TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — As preparations begin for Saturday's game against No. 14 Utah, UA football coach Jedd Fisch looks to improve from the mistakes made in the team's 45-37 loss to No. 10 USC.
"No real surprises. I’d say the outcome of the game really came down to the fact that we five possessions in the red zone and scored three touchdowns and kicked two field goals. They had five positions in the red zone and scored five touchdowns, and that’s an 8-point swing and it was an 8-point final," Fisch said in his weekly Monday press conference.
Saturday's loss marks the Trojan's 10th straight win over the Wildcats.
“These one-score games- we have got to start flipping them," Fisch said.
Arizona scored on 60% of their trips into the endzone- scoring on all five red-zone possessions.
A detrimental third quarter ending- ultimately cost the Wildcats the game.
"You know 31-29, had a chance to get them off the field on 3rd and 8th- penalty was called and that led to a touchdown to make it 38-29," said Fisch.
Linebacker Jerry Roberts was called for a personal foul - a call that was quickly deemed controversial- after bumping into USC quarterback Caleb Williams.
"It should not have been a foul,” Fisch said without hesitation.
Entering the final stretch of regular season games, Fisch says his expectations for the struggling defense are to improve on taking the ball away, upping the number of sacks, and keeping the score down.
"We’ve had a tough stretch there, playing really, really good football teams. But the goal (for) these next four, with Utah and UCLA, Washington State and the team up north is we’ve got to find a way to just bring the point total down, get off the field a couple more times, and then take the ball away. if we can just take the ball a few times that’ll make a huge difference,” Fisch said in regards to the entire team.
The Wildcats are back on the road for the next two weeks- Hitting their first stop at No. 14 Utah followed by No. 12 UCLA.
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Breanna Isbell is a reporter for KGUN 9. She joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after receiving her bachelor’s degree in sports journalism from Arizona State University in May. Share your story ideas with Breanna by emailing breanna.isbell@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
