TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona went into victory formation for the first time in 48 days and running back Quali Conley celebrated with a backflip.
Ending a long losing streak deserved to evoke that kind of joy from the Wildcats.
Noah Fifita threw for two touchdowns, Conley scored twice and Arizona ended a five-game losing streak with a 27-3 win over Houston on Friday night.
Fifita hit Tetairoa McMillan on a touchdown pass in the first quarter and found Conley for another score to open the third. Conley added a 50-yard touchdown run and the Wildcats (4-6, 2-5 Big 12) shut down the Cougars most of the night to bounce back from a blowout loss to UCF two weeks ago.
“We’re fired up,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “It feels good. The locker room is super electric. We were super focused on just getting one, we had to win one and now we get to celebrate.”
Houston (4-6, 3-4) couldn’t sustain the momentum from consecutive wins over Utah and No. 20 Kansas State. The Cougars moved the ball fairly well in the first half, but lost two fumbles, threw an interception and turned it over on downs four times.
“We didn’t do a great job being smart and being plus in the turnover (margin),” Houston coach Willie Fritz said. “We had some foolish penalties, guys trying to do too much and not doing their job.”
J’Marion Burnette lost a fumble on Houston’s opening drive, Zeon Chriss threw an interception and the Cougars turned it over on downs twice in Arizona’s end in the first half — one on fourth-and-goal from the 2. Houston’s only points came on Jack Martin’s 49-yard field goal.
Arizona was only slightly better.
The Wildcats went three and out four times in the first half and didn’t get a field goal off when holder Michael Salgado-Medina bobbled the snap.
Arizona had the half’s lone touchdown on a free play when Houston jumped offsides. Fifita threw the ball up for grabs in the end zone and McMillan outleaped the defensive back for a 33-yard touchdown. Tyler Loop kicked a school-record 62-yard field goal on the final play to give Arizona a 10-3 lead.
Arizona ran away with it in the second half.
The Wildcats moved quickly down the field on their opening drive of the third quarter, going up 17-3 on Conley’s 13-yard touchdown catch.
Houston opened the second half with another miscue. The Cougars tried a fake punt, but the pass was incomplete, setting up Arizona for a 51-yard field goal by Loop.
Conley put the game out of reach with his 50-yard TD run up the middle that made it 27-3.
“All week in practice we talked about finishing,” Conley said.
A night of Genesis
Genesis Smith had quite a night.
Arizona’s safety had an interception, recovered a fumble, broke up a pass and finished with seven tackles, including 1 1/2 for a loss.
“We all just continue to see Genesis grow and develop as a player,” Brennan said. “He continues to find the football, he continues to make plays behind the line of scrimmage and he’s absolutely a guy we count on.”
Big picture
Arizona played the way it needed to in ending a long losing streak. Fifita threw for 224 yards on 20-of-35 passing and the defense had far better tackling than the previous five games. Houston couldn’t take advantage of its early offensive successes and let the game get away by being outscored 17-0 in the third quarter.
Up next
Houston: hosts Baylor next Saturday.
Arizona: plays at TCU next Saturday.
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