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Weber State was no Kansas State, though — not even the maybe-not-as-good-as-we-thought version of K-State.

The ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ of Ogden, Utah, were no match for the ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ of Tucson. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ won so easily that the only suspense in the second half was whether the UA would record its first shutout since 2013.

It didn’t happen, alas. Weber State drove for a field goal in the fourth quarter against ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s backups. The final score Saturday night — well, Sunday morning — was 48-3.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ has outscored its first two opponents, Hawaii and WSU, 88-9. That’ll play against anyone.

Still, it wasn’t perfect. There are nits to pick.

We’ll hit on those areas of concern, among other topics, in this week’s five takeaways.

1. Fifita on fire

We’ll start with an indisputably positive development.

After a so-so opener, UA quarterback Noah Fifita played an almost perfect game. Who knew you could have an efficiency rating of 294.7?

Beyond the numbers — 17 of 22, 373 yards and five touchdowns in just over a half of work — I really liked Fifita’s decision-making. He didn’t force any throws. He scrambled when necessary. And he spread the ball around.

Aside from Javin Whatley — who enjoyed a breakout performance with five catches for 168 yards and two touchdowns — no UA pass catcher had more than three receptions. Twelve had at least one catch.

Fifita made some spectacular throws, including a pair of perfect long balls to Whatley. But the pass that stuck out to me most was Fifita’s 13-yard touchdown toss to Brandon Phelps late in the second quarter.

Fifita had a clean pocket after a play-action fake. He patiently waited for the window to open down the middle. Once the underneath linebacker vacated the area to cover tailback Ismail Mahdi in the flat, Fifita fired a fastball to Phelps, who had gained inside position on his defender.

Fifita wasn’t bad against Hawaii, but he wasn’t sharp either. At least not until the end, when he completed his final four pass attempts.

Fifita went to work during the week and started 10 for 10 against Weber State. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ scored on every drive he led except one, when the UA took a knee to end the first half.

“He just has such a high standard for himself, and we all have such a high standard for him,� UA coach Brent Brennan said.

“I thought Noah had great command of the offense the entire game. (It) was really good to see him just operating and executing at such a high level.�

2. Right or wrong?

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s pass protection broke down a handful of times — more than you’d like to see against a struggling FCS opponent.

Weber State had three sacks, and Fifita had to scramble multiple times. UA linemen were flagged for holding four times, although two of those infractions were declined.

Two of the flags were thrown on right tackle Rhino Tapa’atoutai, who was making his first appearance in a game since Oct. 19 of last year. Brennan acknowledged that Tapa’atoutai’s stamina isn’t where it needs to be yet — which is completely understandable for a 300-pound man coming back from a torn ACL. It’s also not surprising that Tapa’atoutai wouldn’t be in top form from a technique standpoint; he only recently started to take team reps in practice.

Tristan Bounds took over for Tapa’atoutai in the second quarter and played better than in the opener. I’d expect both to play against Kansas State.

Maybe I’ll be proved wrong in that game, but I don’t think right tackle is as problematic a position as it’s appeared in the first two contests. Tapa’atoutai will improve as he gets into game shape and gets used to playing on the right side. Bounds is an adequate alternative who has looked good in the run game.

The line overall remains a work in progress. As Brennan noted, the run blocking could have been better vs. Weber State. You could argue ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ regressed in that area after a promising opener.

3. Red-zone issues

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ scored on five of six trips into the red zone, the lone failure coming when true freshman Tyler Prasuhn missed a field goal (which also happened to be the first attempt of his career).

Sounds good, right?

Well, the best way to assess red-zone effectiveness is by touchdown percentage. By that measure, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ wasn’t great. Its TD rate was just 50%.

A theme has emerged in the first two games — negative plays turning potential touchdowns into field goals.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ settled for field goals twice last week vs. Hawaii. The first followed a holding penalty that pushed ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ from the UH 8-yard line to the 15. The second followed an 11-yard sack on third down.

The first two field goal drives vs. Weber State featured holding penalty that wiped out Fifita TD runs. Prasuhn's miss was preceded by a sack.

Again, I’m not ready to draw any conclusions just yet. Offensive coordinator Seth Doege is still figuring out what works best in the red zone. Also, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ had receiver Kris Hutson and tight end Keyan Burnett available for the first time this season. You could include Chris Hunter in that conversation too after he played just six snaps vs. Hawaii. They all could emerge as red-zone weapons.

Additionally, one of the drives that ended with a field goal should have ended with a touchdown. Tight end Sam Olson dropped a short pass from Fifita for what should have been an easy score.

4. Getting riled up

The only disappointment for the defense was falling short of a shutout. Then again, that late Weber State field goal came well after ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s starters were out of the game.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ again played without veteran defensive back Treydan Stukes, who’s not quite ready to return from his 2024 knee surgery. The defense also was without defensive end Tre Smith for most of the game because of an undisclosed injury.

After most of the fans had left and most of the ESPN+ audience had gone to sleep, another experienced player returned to action. And boy, did he make an impact.

Linebacker Riley Wilson played just over a quarter of football in his UA debut. He recorded six tackles and contributed to a tackle for loss, flashing the athleticism and nastiness that had coaches raving about him in the offseason.

Wilson and Chase Kennedy shared the linebacking duties during that stretch. Kennedy recorded a sack for the second straight game.

As I watched those two flying around and creating havoc, I couldn’t help but wonder if defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales has something in his playbook that he hasn’t shown us yet. Could Wilson and Kennedy play with starting linebackers Taye Brown and Max Harris? Could they be positioned on the edges vs. Kansas State, where their speed might help neutralize Avery Johnson?

As crazy as it sounds after ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ allowed nine points — and zero touchdowns — in its first two games, it’s possible we haven’t seen this defense at its best yet.

5. Cats vs. Cats, Part II

The K-State game has been on UA fans' minds since the Hawaii game was in the bag.

Although it’s less than a week away now, I have no idea what to expect Friday night.

Is Kansas State good? The Manhattan ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ will pull up to ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Stadium with a 1-2 record, their lone win coming against FCS North Dakota via a last-minute touchdown.

Kansas State lost to Army on Saturday — the same Army squad that fell to FCS Tarleton State the previous week.

Kansas State allowed Army to play its game, especially in the second half. KSU had just two drives after halftime, totaling 3 minutes and 1 second of possession time. That seems almost mathematically impossible.

KSU’s lukewarm start (to put it kindly), combined with ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥â€™s promising one, makes Friday’s game more winnable than most of us presumed.

Then again, Kansas State will be hungry when it touches down in Tucson. It’ll be the most talented, most physical team — by far — that ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ has faced this season. And Johnson is the type of quarterback — mobile and fearless — who’s given UA defenses fits over the years.

Is ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ ready for the test? Tune in at 6 p.m. Friday to find out.