All Hail, Arizona: How to draw up miracle win

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University of Arizona vs California

Arizona safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant (21) right, steps in front of California wide receiver Kenny Lawler (4) to recover an onside kick late in the fourth quarter of their Pac-12 season opener at Arizona Stadium, Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014, Tucson, Ariz. Photo by Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star

Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star

University of Arizona vs California

Arizona safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant slips around Cal running back Daniel Lasco after his fluke interception early in the fourth quarter paved the way for the Wildcats’ comeback.

Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star

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By Daniel Berk Arizona Daily Star

Rich Rodriguez ends every Thursday practice the same way — with Hail Mary passes.

He has all of his quarterbacks go through the desperation play and all of the receivers run their routes.

It could have been a gut feeling or a total fluke, but when the UA finished practice this most recent Thursday, Rodriguez spent a little extra time on the desperation play.

“We have two different Hail Marys, and we talked about it a little more this Thursday, and in particular where the ball should be thrown,” Rodriguez said. “I told our quarterbacks it needs to be 5 yards deep in case it was tipped in front or a little overthrown, we can still score.”

So when Anu Solomon took a shotgun snap from Steven Gurrola and rolled to his right with four seconds to play in Arizona’s improbable 49-45 win over Cal on Saturday, he knew exactly what Rodriguez wanted.

The redshirt freshman threw the ball up and Austin Hill somehow came down with it amid four defenders, securing one of the most amazing wins in UA history.

“That was about 6½ yards deep, so Anu has to work on his accuracy,” Rodriguez said with an ear-to-ear smile.

Solomon and the Wildcats will likely have no problem practicing the Hail Mary play ever again.

Hill knew Solomon was targeting him, and as the ball hung up in the Arizona Stadium air for what seemed like forever, the wide receiver had plenty of time to think about the possible result.

“I was just hoping no one bumped into me or hit my elbow or jumped on top of me so that I could secure the ball,” Hill said. “It meant a lot to me to go out there and win the game for the team, especially since the offense came back strong. I was just so happy to be able to do it for the team and get the win I thought we deserved.”

The Wildcats trailed 31-13 heading into the fourth quarter before scoring 36 points — the most ever in a single quarter in school history — to pull out the win.

Solomon went 19 for 24 for 246 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in the fourth quarter. All total, he set a school record with 520 passing yards. He completed 47 of 73 attempts.

He put together a brilliant second half after going just 18 of 33 for 149 yards, no scores and two picks in the first half.

“I’m sure he was down a little bit, because you lose your confidence when your throws are off or your decisions are off a little bit,” Rodriguez said of Solomon. “But he made some really good plays, too, in particular of the fourth quarter.

“I’m proud of how he hung in there.”

The game will surely be remembered for Hill’s last-second touchdown, but that wasn’t the only key play in the fourth quarter.

Here are three others that played a huge role.

The play: Bondurant’s interception

Time left: 14:08

The setup: Casey Skowron had just hit a 31-yard field goal to cut Cal’s lead to 31-16. On the Golden Bears’ second play after the field goal, Bondurant intercepted Jared Goff at Cal’s 41-yard line and returned it 24 yards to the 17.

The aftermath: Arizona scored two plays later. Solomon hit Cayleb Jones for an 8-yard gain, and then found Hill for a 9-yard touchdown.

Hill’s score cut the game to a one-possession deficit for the Wildcats for the first time since it was 7-0 early in the first quarter.

He said it: “The interception that they tipped up for us was huge. That stole a possession for us. In a game like this, when we’re struggling to stop anybody, stealing a possession is absolutely critical.” — Rodriguez

The play: Skowron’s onside kick

Time left: 3:27.

The setup: Terris-Jones Grigsby scored from six yards out to cut the lead to 45-37. Down eight, Rodriguez elected to try an onside kick. Skowron’s first try failed, but Cal was called for two penalties — offside and illegal batting of the ball — and Skowron got a redo. This time, the play worked and Bondurant was able to recover it.

Ethan Keyserling faked the kick left, but Skowron kicked it to the right, where Bondurant as waiting for the ball.

The aftermath: Arizona quickly went down the field and scored a touchdown. Solomon found Cayleb Jones for a 15-yard score to make it a two-point game. Arizona tried a two-point conversion, but Solomon’s pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and fell to the ground.

He said it: “I saw someone do something similar to that on film. I don’t remember who it was, or I would give them credit. But they did the two-kicker thing. We have the option to kick it to either side. But there’s still luck involved.” — Rodriguez

The play: Jones’ interference penalty

Time left: 45 seconds

The setup: Arizona got the ball back with 52 seconds to play and a chance to win the game after Cal’s James Langford missed a 47-yard field goal.

Starting on their own 29-yard line, the Wildcats aired it out on the first play. Solomon completed a 41-yard pass to Jones.

