Mon, Jul 06, 2009
 Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama (7) set the school record for passing yards in a game Saturday with 510 against Washington. David Sanders/Arizona Daily Star
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Tuitama's day nearly flawless in SeattleArizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.29.2007
Willie Tuitama probably isn't the best quarterback in Arizona football history.
But the Wildcats' junior is now at least part of the conversation.
Tuitama set school records for most passing yards in a game (510) and most touchdown passes in a season (21) in Saturday's 48-41 victory over Washington in Seattle.
It has taken nine games for Tuitama — the Cats' strong-armed but inconsistent quarterback — to get a better grasp of the Air Zona offense. The video game statistics that come with the spread attack are finally starting to come in. Tuitama has set four passing records so far this season, and — with 2,804 passing yards — is 524 yards away from breaking Jason Johnson's single-season yardage mark, set in 2002.
"I think a game like this will really put him over the hump," UA offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes said. "I'm proud of him for hanging in there."
Saturday might have been Tuitama's first truly brilliant game in the Air Zona offense. He threw for five touchdowns, three coming in the final 12 minutes, and was intercepted just once. Tuitama attempted 51 passes; 37 percent of them went for first downs.
"That's what you hope for," UA coach Mike Stoops said. "We always expect that (performance), but it doesn't always work that way. It goes back to confidence and making plays."
Tuitama showed both in the fourth quarter, when he led the Wildcats on three scoring drives to win the game. He completed all seven of his pass attempts on the final drive, including a 27-yard pass to Thomas that proved to be the game-winner.
Tuitama still has a way to go if he wants to be a star in the Pac-10, but Saturday's win was a good start.
"This was just one game," he said. "We need to do this every game. We have it all. We just have to put it together."
ANATOMY OF A RECORD
Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama set the school record with 510 passing yards in Saturday's 48-41 win over Washington at Husky Stadium. Here's how Tuitama's day breaks down:
Passing yards: 510
The breakdown
First quarter: 88 yards (17 percent)
Second quarter: 193 (38 percent)
Third quarter: 89 (17 percent)
Fourth quarter: 140 (28 percent)
Yards per receiver
Mike Thomas: 165 yards (32 percent)
Rob Gronkowski: 85 (17 percent)
Terrell Turner: 77 (15 percent)
Delashaun Dean: 54 (11 percent)
Anthony Johnson: 45 (9 percent)
Nicolas Grigsby: 41 (8 percent)
Terrell Reese: 27 (5 percent)
Earl Mitchell: 14 (3 percent)
Chris Jennings: 2 (0.4 percent)
Completions: 38
The breakdown
First quarter: 3
Second quarter: 12
Third quarter: 10
Fourth quarter: 13
What they went for:
Negative yards: 1
0-5 yards: 9
6-10 yards: 10
11-15 yards: 10
16-20 yards: 2
21-25 yards: 1
26-30 yards: 1
31-40 yards: 1
41-45 yards: 1
46-55 yards: 1
56-70 yards: 1
Catches by:
Thomas 10 (26 percent)
Turner 7 (18 percent)
Grigsby 6 (16 percent)
Johnson 4 (11 percent)
Gronkowski 3 (8 percent)
Reese 3 (8 percent)
Dean 2 (5 percent)
Jennings 2 (5 percent)
Mitchell 1 (3 percent)
Touchdowns: 5
The breakdown
First quarter
• Tuitama connected with Thomas on a 66-yard touchdown pass to give the Wildcats a 7-0 lead.
Second quarter
• Gronkowski caught a 51-yard pass to make it 14-7.
Fourth quarter
• Turner caught a 33-yard pass to cut Washington's lead to 41-33.
• Thomas caught a 2-yard pass — and grabbed the two-point conversion — to tie the game at 41.
• Thomas caught a 27-yard pass to give the Wildcats the 48-41 win.
Superlatives
Favorite receiver: Thomas. The Arizona junior led the team in catches (10) and yards (165). Thomas scored three touchdowns, including the game-winner.
Most common pass: Short yardage. Thirty of Tuitama's 38 completions went for 15 yards or less.
Shortest pass: Tuitama completed a screen pass to Grigsby that went for minus-3 yards.
Longest pass: Tuitama connected with Thomas for a 66-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.
The winning drive
Tuitama put together the first game-winning touchdown drive of his career on Saturday. He did it in perfect fashion, completing all seven attempts for 63 yards and a touchdown. The Wildcats connected on three consecutive third-down conversions during the drive.
Here's how it looked:
Drive starts with 7:16 remaining:
1st/10 — UA 20 — Grigsby 4 run
2nd/6 — UA 24 — Thomas 2 pass from Tuitama
3rd/4— UA 26 — Turner 11 pass from Tuitama
1st/10 — UA 37 — Jennings 2 pass from Tuitama
2nd/8 — UA 39 — Turner 4 pass from Tuitama
3rd/4 — UA 43 — Grigsby 6 pass from Tuitama
1st/10 — UA 49 — Grigsby 2 run
2nd/8 — UW 49 — Gronkowski 19 pass from Tuitama
1st/10 — UW 30 — Grigsby run for no gain
2nd/10 — UW 30 — Grigsby run for 3 yards
3rd/10 — UW 27 — Thomas 27 touchdown pass from Tuitama
On the flip side …
While Arizona's offense was cruising, the Cats' defense allowed one of its worst games in recent history. Arizona allowed Washington to put up a season-high 572 yards and score 41 points.
"I think what was more devastating were the yards," UA linebacker Spencer Larsen said. "Dang near 550 yards of offense is dumbfounding."
Arizona had a tough time stopping quarterback Jake Locker all afternoon. The Huskies redshirt-freshman threw for 336 yards and rushed for 157. Washington gained 7.5 yards per play.
"Number 10, I have nothing but good things to say about him," Larsen said of Locker. "He's strong, athletic, and difficult to play against."
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