The Arizona football team missed its first chance to win three consecutive games for the first time since 2001, falling to Washington 38-14 last night at Arizona Stadium.

The Wildcats (3-7, 2-5 Pacific 10 Conference) turned the ball over four times while being out-gained by the Huskies 490-322.

The big difference came in the run game, where Arizona managed just 87 yards to Washington’s 333, a season high, behind running back James Sims’s career-high 205 yards on 30 carries, including a touchdown.

“We got beat up and down the field,” said Arizona head coach Mike Stoops. “We got out-played and out-coached. It’s pretty simple.”

The win was Washington’s first Pac-10 win of the season and Arizona freshman quarterback Willie Tuitama’s first loss as a starter.

Tuitama finished the night 22-of-41 for 235 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, which were turned into 14 points. “This was a great learning experience for Willie,” Stoops said. “You’re going to have bad games.

He got confused and made young errors.” The play that really hurt the Wildcats came in the final seconds of the first half.

Washington quarterback Isaiah Stanback threw a 69-yard hail mary to receiver Craig Chambers to knot the score at 14 going into halftime.

Arizona’s two scores came on Tuitama passes.

The freshman hooked up with junior Syndric Steptoe in the first quarter on a 17-yard post to open up the game’s scoring. The Wildcats’ other touchdown came in the second quarter, when Tuitama found senior running back Gilbert Harris in the flats to put Arizona up 14-7. The Huskies outscored Arizona 31-0 the rest of the way.

 “We were very fortunate and lucky this game,” said Washington head coach Tyrone Willingham. “I knew we couldn’t make mistakes and we didn’t.”