TUCSON, Ariz. — The Arizona Wildcats (2-1, 0-0) kick off Pac-12 Conference play this Saturday, Sept. 28 against the UCLA Bruins (1-3, 1-0) at Arizona Stadium. The game is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. MST with a television broadcast on ESPN.

The Cats enjoyed a bye last week after improving to 2-1 with a 28-14 victory over Texas Tech in week three. The Bruins enter the matchup having notched their first win of the year over Washington State, 67-63, last weekend in Pullman.

Arizona's rushing game once again leads the conference, averaging 307.7 yards per game. On defense, the Cats ball hawks in the secondary have hauled in a nation-leading eight interceptions through the first three games of the young season.

A complete game preview is below.

Arizona Notes & Numbers

• The Arizona Wildcats will open Pac-12 Conference play Saturday against South Division foe, UCLA. This will be the third time since 2000 the Wildcats have opened conference play against the Bruins, with the teams splitting the previous two matchups.
• Arizona is coming off a 28-14 win over Texas Tech on Sept. 14 that closed out non-conference play. The Wildcats trailed 14-13 entering the fourth quarter, breaking a streak of 24 consecutive losses when trailing after three quarters. Prior to the comeback win over the Red Raiders, Arizona's last win when trailing after three quarters came on Oct. 17, 2015 versus Colorado. Arizona outscored Colorado 21-7 in the fourth to win 38-31.
• Arizona converted on 15 of 21 third down conversions against Texas Tech, which marked the most third-down conversions in a game since at least 1992. The Wildcats opened the 1994 season against Georgia Tech and converted on 14 of 20 attempts, which was the highest total in dating back to 1992.
• The 14 points the Wildcats allowed to Texas Tech were the fewest allowed by Arizona in a non-conference game since 2013 when Arizona beat UTSA 38-13.
• Senior quarterback Khalil Tate surpassed the 5,000-yard mark in career passing totals against Texas Tech and has now thrown for 5,048 yards. He also went over the 2,000-yard rushing mark against the Red Raiders and has 2,110 career rushing yards. Tate is the second quarterback in conference history to reach the 5,000/2,000 mark, joining Oregon's Marcus Mariota.
• Tate had an 84-yard touchdown run against Texas Tech, which is the longest run in school history by a quarterback, breaking his own record of 82. It was tied for the seventh-longest run overall in school history.
• Redshirt junior running back J.J. Taylor has rushed for 2,750 career yards, which ranks ninth all-time in school history. He needs 208 yards to pass Nic Grigsby for eighth.
• Arizona is fifth in the country in rushing offense at 307.7 rushing yards per game. The Wildcats are leading the conference in rushing for the fourth consecutive season. Overall, Arizona is third in total offense, averaging 586 yards per game.

8: Arizona leads the country with 8 interceptions in just three games this season. The Wildcats had just seven interceptions the entire season in 2018. Senior cornerback Jace Whittaker is tied for the national lead with three picks so far this season.

99: Arizona engineered a 13-play, 99-yard scoring drive that took seven minutes and 10 seconds against Texas Tech. It made the score 28-14, which held up to be the final. It marked Arizona's first 99-yard drive since 2009. 

58.70: Arizona is converting on third downs 58.70 percent of the time, which ranks third in the country behind Baylor and Oklahoma.

13: The Wildcats have had 13 different players catch at least one pass so far in three games this season. Junior Tayvian Cunningham leads the way with 12 catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns. 

49: Quarterback Khalil Tate has 49 career touchdown passes, and is tied with Anu Solomon for third all-time in program history. With one more, he will be behind just Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama, who both threw 67 touchdowns in their respective careers.

