Receiver and return man Mike Thomas and the Wildcats cruised to their most lopsided victory ever against Washington on Saturday.

KELLY PRESNELL / arizona daily star 2008

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Final: Arizona 48, Washington 14

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The Arizona Wildcats have found a winning formula this season, and it's the main reason they're tied for first place in the Pac-10 Conference.

The Wildcats (4-1 overall, 2-0 Pac-10) are forcing turnovers, protecting the ball, converting on third downs and owning the red zone. In short, they're playing like a bowl-bound team.

"You can win a bunch of games with that recipe," UA coach Mike Stoops said after the UA's 48-14 victory over Washington on Saturday. "That's harder done than said — you know what I mean? — to do those things. But when we do those things, we're very good."

Saturday's game was a perfect example of the formula at work as the Wildcats cruised to their most lopsided victory ever against Washington and their most dominant Pac-10 win since 2005:

● The Wildcats played flawlessly on offense, posting 48 points and 449 yards without turning the ball over. They scored on five of their six trips to the red zone, the only failure coming when they ran out the clock to end the game. Quarterback Willie Tuitama completed 17 of 21 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns, giving him a quarterback rating of 277.12.

"We didn't turn the ball over and we didn't have many penalties," offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes said. "I really thought it was a pretty good game."

So far this season, Arizona has scored on 25 of its 28 red-zone trips, with 24 touchdowns. The Wildcats had just 18 red-zone touchdowns in 2007.

● Arizona converted on 8 of 13 third-down plays, a 61.5 percent clip. So far this season, Arizona has converted half of its conversions (33 of 66). That's up from 35 percent a year ago.

"That's a big difference," tailback Nicolas Grigsby said. "The beginning of the season last year, we did bad on third down and on short conversions — and in the red zone, we were horrible.

"We wanted to make a change this year, make a statement. And we've been taking it down pretty good this year."

● Defensively, Arizona limited hapless Washington to just 244 yards of total offense. Cornerback Devin Ross intercepted Washington quarterback Ronnie Fouch in the second quarter, setting up a touchdown. The Huskies averaged just 4.4 yards per play.

Through five games, the Wildcats are first nationally in passing yards allowed per game and second in total defense.

"We take a lot of pride in playing very disciplined and very sound defense," defensive coordinator Mark Stoops said. "We make them earn their yards."