TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- While Dennis Northcutt didn't get much playing time against Middle Tennessee, he made good use of it.

The senior wide receiver set Arizona's career pass-catching record and scored on an 80-yard punt return before a first-quarter injury slowed him, and the Wildcats beat the Blue Raiders 34-19 Saturday night for their second straight win.

"When I get the ball, I always want to make a play," Northcutt said about his first scoring punt return. "I want to try to take it all the way. I've worked hard, and that is something I haven't done."

Arizona (2-1), which fell from a No. 4 preseason ranking to No. 19 after a 34-point humiliation at Penn State and a come-from-behind win at Texas Christian, needed an opponent like the Blue Raiders (0-2). They were beaten 40-7 by Southern Mississippi last week in their first Division I-A game.

The Wildcats, a 43½-point favorite, outgained Middle Tennessee 329 yards to 128 through three quarters, with Trung Canidate running for 102 yards on 16 carries in the first half for his first 100-yard game of the season.

"We wanted to establish a certain style of play," said Canidate, who had five 100-yard games last season, when he led the nation with a 7.3-yard per-carry average. "We wanted to be physical. I see it as no other way, and I know the coaches see no other way."

But the Blue Raiders outgained Arizona 176-71 in the fourth quarter, scoring three times.

Middle Tennessee avoided a shutout when Jamison Palmer swept left end on a 39-yard run with 10:31 left, Wes Counts scored on a 1-yard keeper with 5:08 remaining, and Counts finished up with a 15-yard scoring strike to Hansford Johnson as time expired.

"When you play in the big time, it kind of takes you back the first couple of games," said Counts, a sophomore who completed 26 of 37 passes for 176 yards. "We're not as big or as fast as these guys, but our guys keep on fighting. I wouldn't want to play us in six weeks."

Counts credited the defense with keeping the game relatively close while the offense misfired, including two snaps in the shotgun formation that went over his head.

"We played hard out there the entire game, but we had a lot of breakdowns that caused them to get some scores," said safety Mario Kelso, who led Middle Tennessee with 13 tackles.

Jim Wendler and Lance Briggs scored on 1-yard runs for Arizona, and Ortege Jenkins, playing the entire game because alternate quarterback Keith Smith had a sore ankle, was 16-of-23 for 118 yards and one touchdown.

Jenkins scored on an 8-yard run that sent the Wildcats to a 20-0 halftime lead and threw a 26-yard scoring strike to Marvin Brown on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 34-0.

Canidate carried eight times for 57 yards on Arizona's opening possession, capped by Wendler's plunge.

Northcutt made his first catch of the game and 154th of his career two minutes after the kickoff. It broke a tie with T Bell, who played from 1972-75.

Northcutt also reached the end zone the first two times he fielded punts, but a 71-yard return was nullified by a roughing penalty. On the next Raiders punt, Northcutt made it 14-0 with 2:46 left in the first quarter when he fielded the ball on his 20-yard line and returned it along the sideline.

Jenkins gained 12 yards on one quarterback draw during an 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive late in the second quarter, and capped it with his sprint up the middle with 3:06 left.

Northcutt missed the second quarter after taking a blow to the abdomen on his third punt return with 1:03 left in the first. He re-entered the game in the third quarter and stayed in, but coach Dick Tomey kept Canidate on the bench, getting a look at some young ballcarriers like Briggs, who scored on his third college carry.

"We got a lot of guys that deserved to play tonight," Tomey said. "I hate to end the game that way, but you have to be happy with the win."