SOME GAME THEMES: Pac-12 play has arrived for the Arizona Wildcats with UCLA serving as the conference opener for coach Kevin Sumlin's squad...ESPN's College GameDay was in Tucson the last time the Wildcats opened conference play with UCLA...The Bruins outlasted Arizona 56-30 in 2015 in front of 56,004 fans at Arizona Stadium...This year's game could mimic the 2015 matchup in that it could be a high-scoring affair...UCLA seemed to find its offensive groove last time out coming off a 67-63 win over No. 19 Washington State on Saturday...Arizona, meanwhile, is third in the country in total offense, averaging 586 yards per game...The Wildcats averaged 43.7 points per game in their three non-conference affairs...Like they've done consistently over the past three years, Arizona's rushing attack has been causing problems for opponents...The Wildcats rank tops in the conference in rushing offense at 307.7 yards per game...UCLA is 11th in the league in rushing defense, allowing 178.5 yards per game...The 714 rushing yards the Bruins have allowed are the most of any team in the conference...Consider, through four games, UCLA's leading rusher is Joshua Kelley with 194 yards on 53 carries...Arizona has played three games on the season and has had three players – Khalil Tate, Gary Brightwell and J.J. Taylor – break the 200 yard mark already this season...Tate has 238 yards, while Brightwell is at 226 and Taylor at 208...Tate already has two rushing touchdowns this season, equaling his total from last year giving him 17 rushing touchdowns for his career...Tate isn't the only rusher reaching the end zone at a better rate...Despite leading the conference in rushing last year, the Wildcats scored just 14 rushing touchdowns on the season...Arizona already has nine touchdowns this season with Brightwell, Tate and Taylor all having reached the end zone multiple times...Those three were the only three to register multiple rushing touchdowns last season...Turnovers could also play a big factor in deciding the outcome of this game...Arizona is second in the conference and sixth in the country in turnover margin at +1.67...Arizona has forced two fumbles and eight interceptions, while committing five total turnovers in three games...UCLA is 11th in the Pac-12 in turnover margin at -0.25...The Bruins have committed nine turnovers and have forced eight...UCLA and USC are the only two teams in the conference with a negative turnover margin...Tate has played turnover-free football against UCLA in his career...The quarterback missed the game against the Bruins last year with an injury, but is 14 of 22 for 220 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in two outings against UCLA...He has also rushed for 309 yards on 30 carries and a pair of touchdowns in two games against the Bruins...Taylor has also had two strong games against UCLA...The Los Angeles native has rushed for 218 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries in his career against UCLA.

LAST MEETING: Quarterback Rhett Rodriguez made his first collegiate start for Arizona, leading the Wildcats into the Rose Bowl for a matchup with UCLA...Rodriguez hung tough and led Arizona to 520 yards of total offense, outgaining UCLA...However, the Bruins got a critical first down late in the game to ice it and beat Arizona 31-30 in front of 54,686 fans...UCLA led by 10 at halftime, but the Wildcats began mounting a comeback early in the second half...Josh Pollack connected on a 29-yard field goal early in the third quarter and then Rodriguez followed with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Poindexter for his second score of the night...That touchdown evened up the game at 17 all with 8:54 left in the third quarter. Arizona took its first lead of the game when Pollack again connected on a field goal, this time from 39 yards out to make it 20-17...The Bruins responded with a touchdown late in the third to make it 24-20...Again, Arizona responded, this time via a 1-yard touchdown run from J.J. Taylor to take a 27-24 lead with 12:34 left...But exactly one minute and one second later, UCLA scored from 28 yards to take a 31-27 lead...Pollack hit a field goal from 29 yards with 6:28 left, but Arizona couldn't get any closer and fell by one...Rodriguez ended up throwing for 231 yards and two touchdowns to go with a pair of interceptions...Taylor rushed for 154 yards on 19 carries, while Gary Brightwell also went over the 100-yard mark with 121 yards on 15 carries.

CHARTING THE CATS (CAREER): 

• Running back J.J. Taylor has 2,750 career rushing yards, which ranks ninth all-time at Arizona. Taylor needs 208 yards to pass Nic Grigsby for eighth all-time...Taylor's 474 career carries are the fewest of any player in the top 10. 
• Quarterback Khalil Tate has passed for 5,048 yards in his career, which ranks 11th-most in program history. He'll need another 42 yards to break into the Top 10.
• Tate has rushed for 2,110 yards. He is the 17th player in program history to rush for at least 2,000 yards. With 279 more yards, he would pass Jim Upchurch for 13th all-time at Arizona in rushing yards. 
• Tate has racked up 7,158 yards of total offense in his career, which currently ranks No. 5 in school history. With 178 more total offense yards, Tate would move up to No. 4, passing Tom Tunnicliffe. 
• Tate has passed for 49 touchdowns in his career, which ranks tied for third all-time in program history. With one more, Tate would officially pass Anu Solomon for third all-time. Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama share the record with 67 touchdown passes. 
• Cornerback Jace Whittaker, who utilized his redshirt season last year, is sixth in career passes broken up with 31. He's currently one behind Devin Ross and Antoine Cason, who are tied for fourth. Kelly Malveaux is third all-time with 35 PBUs. Whittaker had a pair of interceptions in the opener against Hawai'i and then another against NAU. He has seven picks for his career. 
• Linebacker Colin Schooler enters Saturday's game with UCLA with 37 tackles-for-loss in just 28 games. With 3.5 more, he'll reach the Arizona top 10 and tie Chris Singleton.

