TUCSON, Ariz. -- Fresh off a 44-15 win over No. 19 Oregon, the Arizona Wildcats will host Colorado Friday night in a primetime matchup on FS1. 

The Cats are 4-5 on the season and have won two straight games at Arizona Stadium, allowing a total of just 32 points. Arizona will look to keep it rolling against Colorado in a nationally televised battle. 

Below is a full preview:

Some Game Themes: The calendar turns to November and the Friday night lights shine on a Pac-12 South showdown in the desert … Yes, the final month of the college football regular season is upon us and if trends continue, it will be a wild finish out west … The Wildcats are riding the high of a Homecoming upset over No. 19 Oregon, which surprised many outsiders. The victory repositions Arizona for postseason considerations and even within striking distance of the top spot in the Pac-12 South … But we'll keep the focus narrow here. It's a short week, which didn't go so well for the Wildcats a few weeks ago in Salt Lake City … Instead of hitting the road on six-day notice, this time UA gets to enjoy the friendly confines of Arizona Stadium where Kevin Sumlin's charges are closing out the season with three of their final four at home … Coming to down are the Buffaloes smarting from a three-game losing streak after looking like one of the Pac-12 South's early contenders … One of the veteran coaches in the league, Mike MacIntyre, hopes equally veteran quarterback Steven Montez can rally the Buffs and keep Colorado in the mix in the closing stretches .. The health and availability of do-everything Laviska Shenault is a key question mark as the spectacular playmaker has missed the last two games … Shenault's explosiveness was drawing headlines somewhat similar to UA quarterback Khalil Tate a year ago, and his breakout performance came in Boulder against these Buffs. Don't think some payback won't be on Colorado's mind this week … Arizona hopes Tate has shaken off his own injury struggles from earlier this season. He was steady in his return last week … Marcel Yates' defense delivered a signature performance last week against the Ducks, and while it may not seem to be the case, his three-year plan to rebuild Arizona's defense is finally paying off. No, the Cats aren't a shut down defense, but they've begun making plays and if they can get off the field on third downs, it's a pretty sturdy unit … Special teams also broke through in a big way for Arizona last week, something else Sumlin would like to see gain consistency down the stretch … Arizona running back J.J. Taylor is one of the nation's top all-purpose playmakers, and he's produced some of his best play the last two weeks … The Cats may have a question or two along an inexperienced offensive line, but it's a group that has matured and will be a key if a late-season surge is in store … This is Arizona's 10th-consecutive game before it finally gets an open date next week … The home stretch is here. We'll see you Friday night.

Last Week: Head coach Kevin Sumlin implored his team to play four quarters of football and the Wildcats delivered the performance of the season with a 44-15 rout of No. 19 Oregon on Homecoming. The Cats had competed and played hard all season, but consistency in all three phases had not synched up until last Saturday night. The defense set the tone early, forcind a three-and-out. Healthy again, Khalil Tate and the offense took advantage, scoring early with a 22-yard pass to Shawn Poindexter. The defense dug in from there, forcing three more punts and gaining two turnovers on Oregon's next five possessions. Meanwhile, the offense sputtered a bit, but Josh Pollack drilled three field goals and by the 11:30 mark of the second quarter it was a 16-0 game. Justin Herbet finally led the Ducks on a scoring drive, finding Dillon Mitchell for a 29-yard score. An ensuing 2-point conversion made it a one score game at 16-8, but the Wildcats weren't ready to let the Ducks back in it. Tate and running back J.J. Taylor marched the Cats back down the field, going 88 yards in 18 plays over 7:30 before Taylor punched in a 1-yard score. It was a 23-8 halftime lead for the Cats and not even a Tate interception to open the third quarter could spark Oregon as Arizona's defense was simply too good. The Ducks punted on their first three drives of the second, lost a fumble and turned it over on downs in their first five possessions. On the other side, Tate hit Poindexter (8 yards) and Shun Brown (27 yards) for scoring tosses, and Taylor continued to carry the load on the ground, gaining 212 yards on a career high 30 carries. A fourth quarter Oregon score was answered by Taylor's leaping, spinning 19-yard touchdown into the endzone to set the score at its final, 44-15. It was the fourth time since 2007 that Arizona upset a ranked Oregon squad.

