Arizona beat Santa Clara 43-17 Saturday in the first of two preseason games for the Broncos this weekend.

The Arizona Wildcats got a solid game from Ryan Fitzpatrick, who notched two tries, but Head Coach Sean Duffy said the performance was a bit of a mixed bag. 

The game itself kicked off late due to rain, and with some starters out for Arizona and Santa Clara still getting into the swing of things, continuity on both sides was lacking. The Broncos now dust themselves off and look ahead to Grand Canyon University on Sunday.

This will be the opening game of the spring season for GCU. Grand Canyon will be without two key players - freshman flyhalf Brendon Curle and 270-pound prop Lincoln Sii, who will both be participating in the Men’s Junior All-American national camp in Chula Vista. The loss of Sii for the match will further test the depth of the GCU front row as GCU team co-captain, and one of last year’s MJAA U20 starting props, Nick Kwasniewski is out for the year with a torn ACL.

GCU also adds two standout players to its roster for the spring schedule. Junior Maceo Brown makes his debut for GCU after playing high school and men’s club for Tempe Rugby and then playing two years of college football.  In addition, GCU returns Ricky Wisdom to the squad.  Wisdom, a high school track standout and 4-year high school rugby player from SoCal, was a key member of the team in the inaugural season 2014-2015, but was out for the last two semesters.