THE CATS IN PAC-12 OPENERS: The Wildcats won their Pac-12 opener last season at Oregon State, breaking a three-game losing streak in conference openers. Arizona went on the road last season to Corvallis and handled the Beavers with a 35-14 win. The Cats pounded out 442 rushing yards and 594 yards of total offense in the win. It was the first time Arizona had won a road Pac-12 opener since 2009. This year, the Cats return home to open conference play. Arizona has dropped three straight Pac-12 openers at home, last winning in 2014 when the Wildcats used a Hail Mary on the final play to beat Cal. Since 2000, Arizona is 6-13 in conference openers.

TATE IS GREAT: Three games into his senior season, Khalil Tate has already established himself as one of the most dynamic players in program history. Tate has thrown for 5,048 passing yards in his career and 49 touchdowns to 24 interceptions. He has also rushed for 2,110 yards and 17 touchdowns. He has averaged 6.9 yards per rushing attempt in his career and has accumulated 7,158 yards of total offense in his three-plus-year Wildcat career. Last season, Tate started all 11 games he suited up for and posted career highs in passing yards (2,530) and passing touchdowns (26). His pass efficiency rating of 149.77 ranked second in the Pac-12 and was the fifth-best mark in Arizona single-season history. Tate is one of two Power 5 quarterbacks with at least 2,000 career rushing yards and 5,000 career passing yards, joining Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts, who spent the first three seasons of his career at Alabama, before transferring as a graduate student.
 

Player (School)	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards
Jalen Hurts (Oklahoma)	6,506	2,349
Khalil Tate (Arizona)	5,048	2,110

 

Player (School)	Passing Yards	Rushing Yards
Marcus Mariota (Oregon)	10,979	2,237
Khalil Tate (Arizona)	5,048	2,110

In a Rush: Through three games this season, Arizona finds itself in a familiar situation. Arizona leads the conference in rushing with 307.7 yards per game after leading the conference in rushing each of the past three seasons. The Wildcats averaged 202.4 rushing yards per game last year, marking the fourth straight season the program has averaged 200 or more yards per game. Arizona is one of just eight programs nationally and one of three Power 5 teams to average at least 200 yards rushing per game over the past four seasons. Georgia Tech, Army, Air Force, Navy, Georgia Southern, Oklahoma and Appalachian State have also accomplished the feat. Arizona's ability to rush the ball often ties to the success of the team. Over the past five seasons when Arizona has rushed for 200 or more yards, the Wildcats are 26-10. In games where Arizona hasn't reached the 150-yard mark as a team, it is 4-14. Arizona is 28-8 in that span when it has a 100-yard rusher. Arizona has dominated the Pac-12 rushing scene since the start of the 2016 season and is the only program to top 10,000 yards in that span with 10,193. In fact, only Oregon, Washington and Utah have topped the 8,000-yard mark with Washington and Utah both surpassing the mark earlier this month.
 

	School	Yards
1.	Arizona	10,193
2.	Oregon	8,931
3.	Washington	8,389
4.	Utah	8,355
5.	Stanford	7,412
6.	USC	7,276
7.	Colorado	6,734
8.	Arizona State	6,692
9.	Oregon State	6,505
10.	California	6,038
11.	UCLA	4,727
12.	Washington State	3,877

PAVING THE WAY: That Arizona has led the Pac-12 in rushing each of the past three seasons is certainly a testament to the offensive line. This year's group returns three full-time starters from a year ago in sophomore left tackle Donovan Laie, redshirt junior center Josh McCauley and redshirt senior right guard Cody Creason. Robert Congel, a transfer from Texas A&M who sat out last season, started at left guard the first three games of the season, while redshirt sophomore Edgar Burrola and junior college transfer Paiton Fears split snaps at right tackle in the first three games with Burrola starting all three. On top of opening up running lanes for Arizona's outstanding rushing production, the offensive line has also been the best in the conference at protecting the quarterback over the past three seasons. Consider that during the same span where Arizona has rushed for 10,193 rushing yards, Wildcat quarterbacks have been sacked just 70 times. That number leads the conference.
 

