With a plethora of events in Tucson, the Arizona football team took the stage in front of the Friday night lights as Houston hosted a must-win game for the Wildcats.

A near-perfect performance defensively helped Arizona earn a 27-3 victory over the Cougars to keep its chances for a bowl berth alive.

Here are our numbers for offense, defense, special teams and coaching:

Violation: B+

After a quick three and out on the first drive, Arizona’s offense would find the end zone early Noah Fifita connected with Tetairoa McMillan on a 33-yard touchdown pass.

Fifita was sacked three times in the first quarter.

The next three drives would score no points as they would all end in three and out. The next two drives would end in field goal attempts, of which only one was made.

Fifita would connect with the tight end Sam Olson on a 31-yard pass to convert on third down. The offense would carry a seven-point lead at halftime.

Coming out of the half, the offense found a rhythm and marched down the field. Run back Quality Conley would take a checkdown pass from Fifita into the end zone from 13 yards out.

Two drives later, Conley would break through the middle of the Houston defense and take it to the house for a 50-yard touchdown run.

“It’s great to see him, you know, nail that counter play and see him house it,” the head coach said Brent Brennan said during Conley’s touchdown run.

For Conley, it was his second 100 yards game of the season as he finished with 107 yards on 11 carries.

“Ball security was the main focus in this game and getting my confidence back, and I felt like it was a good game,” Conley said.

Fifita finished 20-35 for 224 yards and two touchdown passes. He did throw an interception late in the fourth quarter.

McMillan finished with six catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Defense: A+

The defense had an ideal start to the game, as they pitched a shutout in the first quarter. Not only did it shutout Houston, it also forced an early turnover.

Stanley Ta’ufo’ou forced a fumble that was recovered by Genesis Smith.

“All week Coach Akina said the ball was going to bounce our way,” Smith said.

A fourth down stop at the one-yard line would be just the start Arizona needed to start the second quarter.

Smith would create the second turnover of the game under pressure Tacario Davis would force a bad pass and Smith would take it away from Houston.

“I think we’re all going to continue to see Genesis grow and develop into, you know, a really good player,” Brennan said of Smith’s performance.

By holding the Cougars to just three points in the first half, Arizona would enter the second half thinking of “getting to the quarterback.”

For most of the second half, the defense had eight players in the box and it became difficult for Houston to gauge whether the pressure would come or not.

This led to success when Arizona decided to bring the house. Tre Smith And Marquis Groves-Killebrew would register bags.

In the fourth quarter, Dominic Lolesio would force a fumble that was recovered by Owen Goss. He led the Wildcats in tackles with nine.

Tay Brown would also force a fumble, but it was not recovered by the Wildcats.

“They just change the game,” Brennan said of creating turnovers. “Maybe they change it temporarily, but it’s a huge moment in the game.”

Arizona would hold Houston to 0-4 on fourth down and 2-13 on third down.

Special teams: A

In the second quarter holder Michael Salgado-Medina would not be able to maintain the pressure and the field goal attempt would be unsuccessful.

However, Tyler Loop hit a program-record 62-yard field goal to end the first half, giving Arizona a huge boost in momentum.

“Well, none of that is surprising to anyone who’s ever been around Tyler,” Brennan said of Loop’s record-breaking kick. “He is an incredibly hard-working young man.”

He would also connect from 51 meters in the third quarter.

Smith also played a role as a point coverage shooter. He made solid tackles to minimize punt returns for Houston.

Coaching: A

With their backs against the wall and on a five-game losing streak, Brennan had his boys on fire tonight.

Solid tackling, great effort and general play in all phases helped bring confidence back to the Wildcats.

“That was the only standard I gave the team tonight, like we have to play harder than our opponent,” Brennan said.

Arizona had a lot of success offensively on third down as they went 10-17 on third down.

“I think coach Adkins and the staff made some really good decisions, and then I thought once we ran the ball on some of those third-and-short balls, we found a way, you know, we had there some hard runs,” Brennan said. .

Thanks to the defensive coordinator Duane Akina who called an almost perfect game. For one of the few times this season, the defense found a way to contain a mobile quarterback.

For Arizona, the next challenge comes when they travel to Fort Worth, where they take on TCU this Saturday.