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BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado spoiled Arizona’s homecoming with a 27-point beatdown in Tucson a year ago.

A year later, the Wildcats returned the favor with a 52-17 thumping of Colorado at Folsom Field for the largest margin of victory in Big 12 play.

Arizona’s triumph snaps its two-game losing skid and puts the Wildcats at five wins this season, besting the win total from their 4-8 campaign last season. Arizona also matched last season’s win total (two) in Big 12 play.

The Wildcats are one win away from becoming bowl eligible under second-year head coach Brent Brennan.

In the postgame press conference, Brennan said, “There’s a lot of good stuff in that game.�

“I’m really excited about the forward progression of our football team,� Brennan said. “When we went into the bye week, we knew we had to return to fundamentals. We lost two gut-wrenching games and our players responded.

“We believe we have a good football team and I think that showed up tonight. I’m incredibly proud of our progress. I know we still have work to do, but I’m excited about this win.�

Here are notable storylines, statistics and quotes from Arizona’s win over Colorado, along with an injury report and a look at what’s next for the Wildcats.

Defensive domination

Arizona’s defense got its swagger back.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter, which was kick-started by wide receiver Tre Spivey’s 57-yard touchdown.

Spivey caught a bubble screen and had wide receivers Javin Whatley and Kris Hutson as perimeter blockers and then broke five tackles (one of them spin-moving around a Colorado defender) for a touchdown — the second-longest of his career behind the 70-yarder in the loss to Houston two weeks ago. Spivey has seven touchdowns on 12 offensive touches this season.

The Wildcats caught momentum after Arizona linebacker Chase Kennedy sacked Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter for a strip-sack that was recovered by defensive tackle Leroy Palu, who started over Tiaoalii Savea.

“It set the tone for us,� said Arizona cornerback Jay’Vion Cole. “A big play in the first quarter of the game, it sets the tone for the team.�

Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita threw an over-the-shoulder 12-yard touchdown to Hutson to take a 17-0 lead.

“Any takeaway in a football game is a momentum-changer,� Brennan said.

Brennan said Fifita’s touchdown pass to Hutson “was an absolute dime and Kris made a great play. Just really exciting to get that momentum and capitalize on it.�

Colorado answered with a 17-play scoring drive that was punctuated by Buffs receiver Omarion Miller high-pointing a touchdown pass over Cole, who intercepted backup quarterback Ryan Staub to begin the second half.

Cole was one of three Wildcats to record an interception on Saturday — his first interception since the Oklahoma State game last month. The Wildcats committed their first of two turnovers after Cole’s interception in the third quarter, when Hutson fumbled on the CU 35-yard line. Freshman running back Cornelius Warren III also lost a fumble in the fourth quarter.

Arizona safety Dalton Johnson recorded his second interception of the season in the first half and returned it to the CU 8-yard line. Arizona cornerback Ayden Garnes intercepted Staub and was tackled at the Colorado 17-yard line. Staub’s only two pass attempts of the night were intercepted, and he was eventually replaced by highly-touted freshman Julian Lewis, who passed for 121 yards and a touchdown in the second half.

Following Garnes’ interception, Arizona running back Ismail Mahdi scored a 7-yard touchdown to give Arizona a 45-7 lead in the third quarter. The Wildcats scored 21 points off five CU turnovers.

With just under four minutes left in the third quarter, Cole forced wide receiver Sincere Brown to fumble, which was scooped up by free safety Genesis Smith and returned 44 yards to the Colorado 4-yard line.

Arizona had seven drives start inside Colorado territory, with four of them starting inside the red zone. The average drive for Arizona started at its own 49-yard line, while Colorado’s average drive start was at the CU 29-yard line.

“Any time you get positive field position from a turnover or a big punt return or just any of that stuff, it definitely changes the game,� Brennan said. “Shorter fields are better than long fields, so I thought that was great.�

Arizona’s turnover sword is getting more use this season than it did all of last year. The Wildcats now have 18 takeaways this season, passing last season’s total (16). Arizona is tied with BYU for the most interceptions (12) in the Big 12 this season.