Last Meeting vs. Colorado (Oct. 7, 2017): In the land of "Run Ralphie Run", it was more like who could run farther: Khalil Tate or Phillip Lindsay? Arizona's sophomore quarterback spelled a shaken up Brandon Dawkins on the first series of the game and never looked back as he sprinted and passed his way into the record books. Tate rushed for an FBS quarterback record 327 yards and needed only 14 carries to do so. He amassed 208 yards on his four rushing touchdowns alone, a 52 yards-per average thanks to scores of 58, 28, 47 and 75 yards. He also threw for 154 yards and another score, giving him a tally of 481 total offense yards. Added up, it led the Wildcats to 45 points and 567 yards of offense. They needed every point because Lindsay, Colorado's do-everything running back, nearly matched Tate. Lindsay carried the Buffs on his shoulders with 281 yards on 41 rushes of his own. His third touchdown of the game – an 11-yarder – brought CU within three points at 45-42 with 5:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. That's when Tate and the Cats did something they hadn't done all night: slow things down. Instead of running for long touchdowns on short drives (twice on the first play of a drive), Tate engineered a methodical 8-play, 55-yard drive to run out the final five minutes and change. Included were two key third down conversions. The first came early in the possession when, on third-and-four, he dumped a short pass to tight end Bryce Wolma for an eight-yard gain to move the chains. Then, after two CU penalties gave UA another first down, Tate needed one more first down to run out the clock. Facing a third-and-seven with a little over a minute to go, Tate broke several tackles on his way to a game-clinching 31-yard gain that gave him the single-game rushing record for QBs. It also clinched another record: Tate and Lindsey combined for 608 rushing yards, the most by two opposing players in FBS history. It was a hard fought road victory that was Arizona's first in the Pac-12 since their last trip to Boulder in 2015. Arizona has now won five of its last six against Colorado, including three straight at Folsom Field.

Scoring Defense: With last week's 44-15 upset of No. 19 Oregon, it's the latest indicator of the steady defensive improvement the Wildcats have made under third-year defensive coordinator Marcel Yates. When he arrived in 2016, Yates inherited a small roster lacking playmakers, especially in the front seven. His strategy was to make the most in Year 1 while focusing on adding length and skill in his first recruiting class that would arrive for 2017. That group provided a trio of freshmen All-Americans (Colin Schooler, Tony Fields II, Kylan Wilborn) and numerous other playmakers that made an early impact. The results were noticeable with the Cats reducing their points allowed and emerging as one of the league leaders for turnovers forced. Focus again centered on recruiting as Kevin Sumlin was hired and retained Yates, who had worked on Sumlin's staff at Texas A&M in 2012-13. Now in Year 3, Yates' unit has taken a more significant step in the scoring defense category, down more than 10 points from his first season.  

Arizona's Scoring Defense Improvement Under Marcel Yates

2016	2017	2018
38.3	34.4	27.4

2018 Power 5 Scoring Defense Improvement (Non-Conference to Conference Play)

 

School	Non-Conf.	Conf.	Difference
Virginia Tech	37.0	21.3	15.7
Arizona	34.7	23.8	10.9
Northwestern	30.0	21.5	8.5
UCLA	37.7	29.4	8.3

 
Pac-12 Scoring Defense Leaders (Conference Games Only)

School	Avg.
Washington	17.7
Utah	19.7
Arizona	23.8

Push 'Em Back: An emerging strength of the Arizona defense has been its ability to make plays behind the line of scrimmage, something lacking early in the season, especially when it came to pressuring the quarterback. Through six Pac-12 Conference games, UA has recorded 40.0 tackles-for-loss, which is second-most in league play. The Wildcats registered only two sacks in non-conference play (none in first two games of season), but have racked up 14 in six conference games (also second-most by Pac-12 team in conference-only games).

