Arizona's Homecoming magic is very real. The UA football team scored two touchdowns in a three-minute span and held on for dear life in Saturday's 24-20 win over No. 8 California at Arizona Stadium. The landmark victory comes on Homecoming weekend, just over a year after the Cats stunned No. 7 UCLA. Arizona tied, then took the lead, with a flurry of points to start the period. Chris Henry's 1-yard touchdown run with 14:11 remaining tied the game at 17, whipping Arizona's crowd into a frenzy. Things got even wilder two plays later, when Wildcats cornerback Antoine Cason intercepted Cal's Nate Longshore and returned it 39 yards to give Arizona the lead. Cal got to the UA's 1 on its ensuing drive, but settled for Tom Schneider's 20-yard field goal with 9:51 remaining. The Wildcats' improbable comeback helped negate a career day by Cal's DeSean Jackson. The Golden Bears' star had a 95-yard punt return and 62-yard touchdown catch to give Cal an early lead. But it was the play that Jackson, the conference's best return man and Cal's No. 1 receiver, didn't make that will make headlines. Jackson had a 63-yard catch-and-run down the east sideline that would have given Cal the lead with 2:30 remaining but — after a 5-minute replay process — referees ruled he had stepped out of bounds at Arizona's 41. Cal continued to drive, but stalled out when linebacker Ronnie Palmer picked the ball with 1:32 remaining. Arizona used a first-quarter turnover to get its only points of the half. Corey Hall intercepted Cal quarterback Nate Longshore at the Bears' 45. Willie Tuitama then completed a 22-yard pass to Mike Thomas to get deeper into the Bears' zone. Three plays later, Folk connected on a 39-yard field goal to make it 7-3. Schneider capped the first-quarter scoring when he hit a 36-yarder with 2:23 left in the quarter.
No comments:
Post a Comment