Arizona had plenty of reason for optimism going into Friday’s game.

Despite coming off a narrow win over Northern Arizona, they knew their offense could score points based on their performance, and their defense seemed to have a few things figured out as well.

Kansas State was coming off a game against Tulane that they could have easily lost. It was thought that Arizona would come away with a surprise, given their explosive offense that took advantage of a seemingly leaky defense.

Instead, the Wildcats leave town, feeling immensely ashamed.

Arizona lost 31-7, a game that didn’t seem all that exciting.

Their defense was dominated, giving up 391 total yards and 235 yards on the ground, which was a major concern heading into this game.

But the real story is how bad Arizona’s offense was.

It appeared the Wildcats had improved their offensive skills when they capped their 14-play, 73-yard opening drive, which lasted 7:28, with a touchdown rush from Quali Conley.

During that scripted possession, quarterback Noah Fifita found star player Tetairoa McMillan and other weapons on the drive, showing he could balance the pass with the run.

Unfortunately, those were the only points Arizona scored the rest of the game.

Don’t fall for the final score. This offense was really bad, they couldn’t sustain their drives because of their nine penalties and 6-for-18 effort on third and fourth down.

Fifita threw a horrific interception on their third possession of the game with the Wildcats trailing 14-7 after giving up a punt return on three-and-out the previous series. With the ball on the Kansas State 30-yard line, the redshirt sophomore threw one down the middle of the field that was intercepted.

That was the last time they posed a threat for the rest of the match.

In their next six attacks, they gave up three straight points before losing the ball three times in a row, suggesting that the problems they had on offense against Northern Arizona were perhaps closer to reality than the fireworks they had against New Mexico.

Fifita finished the game completing 26 of 42 passes for 268 yards, no touchdowns and an interception, but most of that was empty yardage as they couldn’t do anything when it mattered most.

Tetairoa McMillan caught 11 balls for 138 yards and Montana Lemonious-Craig was much more active with six catches for 75 yards, but those were really the only two balls that came in the passing game.

Outside of Arizona’s opening drive, Conley was completely shut down, finishing with 48 rushing yards on 14 attempts, while he had totaled 27 on the opening drive.

There are a lot of questions this team needs to answer as they head into their week off.