Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch was honest. “It’s certainly more fun to coach off of a win than a loss,” he told reporters after the game. That it is, Coach. But it’s also a little more enjoyable to coach after a game when your offense looked as potent as Arizona’s did on Saturday.

And, relative to how things looked a year ago, Arizona’s a completely different football team. The Wildcats (1-0) went on the road Saturday to open the season with a 38-20 win over San Diego State, a team that won 12 of its 14 games a year ago. A different Aztec team, sure, but Arizona was victorious just once a season ago.

In the offseason, Fisch sold a vision about what the program could be. He needed players, both at the high school level and from the transfer portal to have a little faith. The results weren’t there. If a guy was joining the program, they were buying into belief.

A week in, it seems like a good bet.

The newcomers shined for the Wildcats, specifically on offense.

“We’re very appreciative that those guys had faith and belief in us and chose to come to the University of Arizona, as we are the recruits that came here — TMac and all those guys, Big Jonah (Savaiinaea), Speedy (Luke), Jonah (Coleman),” Fisch said. “We’re just getting started, we’re building this.

“We really believe we can build something special at Arizona, but it’s going to take time and we just tell our players to trust the process and good things will come.”

That was the message all offseason. Saturday was the start.

And all those new guys got involved. Quarterback Jayden de Laura found Jacob Cowing for 17 yards to put the first touchdown on the board in the new season. He found Tetairoa McMillan on the next drive for a 6-yard touchdown.

The next two possessions featured turnovers — first a fumble, then a de Laura interception. The first turnover led to an Aztec touchdown. Players were asked after the game if the sideline got tight, if maybe guys who’d been around a year ago started to get antsy. They didn’t see it.

“I feel like this team has a connection nobody really understands yet,” de Laura said.

The next drive out after the interception, de Laura found Cowing for 29 yards and the Wildcats were off to the races. Five plays later, Cowing was walking into the end zone, again on the receiving end of a de Laura touchdown.

On the first possession of the second half, de Laura found Cowing for 10 yards, then McMillan for 37, then hit Cowing again for their third touchdown connection in the game.

“It’s crazy. I feel like we could have had more (touchdowns). We’ve got 11 more games,” de Laura said with a smile.

Added Cowing: “Me and him just gave each other that look. … That’s what we do at practice.” The former UTEP wideout called it backyard football.

Cowing became the first Power Five wideout to post a three-touchdown debut since Michael Crabtree in 2007. “That’s a pretty big impact that Jacob Cowing made on our football team,” Fisch said.

The Wildcats had their best offensive game since Nov. 2 of 2019. Fisch liked the red zone production — the UA was 5-for-5 inside the 20, including four touchdowns. McMillan and Cowing and all the skill talent the UA added, it all clicked. The quarterback made sure of it.

“Had no flinch in him,” Fisch said of de Laura. “What else could you ask for?”

De Laura completed 22 of his 35 pass attempts for nearly 300 yards and four touchdowns.

“For the most part, I thought he played a fantastic game of football, had great control, and was awesome on the sideline,” Fisch said. “He was able to talk to the whole team, was able to cheer on the whole team, and the players looked to (him) any time there was any adversity.”

The Wildcats return home and will prepare to host Mississippi State next Saturday. De Laura and Cowing and the rest of the offense will look to keep things rolling. Asked what the season-opening win — and the immediate impact of the newcomers — means going forward, Fisch kept his feet on the ground.

“It means that we’re 1-0,” he said. “We go back tomorrow, we go to work, and we try to go 1-0 on Saturday.”

Much more fun to be 1-0.