Tackles-For-Loss Leaders (Pac-12 games only)
Name                    TFL         TFL/G
1. USC                   43.0        7.2
2. Arizona            40.0        6.7
3. Arizona St.      36.0        7.2

Defensive Sack Leaders (Pac-12 games only)
Name                    Sacks     Sacks/G
1. Utah                 15.0        2.5
2. Arizona            14.0        2.33
3. Stanford         13.0        2.6
    Colorado         13.0        2.6

Not So Mellow Yellow: Arizona leads the nation in opponent penalty yards. Incredibly, three of UA's last five opponents (USC, Cal and UCLA) have topped 100 yards in penalties, while Utah came oh-so-close three weeks ago in Salt Lake City (94 yards). Adding up the last five games, it's 58 penalties for 534 total yards or an average of 11.6 penalties for 106.8 yards per game. With the Trojans and Bears each topping the century mark in penalty yards, it was the first time since 2014 that UA's opponents had consecutive games with 100 or more yards of penalties. That stretch included three straight games in which happened for UCLA (11-118), Colorado (10-103) and Washington (13-111).

Most Opponent Penalty Yards (All FBS teams)
Team     Pen.       Yards     Pen/G   Yds/G
1. Arizona            87           826         9.7          91.8
2. Buffalo            66           662         8.3          82.8
3. Ohio 69           659         8.6          82.4

Turnover Turnaround: The Wildcats opened the season by creating just one turnover in the first four games. Since, Arizona's defense has forced 12 turnovers in the last five contests. The recent surge has vaulted UA to the top of the league for most turnovers gained in conference games. The Cats cashed in two of their turnovers for touchdowns in a victory over California on Oct. 6, the only two defensive scores of the season. Here's a look at the Pac-12 leaders for turnovers forced in conference contests:

Team     (Turnovers gained in Pac-12 Games)
1. Arizona            12
2. Utah                 11
3. UCLA                10
 
Negativity Not Allowed: As young, inexperienced and shuffled around as Arizona's offensive line has been this season, one thing the unit has done very well is prevent negative yardage plays. In fact, the Wildcats are third nationally and lead the Pac-12 for fewest negative yardage plays. UA has surrendered just 30 tackles-for-loss this season, checking out to only 3.33 per game. That clip is on pace to easily be the program's best of the last decade, which is impressive considering the Cats' have only one senior (LT Layth Frekh) that factors into the equation. Last week's starting lineup included a true freshman right tackle (Donovan Laie), a sophomore right guard (Bryson Cain), a walk-on sophomore center (Josh McCauley), a junior left guard (Cody Creason) and Friekh. Additionally, UA's top tight ends (Bryce Wolma and Jamie Nunley) are both sophomores, as is the running back duo of J.J. Taylor and Gary Brightwell.

Arizona Tackles-for-Loss Allowed Last 10 Seasons (Per Game)

2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009
3.33	5.08	6.08	5.92	5.79	4.39	5.31	5.92	6.08	3.92

 
Fewest Tackles-For-Loss Allowed Per Game (All FBS Teams)

	School	TFLs Allowed	TFLs/Gm
1	Wisconsin	24	3
2	Army	26	3.25
3	Fresno State	27	3.38
4	Washington State	28	3.5
5	UCF	30	4.29
5	Clemson	30	3.75
5	Arizona	30	3.33

