of the season. He sits with 3,238-career yards after making six catches for 77 yards against No. 12 Oregon on Oct. 8. Cowing is 122nd in FBS history, moving past Arizona receivers Mike Thomas (3,231) and Dennis Northcutt (3,186). The only Arizona wideout with the most career yards is Bobby Wade (3,351) from 1999-2002.

QB1: Sophomore quarterback Jayden de Laura threw just one touchdown in the 49-22 loss to No. 12 Oregon last weekend. De Laura is one game shy of tying his career-best seven-game touchdown streak. He threw for a career-high 484 yards and six touchdowns against Colorado. 484 passing yards marked the most allowed by Colorado in school history. The six touchdown passes tie a school record set by Tom Tunnicliffe against Pacific on Oct. 23, 1982. De Laura led the Wildcats to a 43-20 win over Colorado and became the first Arizona QB with 400-plus passing yards in consecutive games since Matt Scott in 2012. De Laura's 484 yards marked a career high and the fifth most passing yards by a QB in Arizona history. He has set career-high marks in passing yards in back-to-back weeks. This performance comes on the heels of throwing for 401 yards at Cal to become the 19th quarterback in Arizona history to turn in a 400-yard passing performance. De Laura led a comeback 31-28 win after trailing by four entering the fourth quarter, 28-24, against North Dakota State. De Laura connected with Cowing on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 4:53 left in the fourth quarter to earn the win. De Laura threw for 229 yards and one touchdown and rushed for career-highs with 10 carries and 58 yards and a rushing touchdown against the Bison to help the Wildcats improve to 2-1.  De Laura had a breakout first game with Arizona, throwing for 299 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a 38-20 win at San Diego State. He improved to 6-0 in his collegiate career when throwing three-plus touchdowns. De Laura's four touchdown passes are the most by an Arizona QB in their Wildcat debut since Anu Solomon threw four against UNLV in 2014. He completed 29-of-35 passes and connected with Jacob Cowing three times for touchdowns, as well as Tetairoa McMillan once for a TD. De Laura led Washington State to a 7-6 record and a berth in the Sun Bowl after throwing for 2,798 yards and 23 touchdowns on 227-for-359 passing. He was named 2021 All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention. De Laura threw multiple touchdown passes in eight games and led WSU to their first Apple Cup victory since 2012. He earned Rose Bowl Game Pac-12 Player of the Week honors after win over Oregon State in which he threw for a career-high 399 yards and three scores. As a first-year freshman in 2020 went 78-of-129 passing for 886 yards and five touchdowns in four games. De Laura prepped at powerhouse program St. Louis High School in Honolulu and helped lead program to two state championships. He went 11-0 and won state as a junior to earn second team All-Hawaii recognition. Followed that up with an undefeated season as a senior, steering the team to 12-0 finish and another state championship. De Laura was honored as a High School All-American according to MaxPreps. He was named 2019 Hawai'i Gatorade Player of the Year. De Laura, as a senior in 2019, threw for 3,452 yards and 29 touchdowns on 228-of-319 passing. Up for a challenge? De Laura's full name is: Jayden pukonakona ha'awi mai na makua ha 'ele mai ka hiapo e wili 'ia me ke aloha de Laura.

LIMITED LAUNDRY: Against No. 12 Oregon, the Wildcats were penalized just three times for 11 yards, marking their third game of the year with fewer than five penalties. Arizona recorded just one such game last year (BYU, 4) and just three total across the 2019 and 2022 seasons. Arizona committed only one penalty for 15 yards against North Dakota State. The last time the Wildcats were flagged only once in a game was Oct. 5, 2019, against Colorado. In the game against NDSU, Arizona did not turn over the ball along with only one penalty. The last time the Wildcats had a turnover-free, one-penalty game was a 48-14 win over Washington on Oct. 4, 2008, at Arizona Stadium, a span of 167 games.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS: Safety Jaxen Turner made a career-high 13 tackles (8 solo, 5 assists). It marked the second time in his collegiate career that he finished a game with 10-plus tackles (first; 10 vs. UCLA, 10/9/21). Turner is third on the team with 37.0 total tackles. He has one of the Wildcats' two total interceptions. Linebacker Jerry Roberts reached double-digit tackles (10) against Mississippi State to achieve the feat in a second consecutive game. Roberts previously had one double digit tackle game in his career at Arizona (Utah 2021). Roberts is fifth in the Pac-12 with 7.7 tackles per game and is third in overall tackles (46.0). Senior defensive lineman Hunter Echols forced a fumble for the first time in his career and has set a new career high with 29.0 total tackles this season (14 solo, 15 assists). Senior Jalen Harris is well on his way to surpassing his career-high 44 tackles from 2021. Harris has 29.0 tackles (11 solo, 18 assists) through six games, averaging 4.83 tackles per game with 1.5 sacks.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Head Coach Jedd Fisch led the Wildcats to their first road victory under his leadership 38-20 over San Diego State on Sept. 3. Freshman wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan made the first touchdown reception of his collegiate career on a six-yard pass from de Laura. Junior wide receiver Jacob Cowing posted a career performance during his first game with the Wildcats, making eight catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns. It was the most receiving touchdowns in a debut for a Wildcat since Cayleb Jones hauled in three scores through the air against California on Sept. 20, 2014. It was the first time that a player making their Power Five debut scored three touchdowns since Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree in 2007. Redshirt freshman safety Dalton Johnson blocked a punt on SDSU's second drive, marking the first of his career. Last season, Arizona led the Pac-12 and ranked 17th nationally with two blocked punts. Running back DJ Williams set the tone on the ground in his first game with Arizona, gaining 88 yards and recording one touchdown.