	School	Sacks
1.	Arizona	72
2.	USC	74
3.	Washington	75
4.	Oregon	84
5.	Stanford	86
6.	Washington State	91
7.	Oregon State	93
8.	UCLA	95
9.	Utah	99
10.	California	101
11.	Arizona State	109
	Colorado	109

PICKS APLENTY: Arizona intercepted four passes in its season opener against Hawai'i, securing its highest total since picking off four passes against No. 15 Washington State on Oct. 28, 2017. The four interceptions were the most in a road game by Arizona since 2006 at Oregon. Three players – Jace Whittaker, Lorenzo Burns and Tony Fields II – combined for the four interceptions. None of them had an interception in 2018 after combining for nine in 2017. Whittaker and the Cats were at it again against NAU in the second game of the season. Both Whittaker and freshman Christian Roland-Wallace picked off passes, upping Arizona's season total to six. The Cats again picked off two passes in the non-conference finale against Texas Tech with Burns and linebacker Anthony Pandy intercepting passes. Whittaker missed all of last season with an injury, but now has seven interceptions for his career and has already tied his season-high of three set in 2017. Burns had five as a redshirt freshman in 2017, but went without any last year. Fields had one has a freshman in 2017 before picking off his second career pass against the Rainbow Warriors. Roland-Wallace, a true freshman, picked off the first pass of his game. As a team, Arizona had just seven interceptions last year and only had multiple interceptions one time. The Cats have already surpassed both of those totals in three games this year. The season opener marked the first time Arizona had four interceptions in a season opener since also picking off four passes against Idaho in 2008 in a 70-0 win.
 

	School	Interceptions
1.	Arizona	8
2.	San Jose State	7
	Florida	7
	Boston College	7
5.	Nebraska	6
	Syracuse	6

THIRD DOWN TO FIRST DOWN: Arizona is third in the country in third down conversion percentage at 58.70 percent. The Wildcats have converted on 27 of 46 chances through three games this season. The 27 conversions are the most of any team nationally with three games played. Arizona converted 15 of 21 third downs against Texas Tech, one game after converting nine of 14 chances against NAU. Dating back to 1997, Arizona has never had more than 25 third-down conversions in the first three games of the season. Just four times in that span did Arizona have more than 20 third-down conversions in the first three games of the season.
 

Year	Third Down Conversions
2019	27-of-46 (58.70%)
2018	19-of-43 (44.19%)
2017	19-of-42 (45.24%)
2016	14-of-39 (35.90%)
2015	15-of-36 (41.67%)

TAYLOR MADE: With 102 yards on the ground in Arizona's home opener against Northern Arizona, junior running back J.J. Taylor crossed over the 2,700-yard mark for his career. It was the ninth 100-yard performance of his career. Taylor now sports 2,750 career rushing yards during his four seasons in a Wildcat uniform, good for ninth all-time in school history. The next player on the list – sitting at No. 8 with 2,957 yards, just 207 more than Taylor – is Nic Grigsby, who played for Arizona from 2007-10. Taylor finished the 2018 season with 1,434 rushing yards, the fourth-most in a single season in Arizona school history and the seventh-most in the nation last year. He became the 14th player in school history to accumulate 1,000+ rushing yards in a single season when he went for 212 yards in an upset over No. 19 ranked Oregon on Oct. 27. Taylor eclipsed the 100-yard mark five times in 2018, four of which came in the Wildcats final five games of the season.
 