School-er Zone: A consensus Freshman All-America selection last season, Colin Schooler has been a man on a mission his sophomore season. He leads Arizona with 92 tackles through nine games. Schooler has 16 tackles-for-loss, which leads the Pac-12 and is second-most in the country. Schooler has had at least ½ tackle-for-loss in eight of nine games this season. In the team's most recent game, a 44-15 win over Oregon, Schooler led the Wildcats with 11 tackles and finished with 1 ½ tackles-for-loss. That came on the heels of a 10-tackle, three-TFL game against UCLA the week before at the Rose Bowl. Going fack ,Schooler had five tackles against Utah, marking the first time this season he didn't finish the game as Arizona's leading or second-leading tackler. The linebacker had Arizona's first 16-tackle game in four seasons in the opener versus BYU. He then had nine tackles apiece against Houston and Southern Utah over the next two weeks, before hitting 10 against Oregon State. Schooler led the Wildcats with 13 stops against USC. He has 29 1/2 career TFLs to his credit in just 22 career games and 19 career starts. Schooler is averaging 1.55 TFLs per start in his career. He's had at least three TFLs in a game five times over his last 12 games dating back to last season. Also dating back to last season, Schooler has either been the team's leading tackler or second leading tackler in 13 of Arizona's last 15 games. Nationally, he is one of 13 players to register 90 or more tackles already this season. Only seven Power 5 players have hit the 90-tackle mark already. Schooler already has more tackles than five of the past 10 end-of-season leaders for Arizona.

Pac-12 Leading Tacklers Through 9 Games

Player	School	Total Tackles
Ben Burr-Kirven	Washington	122
Jordan Kunaszyk	California	94
Colin Schooler	Arizona	92
Evan Weaver	California	86

 
More on his TFLs: Schooler's 16 tackles-for-loss are the second-most through nine games by any Arizona defensive player since Scooby Wright collected 19 ½ through the Wildcats' first nine games of the 2014 season. Wright is the only player who has collected more TFLs in the first nine games of a season than Schooler. In 1997, Mike Szlauko, Joe Salave'a and Daniel Greer all had 13 TFLs through nine games. Wright finished with 29 TFLs in 2014 with Arizona playing 14 total games that season. Schooler's 16 tackles-for-loss this season are the most by any player in a Power 5 Conference. With 16 TFLs already this season, Schooler has more TFLs than 19 of the past 22 end-of-season leaders for Arizona. Since 1996, only Salave'a (17 in 1997), Joe Tafoya (18 in 2000) and Wright finished a season with more than 16 TFLs on the season.

Most TFLS Through 9 Games by an Arizona Defensive Player Since 1997

Player	Season	TFLs Through 9 Games
Scooby Wright	2014	19.5
Colin Schooler	2018	16
Mike Szlauko	1997	13
Joe Salave'a	1997	13
Daniel Greer	1997	13

 
National Leaders in TFLs

Player	School	TFLs
Nate Harvey	East Carolina	17.5
Colin Schooler	Arizona	16
E.J. Ejiya	North Texas	15.5
Jaylon Ferguson	Louisiana Tech	14.5
Josh Allen	Kentucky	14.5

 
Shun Does a Ton: A member of the Paul Hornung Award List for the country's most versatile player, Shun Brown does a little bit of everything for Arizona. A dynamic punt returner, Brown's primary responsibility for the Wildcats is as the team's leading receiver. Brown has led the team in catches in four of the team's last five games. For his career, Brown has 122 catches. He is just six catches away from entering Arizona's Top 12 all-time in receptions. With seven more, he would pass Cayleb Jones and David Roberts and sit in 12^th alone. Brown has also entered Arizona's Top 14 all-time in receiving touchdowns with 13. He's one away from tying Jones for 13^th all-time. Additionally, Brown has 1,603 career receiving yards and is 36 yards away from tying Samajie Grant for 15^th all-time at Arizona. Brown led Arizona with 43 receptions last year and finished with 573 yards, which was second most on the team behind Tony Ellison. Against Oregon last weekend, Brown had a career high 10 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. Brown has now caught five or passes in five of nine games this season. He only had five or more catches in three games total last season. In the 38 career games he played leading into the season, Brown had five or more catches a total of five times.
 
