Arizona Wildcats’ Pac-12 title dream turns into nightmare vs. Oregon: By the Numbers

As the final seconds ticked off the Levi’s Stadium clock, the Arizona Wildcats’ hopes of winning the Pac-12 looked like nothing more than a pipedream.

UA, which handed the Oregon Ducks its only loss of the season Oct. 2, was served an extra-cold dish of revenge in Oregon’s 51-13 win in the Pac-12 Championship game Friday in Santa Clara, California.

The game saw UA freshman quarterback Anu Solomon benched after the Wildcats managed just two first downs in the first half, as Oregon scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to take a 23-0 advantage into halftime. The Ducks didn’t let up in the second half, as quarterback Marcus Mariota threw two third-quarter TD passes to put the game on ice.

If the Wildcats enjoyed good fortune during the regular season — a Hail Mary against Cal, poor clock management leading to a last-second field goal against Washington — their luck ran out Friday. Possibly the best example of this was when tailback Byron Marshall fumbled on the Ducks’ first possession of the second half, but the ball fell right to an Oregon player. Two plays later, the Ducks scored a TD to go ahead 30-0.

Here’s how Arizona’s College Football Playoff hopes — and possibly a Fiesta Bowl or Cotton Bowl bid — died a painful death in Santa Clara, by the numbers:

5

Mariota accounted for five total touchdowns — three rushing, two passing — against Arizona. The junior and likely 2014 Heisman Trophy winner completed 25-of-38 passes for 313 yards and rushed 9 times for 28 yards.

20

Arizona was just 3-of-15 on third-downs — a conversion rate of 21.4 percent — against an Oregon team that was allowing a 40 percent conversion rate coming in to Friday’s game.

26

After rushing for nearly 400 yards in his last two games, freshman tailback Nick Wilson was bottled up for 26 yards on 13 carries Friday. Wilson had a combined 126 yards (92 rushing) and three touchdowns in Arizona’s win over the Ducks two months ago.

34

Solomon was benched at halftime after a first half in which he managed just 34 passing yards on 6-of-12 passing.

44

The Wildcats managed 495 yards of total offense in their win over Oregon on Oct. 2, but the Ducks built a big lead by holding UA to 44 yards of offense in the first half Friday.

67

The Wildcats made their way into Oregon territory on their first possession of the game, but the drive was derailed by a holding penalty called on senior wide receiver Austin Hill. The ‘Cats were forced to punt, and they failed to pick up a first down for the rest of the half. UA had eight penalties for 67 yards for the game.

403

The Wildcats outgained the Ducks on offense 495-446 in their first meeting of the season. Oregon flipped the script and then some Friday, outgaining Arizona by a 403-yard margin (627-224).

2012

The Wildcats’ most lopsided loss of the season had been 10 points in a 17-7 setback at UCLA. But Arizona’s 38-point defeat Friday was its worst since a 66-10 trouncing at UCLA in 2012, Rich Rodriguez’s first year in Tucson.