Before Friday’s contest, Arizona had every reason for optimism.

Despite the narrow win against Northern Arizona, they knew their offense had what it takes to score points based on their performance, and their defense seemed to have some things under control as well.

After Kansas State was coming off a game against Tulane that they very easily could have lost, there was some speculation that Arizona could emerge from this road game with an upset, as they were able to exploit a seemingly porous defense with their explosive offense.

Instead, the Wildcats leave the city completely embarrassed.

Arizona lost 31-7 in a contest that didn’t feel particularly close.

Their defense was dominant, allowing 391 total yards and 235 yards on the ground, which was a big concern before this game.

But the real story is just how bad Arizona’s offense was.

It seemed like the Wildcats had figured things out on offense as they capped their 14-play, 73-yard opening drive, which lasted 7:28, with a touchdown rush by Quali Conley.

On this designed possession, quarterback Noah Fifita found his star playmaker Tetairoa McMillan and other weapons throughout the drive, showing off his ability to balance passing and running.

Unfortunately, those were the only points Arizona scored the rest of the game.

Don’t let the final score affect you, this offense was really bad and couldn’t sustain its attacks due to nine penalties and 6 of 18 third and fourth down attempts.

Fifita threw a horrific interception on their third possession of the game when the Wildcats were down 14-7 after allowing a punt return after being down three times on the previous series. With the ball at Kansas State’s 30-yard line, the redshirt sophomore floated a ball to the middle of the field that was intercepted.

That was the last time they were in a threatening position for the rest of the competition.

They punted three times in a row on their next six possessions before losing the ball three times in a row on a punting attempt, suggesting their offensive woes against Northern Arizona were more in line with reality than the fireworks against New Mexico.

Fifita finished the game completing 26 of 42 passes for 268 yards, no touchdowns and one interception, but most of that performance was empty yardage as they couldn’t get anything done when it really mattered.

Tetairoa McMillan caught 11 balls for 138 yards and Montana Lemonious-Craig was much more involved with six catches for 75 yards, but those were really the only two who appeared in the passing game.

Aside from Arizona’s opening drive, Conley was completely shut down, finishing the game with 48 rushing yards on 14 attempts after totaling 27 yards on the opening drive.

This team has a lot of questions to answer before its week off.