Most Career Receiving Touchdowns in School History
1. Juron Criner; 32
2. Theopolis Bell, 30
3. Dennis Northcutt, 24
------------------------
14. Shun Brown, 13
 
Most Career Catches in School History
1. Mike Thomas, 259
2. Bobby Wade, 230
3. Dennis Northcutt, 223
----------------------------------------
12. Cayleb Jones, 128
12. David Roberts, 128
Shun Brown, 122
 
All over the Field(s): Sophomore linebacker Tony Fields has been a tackling machine since making his debut last season. Fields led Arizona with 104 stops last season, and currently sits second on the team with 63 tackles and is 14th in the league through nine games with 7.0 tackles per game. In his 22 career games, Fields has 167 total tackles, which is now the second-most by any Arizona player through 22 career games. His teammate, Colin Schooler has 20 more tackles than Fields through their first 22. Fields has started every game of his career and has proven to be a stalwart for coach Marcel Yates' defense. The combination of Fields and Schooler at linebacker has been a lethal one-two punch. In fact, the two teammates have combined for 155 total tackles through two games, which is the third-most of any conference teammates this season. The two combined for 199 last season with 21 tackles-for-loss and nine sacks. The two combined for three tackles-for-loss Saturday against Oregon. Fields picked up his first sack of the season against the Ducks.
 

Teammates	Team	Total Tackles
Jordan Kunaszyk/Evan Weaver	California	180
Ben Burr-Kirven/Tevis Bartlett	Washington	178
Colin Schooler/Tony Fields	Arizona	155

 
Lockdown Lo: Sophomore cornerback Lorenzo Burns, who had a breakout season last year as a redshirt freshman, has taken the next step in his development this year as a sophomore. Burns has played in eight of nine games, missing the UCLA contest with an injury. He leads Arizona with nine pass breakups and is fifth in tackles with 31. Burns ranks third in the Pac-12 with his nine pass breakups and is tied for third at 1.12 passes defended per game. After missing the game against the Bruins, Burns returned against Oregon. He was effective in coverage and only notched one tackle. He also had a pass breakup and a fumble recovery. Burns established himself as one of Arizona's most reliable defenders a year ago as a freshman. He tied for second in the nation in interceptions by a freshman with his five. The five picks were the most by an Arizona defender since Trevin Wade also had five in 2009. Burns now has 16 career pass breakups in 21 games.

Pac-12 Leaders in Pass Breakups

Player	School	Pass Breakups
Paulson Adebo	Stanford	14
Byron Murphy	Washington	11
Lorenzo Burns	Arizona	9

 
High Marks for Scottie: Sophomore safety Scottie Young Jr., received a game grade of 80.6 for his performance Saturday against Oregon from Pro Football Focus. Not only did Young Jr., lead the team with that score, he led all Pac-12 safeties. The next closest was Talanoa Hufanga from USC at 78.7 and Taylor Rapp from Washington at 76.4. Against the Ducks, Young Jr., had two tackles, an interception and a pass breakup. He now leads the team with three interceptions. He leads the Pac-12 Conference with 0.43 interceptions per game and is tied for the overall lead at three with four others. All three of Young's interceptions have come in home conference games. He picked off two against California in a 24-17 win. According to his PFF report, Young spent 46 snaps in coverage and 17 in run defense. He graded out at 84.9 in coverage.

