ARIZONA FOOTBALL

Arizona Wildcats win thriller in Tucson: By the Numbers

Nov 16, 2014, 1:10 AM | Updated: 1:26 am

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On the line for the Arizona Wildcats on a sunny Saturday in Tucson was a fighting chance in the Pac-12 South hunt.

Win, and the No. 14 Wildcats could still potentially control their own destiny with a little luck. Lose, and they’d have to depend on their No. 6 neighbors to the North losing a few to unranked opponents and play catch-up to the So-Cal schools.

The mindset was simple — just don’t lose.

But a Washington Huskies team that had previously struggled to look cohesive all season showed up in Tucson, making that goal a lot easier said than done.

Arizona trailed by two with one time out left late in the fourth quarter; the Huskies had the ball and decided to run it.

Fumble. Wildcats recovery.

Anu Solomon and his offense took over then, and the freshman quarterback tried to win it all with a long bomb that receiver Cayleb Jones managed to pull down in the end zone; yet was eventually ruled incomplete.

Two downs later, kicker Casey Skowron jogged onto the field to attempt a 47-yard field goal for the win.

He wound up and booted — miss. But Washington head coach Chris Petersen called a time out to ice Skowron, and he wouldn’t miss again.

27-26, final. The Wildcats, now 8-2, are still alive in the hunt for postseason glory.

And Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez had one question for media after the thrilling win:

What’d the Wildcats’ win look like by the numbers?

504-375

Washington overwhelmed Arizona offensively, accumulating 504 total yards (245 rushing, 259 passing) as opposed to the Wildcats’ 375 total yards (133 rushing, 242 passing).

At halftime, Washington had accrued 347 of those total yards to Arizona’s 193.

The Huskies also ran 90 total plays and possessed the ball for almost 13 full minutes longer than Arizona.

6-3

The difference-maker was this: Washington fumbled the ball six times throughout the game and lost three of those fumbles to Arizona.

Two of these turnovers happened in the first half alone, allowing Arizona to score twice in under two minutes and take the lead 21-17 at the half.

The Arizona defense has now forced at least one turnover in seven straight games.

18

Skowron’s game-winning field goal was only his most impressive play of that half.

The kicker also successfully implemented a trick play in which he faked a field goal attempt and ran in an 18-yard touchdown to kickstart the Arizona momentum. He then hit the PAT, then kicked off to Washington.

Arizona would score again less than two minutes later.

2

Washington’s Sidney Jones was the culprit of both of Solomon’s picks. His two interceptions were returned for a total of 22 yards.

This is the second time this season Solomon has thrown two interceptions and still managed to win the game. The last time it happened? Another wild finish — the “Hill Mary” against Cal.

Saturday’s game marks the first time all season Solomon has not thrown at least one touchdown pass in a game.

15/27

Skowron would ultimately account for more than half of his team’s total points in the victory thanks to two field goals, three extra points and his trick play touchdown.

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