The Wildcats held Colorado to 129 rushing yards and no rushing touchdowns, although the Buffaloes are third-to-last in the Big 12 in rushing, after allowing a combined 490 rushing yards against BYU and Houston.

“As far as the defensive side, I felt like we got back to doing what we do originally and what got us to the four wins that we had in the past, which is running to the ball, playing physical and details in everything that we do,� said Cole.

Added Brennan: “I thought the physicality was outstanding.�

Balanced Cats

Before Saturday, Arizona hadn’t scored more than 30 points on the road under Brennan. Saturday marked the most points scored by Arizona in a Big 12 game. The last time Arizona scored over 30 points in a non-bowl road game was the 2023 Territorial Cup.

Arizona scored on 50% of its drives on Saturday and had a 44% touchdown rate. The Wildcats scored on seven of their first 10 drives until the backups were inserted.

The Wildcats had 417 yards of total offense — 213 passing yards and 204 rushing yards. Arizona had four passing touchdowns and three different Wildcats recorded rushing touchdowns.

“Shoot, that’s what I hope to see. I think (offensive coordinator Seth Doege) has done a great job — and our offensive staff — just preparing those guys,� Brennan said. “But those players gotta be able to make the plays when given the opportunity to do so. That was really exciting and really fun.�

Brennan said Fifita “operated at a really high level,� completing 11 of 19 passes for 213 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. In Big 12 play this season, Fifita has passed for 1,330 yards, 15 touchdowns and four interceptions.

All of Fifita’s touchdown passes on Saturday were in the first half — and they were all to different receivers: Spivey, Hutson, Javin Whatley and Gio Richardson, who scored his first-career touchdown.

Fifita found Richardson in stride over the middle and the Chandler native raced for a 60-yard touchdown. Even though Richardson dislocated his finger in the first half, he caught another potential touchdown, but it was nullified by a holding penalty committed by backup left tackle Michael Wooten.

“It’s great to see a true freshman making plays for us, but the ball was a dime, as was the ball to (Whatley) just before halftime — just an absolute dime,� Brennan said.

Richardson, a Chandler Basha product, “always had the skills,� but now he’s settling in after learning Doege’s offense and getting healthier after suffering a gruesome leg injury in the Open Division state championship last season.

“He’s just getting comfortable and feeling like himself again,� Whatley said.

Richardson, along with freshman Isaiah Mizell, “actually listen to the older guys� for coaching tips, “so when I tell them something, they listen,� Whatley added.

“Those are my little buddies right there,� Whatley said.

Nine different receivers have caught touchdown passes this season, which is two more than Arizona had all of last season.

“More guys are making plays now, which is exciting,� Brennan said. “Any time we can be that explosive in the pass game, we become incredibly hard to defend. ... And Noah Fifita, just brilliant.�

As the season progresses, Arizona’s receivers “get better at something, whether it’s route-running or releases,� said Whatley, who leads the Wildcats in receptions (33) and receiving yards (404) this season.

Whatley recorded his first-ever rushing touchdown on Saturday, a 13-yard jet sweep. His only reception against Colorado was a 34-yard touchdown grab.

Fifita stepped up in the pocket near midfield and fired a pass over the middle to Whatley, who was able to keep one foot inbounds for the Wildcats’ final touchdown of the first half.

“The whole week, we’ve been talking about playing fast, splitting Cover 2 (pass coverage) and make the right read,� Whatley said. “I felt like it was open, so I was just running. That’s what I do best, run.�

In the first half, Arizona had 38 points in 31 plays — an average of 1.2 points per play. In Arizona’s scoring avalanche from the first quarter through the third quarter, the Wildcats scored 52 points in 39 plays. Arizona ran 14 fewer plays than Colorado, yet outscored the Buffaloes by 35 points.

Road boogeyman no more

Not only did Arizona win its second straight game in Boulder, which hasn’t happened since Khalil Tate was quarterbacking the UA, but the Wildcats snapped their five-game losing skid on the road dating back to last season. Arizona is now 2-6 on the road under Brennan.

