Arizona’s season of destiny has another chapter — this one as thrilling as the rest.
Six games after the Wildcats pulled out a “Hill Mary,” and five games after they pried a win away from No. 2 Oregon, the UA did it again. This game-winner came with a flair of redemption.
Casey Skowron, the man who missed a potential game-winning 36-yard field goal against USC, lifted the Wildcats to another improbable win Saturday afternoon.
Trailing by two with 3 seconds remaining, Skowron nailed a 47-yard field goal into the south end zone of Arizona Stadium to give the Wildcats a 27-26 win over Washington.
It left everyone frozen in amazement — even the head ball coach.
“I’ll steal a line from one of the greatest movies ever made, ‘Gladiator’: ‘Are you not entertained?’” an exhausted Rich Rodriguez said. “Wow.”
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It was impossible not to be for the 47,757 fans at Arizona Stadium.
Minutes earlier, the Wildcats were dead in the water.
The UA was trailing 26-24 and marching for a go-ahead touchdown when Anu Solomon was intercepted by Washington’s Sidney Jones.
The pick was a result of a miscommunication between Solomon and receiver Trey Griffey. It gave the Huskies the ball with 4:25 left. Washington gained two first downs and had first-and-10 with just more than 90 seconds left on the clock.
The Wildcats had just one timeout left.
Rather than take a couple of knees to run down the clock, Washington kept running. The Huskies’ Deontae Cooper ran up the middle and the UA’s Tra’Mayne Bondurant hit him high and stripped the ball, forcing a fumble. Sophomore linebacker Derrick Turituri pounced on the ball, giving the UA one final chance.
The Wildcats gained 11 yards to get to Washington’s 34. Solomon then launched a pass for Cayleb Jones in the end zone: the receiver hauled it in and officials ruled it a touchdown only to overturn it following a video review.
Two plays later, Skowron came on for his shot at redemption.
He trotted onto the field, getting some last-second encouragement from Solomon. He lined up to kick and aired it out. Just as long snapper Jose Romero let it go, Washington coach Chris Petersen called a timeout.
It was a good thing for the Wildcats; Skowron’s kick sailed wide right.
The kicker didn’t miss his second chance.
Skowron’s 47-yarder sailed through the uprights, giving Arizona the win. The Wildcats poured onto the field from their sideline and mobbed Skowron. Rodriguez pumped his arms in jubilation with a smile the size of Tucson and gave his kicker a hug.
“We were praying, we were locked up, we were just hoping it went through,” said senior safety Jared Tevis, who finished with a game-high 14 tackles. “All that was going through my head, was ‘it’s senior year, we need this (win).’ I had a lot of guys next to me who have put in a lot of work for this, and we believed in Casey and were excited to see him pull it out.”
So what does all this mean?
The win lifted Arizona to 8-2 on the season and 5-2 in Pac-12 play. A South Division title still unlikely — but still possible.
The Wildcats, who head to Utah next weekend, still have everything to play for.
“With two games left in the regular season, there’s a whole lot at stake,” Rodriguez said. “There have to be some things to happen for us to get a chance at the championship, but it can all happen, because our guys kept playing until the end — we’re still there. We talk a lot about not being average. We want our guys to feel special and elite, and the only way as a football player or a program that you can, is based on wins.
“We have a lot of guys, who when they were coming out of high school, weren’t the special recruit; I think they’re pretty special.”
Skowron, a walk-on who started his UA career as a soccer manager, probably went to bed Saturday feeling the most special.
He was 2 for 2 on field goals, and scored an 18-yard touchdown off a fake field goal in the second quarter.
“It felt fantastic,” Skowron said. “Anytime you get a chance to hit a field goal and make it, it’s a great feeling. I know everyone on my team, all 119 guys, had my back.”
The details — and ugliness — of Saturday’s game can wait for another day.
The UA gained just 375 yards of total offense — its second-lowest output of the season — and Solomon was just 17 for 39 for 242 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
Washington (6-5, 2-5) racked up 504 yards of offense, and running back Dwayne Washington ran for 148 yards on 19 carries.
But the Wildcats earned the win — even if they needed to do it in dramatic fashion yet again.
“I’ve been thinking I’m too young to get a heart attack,” said senior safety Jourdon Grandon of the crazy finishes.
“It’s gone down to the wire, but that’s the definition of a good team, when you just find ways to win and pull it out. We’ve just come miles since the beginning of (Rodriguez’s) era.
“You never know what can happen; football is a crazy game.”
At 8-2, the Wildcats now have their best record through 10 games since the 1998 team started 9-1. The eight wins are also the most regular-season victories of the short Rodriguez era.
The coach is enjoying it, but wouldn’t mind something a little easier next weekend at Utah.
“We’ve played 10 and at least eight of them have been into the fourth quarter — yeah, I need a break,” Rodriguez said.
What fun would that be?
