By the Numbers: Analyzing the Arizona Football win over NDSU

As Arizona Football came away with the much-needed 31-28 win over FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, we look at the Wildcats’ win by the numbers. 

We are now into week four of the 2022 Arizona Football season, and the Wildcats have started off the season with a bang!

A year removed from a tough, 1-11 finish in which the Wildcats lost to in-state, FCS rival Northern Arizona, the Wildcats are looking like a completely different team.

Fresh off a tough loss to Mississippi State, the Wildcats returned to Arizona Stadium to take FCS powerhouse, North Dakota State. And despite being the underdogs, the Wildcats were laser-focused from the start.

Despite trailing, Arizona Football was able to overcome their deficit, rallying to beat North Dakota State 31-28. And we look at the numbers in the Wildcats’ win.

283 – Coming in, we were well aware of the Bison rushing attack. They use several players in the backfield, but fullback Hunter Luepke gets a majority of the work.

On Saturday, North Dakota State stuck to what they do best, and that is running the football. Against our Wildcats, the Bison found a lot of success, running for 283 yards on 45 carries (6.3-yard average).

While Arizona was able to come away with the win, the rush defense is concerning!

31 – Arizona scored 31 points, which is the second-most points that the Wildcats have scored this season. The Wildcats scored 38 against San Diego State just a few weeks ago, and it is the second time this season that Arizona has scored over 30 points. Arizona scored just over 30 points once last season.

0 – The Wildcats had 0 turnovers on Saturday! Last week, Arizona struggled, turning the ball over three times against Mississippi State. Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura was the one who struggled the most, throwing threes.

Luckily, the Wildcats were successful in protecting the football this week, en route to earning the 31-28 win over North Dakota State.

1 – On Saturday, the Wildcats generated just one turnover, while turning the ball over zero times. Arizona won the turnover battle, and more importantly, protected the football which was a stark contrast from the week before.

15 – Against the Bison, the Wildcats played a clean game turning the ball over zero times. But perhaps more impressive was that Arizona was called for just one penalty on Saturday which resulted in 15 yards for North Dakota State.

45.5 – Last year, Arizona ranked 122 overall, converting on just 32.1 percent of its third down conversions. On Saturday, the Wildcats converted on 5 of 11 attempts (45.5 percent).

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