Arizona Wildcats survive up-and-down night from defense in win over Colorado

The Arizona Wildcats’ defense was spent. Colorado’s Phillip Lindsay had just battered them for 281 rushing yards.

So why was Jace Whittaker smiling?

Because Arizona won anyway. The defense did just enough — mostly in the first half — to complement the Khalil Tate-led offense and bring home a 45-42 victory Saturday night at Folsom Field.

Arizona had a season-high four sacks. Whittaker had three pass breakups.

“It was a dogfight out there tonight,” the junior cornerback said. “We were trading one for one, but I think our ones were a lot better.”

They were barely better. The exhausted UA defense — which was on the field for 90 plays and almost 36 minutes — surrendered touchdowns on each of Colorado’s final four possessions. The Wildcats mainly couldn’t stop Lindsay, who carried a school-record 41 times and set the CU career mark for all-purpose yardage.

“He’s a hard runner,” said senior defensive end/linebacker DeAndre’ Miller, who made his season debut after sitting out the first four game because of a foot injury.

“He has a low center of gravity. He keeps his feet moving. I give him credit. He’s a tough guy to take down.”

The Wildcats held the Buffaloes to 14 points in the first half, despite an epic 19-play, 85-yard touchdown drive during which Lindsay carried the ball 13 times. The drive consumed 9 minutes, 34 seconds — more time than Arizona held the ball in the entire first half.

The Wildcats got all four of their sacks in the first 30 minutes. It started with Colorado’s first offensive play, when Tony Fields II took down Steven Montez for a loss of 16 yards.

“We were trying to bring pressure,” Whittaker said. “The guys got after it today. They were a little more hungry.”

Miller didn’t have a sack, but his presence in the locker room and on the field seemed to make a difference. He stopped Lindsay for a nine-yard gain on third-and-21 on his first snap of the season in the first quarter. Miller rotated with freshman Kylan Wilborn and finished with four tackles.

“It felt good to get back out there with my team and help try to get a win,” Miller said. “(Sitting out) was rough, but I learned a lot. It made me mentally tough. I had to sit down and re-evaluate myself and not let it bring me down.”

Arizona tight end Trevor Wood returned to the starting lineup.

Wood missed Weeks 2 and 3 because of knee and ankle injuries and came off the bench in Week 4.

He dropped a pass in the first quarter and immediately pointed to his helmet as if he had been hit in the head. Wood sat out for a while before returning late in the second quarter.

The redshirt junior did not catch a pass but contributed to the blocking effort that yielded 425 rushing yards.

• Freshman safety Scottie Young Jr., who was arrested late last month on a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence, started and played his usual allotment of snaps. He had a career-high and team-leading 11 tackles, including 1.5 for losses.

• Freshman “Mike” linebacker Colin Schooler made his first career start. He finished with six tackles and a sack.

• Redshirt sophomore Cody Creason started for the second straight time at right tackle. He rotated with senior Gerhard de Beer.

• Arizona has had two 100-plus-yard rushing games this season – both by quarterbacks (Tate and Brandon Dawkins).

• The crowd observed a moment of silence and reflection before the National Anthem in honor of the victims of last week’s mass shooting in Las Vegas.