Noah Fifita threw four touchdown passes and Arizona scored 21 points off three of Colorado’s five turnovers in the Wildcats’ 52-17 victory Saturday at Boulder, Colo.
Arizona (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) has surpassed its win total from last year, when it went 4-8.
Colorado (3-6, 1-5) has lost four of its last five games.
The announced attendance of 48,223 at Folsum Field was the lowest of the three years Deion Sanders has been Colorado’s coach.
The crowd cheered when high-profile freshman Julian Lewis started to take snaps early in the third quarter after Arizona took a 45-7 lead.
Lewis’ 59-yard touchdown pass to Omarion Williams on his second attempt was more yards than what starter Kaidon Salter and backup Ryan Staub compiled at that point.
Salter and Staub combined for 49 yards with three interceptions.
Staub’s two attempts after replacing Salter at halftime were interceptions.
Salter was 11 of 15 for 49 yards with a touchdown and interception.
Lewis finished with 121 yards with the touchdown and no interceptions while completing 9 of 17 passes. He left the game in the last minute of the game with a hand injury.
Arizona scored on its first four possessions, including following a fumble by Salter while being sacked by Chase Kennedy.
Leroy Palu recovered the fumble at the Colorado 12, and Fifita followed with a touchdown pass to Kris Hutson with 7:08 left in the second quarter that gave Arizona a 17-0 lead.
Fifita completed 11 of 19 pass attempts for 213 yards before he was replaced by Braedyn Locke with Arizona leading 52-14 in the third quarter.
His four touchdown passes, all to different receivers, increased his career total to 65, two shy of the school record shared by Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama.
Arizona’s lead became 31-7 two plays after Dalton Johnson’s interception return gave the Wildcats the ball on the Colorado 8.
After Fifita was sacked, Javin Whatley scored on a reverse of 13 yards with 4:53 left in the half.
Fifita completed his fourth touchdown pass with 21 seconds left before halftime, when he found Whatley alone in the back of the end zone for a 34-yard score.
After Arizona’s second interception of Staub in the first two minutes of the second half, the Wildcats scored on a 7-yard run by Ismail Mahdi to increase the lead to 45-7.
–Field Level Media