However, the play was brought back on an offensive pass interference call on Jones.

The aftermath: The call set the UA back to the 15-yard line. Solomon completed 9-yard passes to Nate Phillips and Trety Griffey. And then a 20-yard pass to Hill to setup the Hail Mary from the 47.

He said it: “I was so distraught after that. Coaches harp on not pushing off and even Austin gets on me, so I really thought I blew it. So thanks to him. He saved my butt.” — Jones

Contact reporter Daniel Berk at dberk@tucson.com or 573-4330. On Twitter @DSBerk

Arizona's report card

Arizona’s report card for its 49-45 win over Cal

Offense:

Quarterbacks:

B+: There won’t be a tougher player or position to grade all season. Solomon struggled — to put it nicely — in the first half. He was just 18 for 33 for 149 yards, no touchdowns and two picks. He struggled with overthrows and touch on his passes. In the second half, it was a totally different story. The redshirt freshman showed tremendous poise down the stretch, completing pass after pass in the UA’s improbable comeback. He was 29 for 40 for 371 yards, five touchdowns and no picks in the second half. In the end, Solomon set a UA single-game record with 520 passing yards. His 47-yard Hail Mary pass to Austin Hill was a nice ball and Hill didn’t have to jump for it. It wasn’t the prettiest performance by Solomon. Not by a long shot. But when you lead a comeback like that, you can’t get lower than a B+.

Running backs:

C: The running backs were the definition of average in the win over Cal. Nick Wilson had a tough time finding holes and finished with just 33 yards on 11 carries. He exited in the second half with an undisclosed injury and didn’t return. Senior Terris Jones-Grigsby, who missed the past two games with an ankle injury, came on in relief and had 28 yards on five carries. He had a six-yard score in the fourth quarter that was a part of the improbable comeback. Wilson and Jones-Grigsby held onto the ball, which was also important. Wilson was due to come back to earth at some point, but has proven he’s still more than effective. It’s big for the UA that Jones-Grigsby is back and able to spell him.

Wide receivers:

B+: Like Solomon, the second half performance was dramatically better than the first half one. There were a lot of drops in the first half, which hurt Solomon, who was having his own issues. But in the second half, the leaders of the receivers, Cayleb Jones and Austin Hill, came alive. Jones had his third straight 100-yard receiving game. He finished with 186 yards on 13 catches and had three scores. Hill had 8 grabs for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Nate Phillips also had his most productive game of the season with eight catches for 80 yards. It was a solid performance for the receivers, who were without Samajie Grant because of a concussion. DaVonte’ Neal played his first game since the opening week and had five grabs for 41 yards.

Offensive line:

C+: Solomon was sacked three times and often had to rush his throws because he didn’t have enough time. The lack of holes for Wilson to run through were also an issue. But like everyone on offense, the line played better late in the game. As Cal got drained, Arizona’s front five got stronger, which is the entire philosophy behind Rodriguez’s offense. Lene Maiava started at right guard, but Jacob Alsadek, who missed the past two games with a foot injury, came in and played down the stretch. Cal had seven tackles-for-loss, which is too many, but Rodriguez has to be proud of how his line responded late in the game.

Defense:

Front six:

B-: Starting with the good, Scooby Wright had a career game. The sophomore had 18 tackles, four tackles-for-loss, two sacks and one forced fumble. He was all over the field and anchored the defense for the fourth straight game. Tra’Mayne Bondurant, normally a safety, played as a linebacker, and had a big impact in his first full-time duty of the season. Bondurant had seven tackles, 1 ½ tackles-for-loss, a pass breakup and an interception he returned for 24 yards. The defensive line was average, often giving Cal quarterback Jared Goff too much time to throw. Nose guard Jeff Worthy returned after a one-game absence because of a concussion and had three tackles and a fumble recovery. Derrick Turituri had a solid game for the second straight week with six tackles and one tackle-for-loss.

Back five:

C: It wasn’t the greatest night for corners Jonathan McKnight and Jarvis McCall. Both struggled at times with Cal’s talented and athletic receivers. But in the fourth quarter, like everybody else, they were better. Jared Tevis and Will Parks didn’t have huge stat games, both were both solid. Jourdon Grandon had seven tackles, but struggled at times, and was even replaced by Jamar Allah at a point in the second half. The back five is going to have to continue to improve as the season goes on, but was able to escape a career night from Jared Goff with a win.

Special teams:

B: Casey Skowron missed a 27-yard field goal to start, which could have been very costly if Arizona would have lost by two. But he nailed field goals from 28, 31 and 39 yards after the miss. He also had seven touchbacks on eight kick returns. Drew Riggleman also averaged 50 yards on six punts, including a long of 59. He landed two inside the 20. The return game was nonexistent again. Arizona didn’t have any chances at kick returns. Neal had one punt return for -3 yards.

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