Date	Opponent	Yards	Attempts	Yds/Att
9/7/19	Northern Arizona	102	10	10.2
11/24/18	Arizona State	144	28	5.1
11/2/18	Colorado	192	40	4.8
10/27/18	Oregon	212	30	7.1
10/20/18	at UCLA	154	19	8.1
9/22/18	at Oregon State	284	27	10.5
11/11/17	Oregon State	129	10	12.9
10/28/17	Washington State	153	14	10.9
9/17/16	Hawai'i	168	18	9.3

I'M MR. BRIGHTWELL: Junior running back Gary Brightwell currently ranks second on the team with 226 rushing yards this season, 85 of which he picked up on a career-high 21 carries in the Cats last game against Texas Tech. He picked up two touchdowns on the ground against Tech, giving him his first career two-score game and giving him the team lead with three rushing touchdowns this season. Brightwell also leads the Arizona backfield (min. 10 attempts) with an average gain of 8.7 yards per rush. He rewrote the Arizona record books in week two against Northern Arizona – his 94-yard touchdown run against NAU is tied with Nic Grigsby (2009) for the second-longest run in school history, and was just two yards shy of tying the all-time record of 96 yards set by Trung Canidate in 1997. Through three seasons and 117 attempts, Brightwell has amassed 751 rushing yards for the Cats, good for an average of 6.4 yards per carry.

DYNAMIC DUO: Senior quarterback Khalil Tate (238 yards) and junior running back Gary Brightwell (226 yards) currently rank sixth and eighth in the Pac-12 in rushing yards, respectively. The Wildcats are the only team in the conference with two players over 200 yards rushing this season. Tate and Brightwell have combined for 464 yards on the ground this year, more than four Pac-12 teams have overall (Stanford, 460; ASU, 446; WSU, 423; UCLA, 384).

SCHOOL(ER)'S IN SESSION: Junior linebacker Colin Schooler has put together an incredible Arizona career through his two-plus seasons in Tucson, racking up 233 total tackles, 37.0 tackles for loss, and 8.0 sacks. He finished the 2018 season, his sophomore campaign, with 119 total tackles, good for fifth-most in the Pac-12. Additionally, Schooler's 21.5 tackles for loss during last year's season were second-most in the conference, just 0.5 behind Utah's Chase Hansen. Schooler led the Wildcats in tackles seven times last year, and finished second on the team twice. Over his Cats career, Schooler is averaging 8.32 tackles per game and 1.32 tackles for loss per game. He is currently on the cusp of breaking onto a pair of Arizona career leaderboards – He is 17 tackles shy of becoming just the 24th player in Wildcat history to log 250+ tackles, and is 3.5 tackles for loss shy of the Arizona career top-10 (records dating back to 1967).
 

Year	Games	Tackles	TFL	Sacks
2017 (Fr.)	13	95	13.5	4.0
2018 (So.)	12	119	21.5	3.5
2019 (Jr.)	3	19	2.0	0.5
TOTALS	28	233	37.0	8.0

HAVING A FIELD DAY: Sitting right behind Schooler is another junior linebacker, Tony Fields II, who has logged 211 career total tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss, and 7.0 sacks in two-plus seasons with the Cats. Fields logged five tackles in the Wildcats season opener at Hawai'I, added four more against NAU, and led the team with nine tackles in their last game against Texas Tech. After leading Arizona with 104 total tackles in 2017, Fields finished second on the squad in 2018 with 89. Last season, Fields and Schooler combined to total 208 tackles, the fourth-most by any Pac-12 duo of leading tacklers in 2018. They were 18 tackles clear of the No. 5 duo.
 

	Teammates	School	Tackles
1.	Weaver/Kunaszky	California	307
2.	Burr-Kirven/Bartlett	Washington	249
3.	Hansen/Barton	Utah	230
4.	Schooler/Fields	Arizona	208
5.	Pickett/Barnes	UCLA	190

YOU SHALL NOT PASS: Redshirt senior cornerback Jace Whittaker and redshirt junior cornerback Lorenzo Burns are currently tied for the Pac-12 lead and tied for third among all qualified FBS players with an average of 2.0 passes defensed per game. The duo of Whittaker and Burns has combined for five interceptions this season, more than 97-of-125 FBS programs have logged.

LEADING THE PACK: Junior wide receiver Tayvian Cunningham has been the Wildcats most prolific passing target this year, hauling in a team-high 12 receptions and 158 yards. Cunningham has averaged 52.7 receiving yards per game, 13.2 yards per catch, and is currently tied for the team lead with two receiving scores. He hauled in his first two career touchdown catches with Arizona in game two against NAU – he finished the night with three catches for 58 yards.
 

Game	REC	YDS	TD	Long
8/24 at Hawai'i	4	65	0	26
9/7 vs. NAU	3	58	2	47
9/14 vs. Texas Tech	5	35	0	14
TOTAL	12	158	2	47