Pac-12 Leaders in Interceptions

Player	School	Total INTs/INTs per game
Scottie Young Jr.	Arizona	3/0.43
Ugo Amadi	Oregon	3/0.38
Deommodore Lenoir	Oregon	3/0.38
Jaylin Hawkins	California	3/0.38
Jevon Holland	Oregon	3/0.38

 
PJ Making Plays: Arizona added some beef on its defensive line with the addition of junior college transfer P.J. Johnson. The 6-foor-4-inch, 335-pound lineman from Sacramento, California has had an instant impact for the Wildcats. Johnson started the first game of the season against BYU, but then missed the next two with a foot injury. He returned against Oregon State and has at least one tackle-for-loss in five of six games since returning from injury. Saturday against Oregon was the first time since returning that Johnson did not have a tackle-for-loss. He had two total tackles and forced a fumble, his first of the season. Johnson had two tackles, including one for a loss against Cal. The previous week, Johnson had four tackles, 1 ½ tackles-for-loss and one fumble recovery against USC. Johnson had a pair of tackles-for-loss against Oregon State and has 4 ½ on the season, which is second on the squad to Colin Schooler. Johnson started at tackle against BYU, but then moved to defensive end against USC and Cal. Against Utah, Johnson moved back to tackle and had a career-high seven tackles, while also picking up his third sack of the season, which leads the team. He stayed at tackle at UCLA and finished with five tackles, including one for a loss.

P.J. Johnson's Production Since Returning From Injury

Opponent	Total Tackles	TFLs (Sacks)
at Oregon State	3	2 (1)
USC	4	1.5 (1)
California	2	1 (0)
at Utah	7	1 (1)
at UCLA	5	1 (0)
Oregon	2	0 (0) 1 forced fumble

 
Who's Down With DFF?: Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, a local product from Mountain View High School and Tucson High, has played in all 47 games in his career, never missing a contest. The senior has become a model of consistency and experience for the Arizona defense, which still features a number of underclassmen. He made his 34th career start Saturday versus Oregon and posted a career-high three pass breakups. He now has seven for the season, which is second on the team to Lorenzo Burns. Against Southern Utah this year, he received a Pro Football Focus grade of 76.7, which was the highest of any Arizona defender with 50 or more snaps played. Flannigan-Fowles played 86 snaps, spending 44 in coverage and 42 in run defense prevention. With his five tackles against Southern Utah, Flannigan-Fowles reached 200 tackles for his career. He received a Pro Football Focus game score of 72.9 against Oregon State, which was the highest by any member of Arizona's secondary. He was the highest rated member of the secondary against Southern Utah and Oregon State and second-highest rated against USC, behind sophomore Scottie Young Jr. Flannigan-Fowles was the highest-rated secondary member against Utah and played 71 snaps, which was second to Young Jr's 72. He once again had the highest score for a defensive back against UCLA and played 79 total snaps. Flannigan-Fowles graded out at 75.7 against Oregon, according to PFF, which was the fourth-best grade by a Pac-12 safety last week. His teammate, Scottie Young Jr., led the way at 80.6.
 
The 1K Club: Redshirt sophomore running back J.J. Taylor collected his second 200-yard rushing game of the season and his career Saturday versus Oregon. Taylor finished with 212 yards on 30 carries, while reaching the end zone twice. He eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark with the performance and enters this Friday night's matchup with Colorado with 1,029 rushing yards on the season. He becomes the 14^th player in school history to post a 1,000-yard season, and his total of 1,029 yards already ranks 15^th for single-season rushing in program history. Not only did Taylor go over 1,000 yards for the season, he also went over 2,000 for his career. Taylor now has 2,137 career rushing yards, which ranks 13^th in program history. Next up would be Jim Upchurch at 2,389 yards. Only 15 previous players in program history went over 2,000 career yards. Taylor is one of two Pac-12 running backs to already go over 1,000 yards for the season, joining Jermar Jefferson from Oregon State. Only four players nationally – Taylor, Jefferson, Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor and Memphis' Darrell Henderson—have gone over 1,000 yards already this season.

Most Rushing Yards Nationally

Player	School	Total Rushing Yards
Jonathan Taylor	Wisconsin	1,155
Darrell Henderson	Memphis	1,148
Jermar Jefferson	Oregon State	1,034
J.J. Taylor	Arizona	1,029
Nico Evans	Wyoming	979