HE'S GOING STREAKING: Junior wide receiver Jacob Cowing extended his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 38, which is the second-longest such streak in the nation (41, Chris Autman-Bell, WR, Minnesota). Through five games, Cowing is 5th in the nation with 643 receiving yards. He is also tied for fourth nationally in touchdown receptions with seven. Cowing recorded a career-high 180 receiving yards in his most recent outing against Colorado and he has caught a touchdown in each of his last five games. He made seven receptions for 133 yards at Cal, marking the second-most receiving yards in a single game this season. He has surpassed last year's top scoring threat through the air, running back Michael Wiley, who tallied four receiving TDs in 11 games played. He is three touchdown catches shy of breaking into the Arizona all-time top-10 and five off the single-season record of 11 touchdown catches held by six players. Cowing caught a touchdown with 4:53 remaining in the fourth quarter to put the Wildcats in front of North Dakota State 31-28, marking his third straight game with a reception (5 rec., 55 yards) and the first Wildcat player with touchdown catches in three straight games since Michael Wiley caught a touchdown in each of the final three games of the 2021 season. Cowing had a breakout game during his debut with Arizona. He made eight catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns to help the Wildcats to a season-opening 38-20 win at San Diego State. The junior from Maricopa, Cowing was named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, Biletnikoff Award Watch List, East-West Shrine Bowl 1000, preseason Second-Team All-Pac-12, and the Reese's Senior Bowl Watch List. Cowing played three seasons at UTEP prior to transferring to Arizona. He led the Miners in receiving yards all three years, including a 2021 campaign in which he finished with 69 receptions for 1,354 yards and seven touchdowns. Cowing earned First Team All-Conference USA honors in 2021 and Second Team recognition in 2020. He finished the 2021 season ranked ninth nationally among all FBS players in receiving yards (1,354). For his career at UTEP, he hauled in 141 receptions, 2,595 yards and 13 touchdowns.

THE WHOLE 400 YARDS: The Arizona offense recorded 400 total yards in the first half of the game against Colorado on Oct. 1. It marked the third-most yards in the first half of a game for Arizona since 1996.

LOOP THERE IT IS: Kicker Tyler Loop made three of three field goal attempts against No. 12 Oregon marking his second perfect kicking game on three-or-more field goal attempts this season. It also tied his career-high mark set in last year's Territorial Cup. He is now 20-for-22 on field goal attempts, remaining a perfect 17-for-17 from under 40 yards, and 32-for-32 on extra-points for his career. Loop is 20-for-20 on extra-point attempts and 8-of-10 on field goals so far this season. He made one of two attempts against North Dakota State, improving to 15-of-15 on his career prior to missing a 43-yard field goal attempt with 12:56 left the fourth quarter. Loop was one of four Pac-12 kickers to begin their collegiate career perfect in kicking at least 15 field goals including Arizona State's Thomas Weber, 17 straight from Sept. 1 to Nov. 3, 2007, Utah's Matt Gray, who made 14 straight from Aug. 31 to Sept. 22, 2017, and Nathan Villegas (Oregon), who made 14 straight to begin his collegiate career from Sept. 5 to Nov. 7, 1998.

WILDCATS IN THE NFL: The Wildcats are once again well represented in the National Football League this year with 10 former letterwinners active across the league. One of Arizona's most prestigious alumnus, tight end Rob Gronkowski, retired following the 2021 season after winning the fourth Super Bowl of his career. Gronk was a five-time Pro Bowl selection, a four-time First Team All-Pro selection, and was selected to the NFL's 2010s All-Decade Team and NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Over 11 seasons with New England and Tampa Bay, Gronkowski recorded 9,286 yards (5th all time) and 92 touchdowns (3rd all time). Quarterback Nick Foles is in his 11th NFL season after rewriting the Wildcats record books during his time in Tucson. For a complete list of former Wildcats in the NFL, see the comprehensive chart below.

 
Current Wildcats on NFL Rosters