In the span of three quarters Saturday night, Matt Scott completed so many passes that his career completion percentage - dating to his freshman year, in 2008 - increased by three full points.
The fifth-year senior started the Arizona Wildcats' 56-0 blowout of lowly South Carolina State completing passes at a career 65 percent.
By the time he traded in his helmet for a navy baseball cap after three quarters, Scott's career mark was 68 percent.
That's what happens when you connect on 30 of 36 passes for 288 yards.
And when you complete your last 13 passes, as Scott did, to finish with an 83 percent mark in the game.
"It really didn't feel like that," Scott said. "I didn't know my numbers were like that. I felt like I missed a couple passes here and there that I could have easily hit.
"Decent night. It can get better."
Better than 30 for 36?
"I think so," he said, smiling. "Go 36 for 36."
Given the opponent, Scott can be forgiven for not being wholly satisfied His coach, though, was pleased.
"He was pretty sharp," Rich Rodriguez said.
Scott threw an incomplete pass to Dan Buckner with about six minutes to go in the first half - and didn't throw another. He finished with three touchdowns against the Div. I-AA opponent.
"I think he missed one deep ball," Rodriguez said. "He missed it. Those are things, in order to beat a team like we got coming up, those big-play shots that we had … we gotta hit."
The team coming up, of course, is Oregon. The Wildcats play Saturday in Eugene, a task tall enough to demand the best performance of Scott's career for the Wildcats to have a chance for upset.
Rodriguez compared Scott to a point guard who can shoot three-pointers.
He encouraged Scott to be more of a distributor.
At halftime, Rodriguez told Scott he wanted him to take fewer hits. The quarterback kept the ball often on read option plays, running nine times for 61 yards. While it was the proper read, Rodriguez was squeamish about too much contact, given the score and situation.
Scott said he didn't feel like he was hit often.
"I didn't take that many," he said. "I'm a pretty tough guy."
The quarterback said he sees "a lot of improvements already" in the offense, and his coach said it could only improve.
"Matt's still learning," Rodriguez said. "As good as he's been playing, he's been playing pretty well, it's only three games in a new season."
Rodriguez said he "wasn't particularly pleased" at halftime.
He suggested that, while 43 first downs wasn't a bad thing, it might be an indicator that the Wildcats didn't have enough big plays.
"It definitely helps our rhythm as an offense when we're completing the ball and driving down the field," said running back Daniel Jenkins, who led the UA with 76 rushing yards. "It's really attested to his character and his film study."
B.J. Denker, Scott's fourth-quarter replacement, connected on his first three passes, for a total of 27 yards, before the ball finally hit the ground on an incompletion to Sean Willet.
The UA had completed 16 straight passes.
Denker called the SCSU defense "vanilla."
He shrugged when asked whether his collegiate debut gives him more confidence going forward, but joked that the first hit of the night reminded him what it was like to play football against an opponent.
"I got the rust off," he said.
The Wildcats offense posted among the gaudiest numbers in their history, running a school-record 102 plays and gaining 689 yards, or two shy of the UA's all-time mark.
The team credited the man pulling the trigger.
"Matt," Jenkins said, "has been phenomenal."
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