The Arizona Wildcats took an early touchdown lead but fell to UCLA Bruins 27-10 on Saturday at the Rose Bowl for their program-record 10th straight loss—and lost starting quarterback Grant Gunnell to a shoulder injury on the very first play.
Our full recap can be found here, Coach Kevin Sumlin’s postgame comments can be read/watched here, and here is what sophomore wide receiver Jamarye Joiner and senior linebacker Anthony Pandy said afterwards.
Sophomore wide receiver Jamarye Joiner
Jamarye Joiner post UCLASophomore wide receiver Jamarye Joiner broke down Arizona Football's offensive struggles in the loss to UCLA
Posted by AZ Desert Swarm on Saturday, November 28, 2020
Joiner on the difference in the offense when Will Plummer had to take over for the injured Grant Gunnell after the first play: “It didn’t really change that much. Grant is a talented quarterback. Will is as well. Will is a real talented quarterback. He’s a little more mobile than Grant, so just knowing that he can extend plays more with his legs. We just got to help him out as a young quarterback to help him get comfortable in the game.”
Joiner on if the team lost confidence after Gunnell got hurt: “No, we have a lot of confidence in Will, so we didn’t really get down or anything.”
Joiner on why the offense started clicking in the second half: “Our offensive tempo worked really good, they couldn’t keep up with us, they were huffing and puffing on the field, so just running the ball down their throat, pop them for quick passes, keep going, and we just couldn’t of put it in (the end zone) at the end of the drive.”
Joiner on what’s disappointing about the losing streak: “Just because we’re working so hard. We work hard every week, day in and day out. We put in the extra time and watch film, just working hard as a team, just not getting the result we want.”
Joiner on the struggles offensively: “We got to finish our drives. We march the ball downfield, we make big plays, we gotta capitalize when the defense makes big stops because the defense is doing a really good job of making stops and holding teams to a field goal or punts.”
Joiner on how defenses are playing Arizona: “Defenses are really playing us press, they’re coming up, they’re not really scared about our speed and I think we just need to threat teams more deep.”
Joiner on if it felt like the offense was due for a big play: “We’re always antsy, we’re always on our feet, we’re never really down on ourselves. We’re always ready for the big play to happen. We’re never just sitting back and being complacent. We thought that we were gonna really make that big happen and score and put some points on the board.”
Joiner on Sumlin’s message to the team: “Keep working.”
Senior linebacker Anthony Pandy
Anthony Pandy post UCLASenior linebacker Anthony Pandy was clearly frustrated after Arizona Football's loss to UCLA
Posted by AZ Desert Swarm on Saturday, November 28, 2020
Pandy on how the defense played: “I think we started off really well. They made their adjustments, we made our adjustments. Second half we came out, tackled great, held them to same points that they in the first half last game.”
Pandy on what’s disappointing about this losing streak: “Just us putting in the work. The work we’re putting in is good work, just the results that we’re getting aren’t what we want. Because we working, Monday through Friday to get just wins, to end this streak, but we’re just not getting the results.”
Pandy on why Arizona isn’t getting the results it wants: “Couldn’t tell you. Just execution.”
Pandy on the adjustments Arizona made in the second half: “We shut them down until that last drive. But going into halftime, we realized our problem, why we were down. It’s because we were missing tackles. So we emphasized that, made our adjustments, Coach (Paul) Rhoads made the adjustments that we needed. He’s a great DC and we came out and played hard.”
Pandy on Sumlin’s postgame message: “He said a lot but pretty much keep working. Keep working hard because we keep getting the same results.”
Pandy on being prepared for UCLA’s offense: “We knew what we were getting into. We knew who the running backs were, we knew who was gonna play, we know their formations, we knew they have a flavor of the week every week. Like, we prepared well for this game, but it was more of a defensive thing that we were missing tackles. So we came out in the second half and shut them down the whole second half until the last couple drives.”