Before Arizona lost by a walk-off field goal against Houston, the Wildcats’ average margin of defeat under Brennan was 27.2 points. Arizona wasn’t just losing; the Wildcats were getting smoked on the road.

Winning by 35 points, the largest margin of victory on the road for Arizona since its 38-point win over Washington State in 2023, is “big time, just seeing the excitement and the enthusiasm in how we started.�

“Coming out, guys were ready to play, they were excited,� Brennan said. “We hadn’t played for two weeks and we sat on the tough loss for two weeks. Guys had to sit with that and practice in that. The guys were pissed off and bent out of shape, so we attacked the work.

“What else can you do, feel sorry for yourself or go to work? Those guys went to work. You see the results of that hard work, the results of that consistency and the results of that extra they’re putting in. I’m excited about that.�

However, two fumbles, two turnovers on downs and 10 points in garbage time in the second half are something the Wildcats hope to clean up.

“Our biggest thing, especially going up big on the road in the Big 12, is finishing,� Cole said. “We didn’t do a great job of that today. They’re a great football team that gave us a challenge, honestly. We just need to work on finishing in the future.�

By the numbers

0: Completions for backup quarterback Braedyn Locke, who attempted six passes in the second half.

3: Interceptions by Cole this season, which is a team-high.

4: Colorado used four different quarterbacks on Saturday between Salter, Staub, Lewis and Dominiq Ponder.

5: Consecutive field goals made by Salgado-Medina before he missed a 30-yard attempt in the second half.

6: Colorado now has six losses and is one setback away from failing to make the postseason for the second time under third-year head coach Deion Sanders.

8: Tackles for loss recorded by Arizona’s defense on Saturday.

65: Fifita now has 65 career touchdowns. He’s three touchdowns away from passing Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama for the most career touchdowns by an Arizona quarterback.

105-24: How much Colorado has been outscored by in the last two games.

They said it

Brennan, on Saturday being a “huge win� for the Wildcats: “This is a huge win coming off two heartbreaking losses. It gives us a chance to be excited and now have some momentum to attack the work going into this next weekend.�

Sanders, on why select CU players didn’t speak in the postgame press conference: “Don’t attack the coordinators. Come at me. Don’t attack the players. Come at me.�

Brennan, on the three UA students who were killed in a hit-and-run crash near the Arizona campus this week: “We’re all thinking of the families and the friends of the young people whose lives were lost in the collision on campus over the weekend. Any time anything like that happens on a college campus, it’s incredibly sad. Everyone is hurting.�

Injury report

ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV only had two players out on its availability report this week: left guard Jordan Brown and cornerback Marquis Groves-Killebrew, who has played 148 snaps in six games.

What’s next

Arizona (5-4) now turns its attention to the Kansas Jayhawks (5-4) for homecoming at Arizona Stadium on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

The Wildcats open as 3.5-point favorites, according to Action Network.

It will be Arizona’s seventh straight game with a kickoff time at 6 p.m. or earlier.

Arizona’s contest with Kansas will mark the seventh all-time matchup between the Wildcats and Jayhawks — the first since the UA joined the Big 12 last year.

The Wildcats last faced Kansas in Tucson in 1966. In the first matchup in 1936, the Wildcats and Jayhawks tied, 10-10. Arizona is 2-3-1 in the all-time series against KU.

As of this week, YouTube TV users will be unable to watch the game on Saturday after Disney failed to reach a renewal agreement with YouTube TV this week. Disney pulled all of its ESPN and ABC inventory from the platform, including recordings from previous events and games.

The winner of Arizona-Kansas will officially become bowl-eligible. The Jayhawks recently beat Oklahoma State, 38-21, in Lawrence, Kansas, after losing back-to-back games to Texas Tech and Kansas State.

When Brennan was asked about potentially becoming bowl eligible with four games remaining, Brennan answered, “We live in a one-week vacuum, man.�

“We don’t think about any of that stuff,� he said. “We’re going to celebrate the hell out of this. This is going to be a fun plane ride, dammit. We’re going to enjoy the plane ride home and I’m looking forward to that. The joy in that locker room, the hugs and smiles, how it felt, just fantastic. We’ll get to Kansas (on Sunday).