PASADENA, Calif. — Arizona is still in contention for its first Pac-10 championship, feeling more relief than revelry after surviving an upset bid by struggling UCLA.
No. 15 Arizona held off the Bruins 29-21 on Saturday as the Wildcats dominated the statistics but didn’t clinch the victory until the final minute.
“We had a chance to put them away, but they kept us out of the end zone,” Coach Mike Stoops said. “We moved the ball and controlled play, but they suckered us on two big plays.”
Arizona rolled up a season-high 583 yards and 32 first downs and held the Bruins to 299 yards and 15 first downs.
Those two big plays were a 68-yard touchdown pass from Richard Brehaut to Randall Carroll on the fourth play of the second half and a 49-yard touchdown pass from Brehaut to Josh Smith with 14:24 remaining. Both moved the Bruins to within five points of the Wildcats.
Arizona backup Matt Scott had another big game in the absence of Nick Foles, completing 24 of 36 passes for a career-high 319 yards with one touchdown and one interception and rushing for another 71 yards on 12 carries.
Scott, a junior from nearby Corona, threw for 233 yards and ran for another 65 in a 44-14 victory over Washington last weekend filling in for Foles, who sprained his right knee two weeks ago.
Keola Antolin rushed for 111 yards on 23 carries for the Wildcats (7-1, 4-1), off to their best start since winning sevenof their first eight games en route to a 12-1 finish in 1998.
Stoops shocked the Bruins by calling a fake punt on fourth-and-3 from the Arizona 27 with 6:23 remaining and the Wildcats leading 26-21. Jake Fischer ran for 29 yards to give the Wildcats a big first down.
“It was there all day,” Stoops said. “We were on our heels in the fourth quarter, and they took the bait.”
The play enabled the Wildcats to eat up some time before having to punt. The Bruins turned the ball over on downs, putting the Wildcats in position for Alex Zendejas’ third field goal of the game, a 30-yarder.
UCLA’s final chance ended when Brooks Reed sacked Brehaut and caused a fumble, which Sione Tuihalamaka recovered with 48 seconds left.
“We came out electric in the first half, but slow in the second half,” Scott said. “Their big plays took our momentum away, and we didn’t get it back.”
Brehaut passed for a career-best 228 yards and two touchdowns for the Bruins (3-5, 1-4), who lost their third straight game but performed much better than in their last two, when they were outscored 95-20 at California and Oregon.
In other games involving Pac-10 teams, Jacquizz Rodgers threw for a touchdown before running for three more and OregonState defeated California 35-7 in Corvallis, Ore. Rodgers rushed for 119 yards for the Beavers (4-3, 3-1), who led 28-0 at the half. California (4-4, 2-3) was stung in the first quarter when quarterback Kevin Riley injured his left knee and had to be helped off the field. The nature of his injury was not immediately released. ... Andrew Luck ran for one score and threw for another, and No. 13 Stanford (7-1, 4-1) scored touchdowns on its first four possessions in an impressive 41-0 rout of Washington (3-5, 2-3) in Seattle. ... Steven Threet returned from last week’s concussion to throw for 300 yards and hit Jamal Miles on two of his three touchdown passes, helping Arizona State (4-4, 2-3) extend Washington State’s (1-8, 0-6) conference losing streak to 15 games with a dominating 42-0 victory in Tempe, Ariz.MOUNTAIN WEST Utah holds off Air Force
AIR FORCE ACADEMY - Utah’s defense forced five turnovers and stopped the Falcons twice on downs in the final quarter, helping the No. 8 Utes (5-0) hold off Air Force for a 28-23 win Saturday.
Safety Greg Bird came up with one big hit after another, and Eddie Wide scored twice as the Utes ran their record to 8-0 for the third time in the last seven years.
Tim Jefferson passed for 201 yards and ran for another 67 as the Falcons (5-4, 3-3) dropped their third consecutive game. He also threw two interceptions.
In other games involving Mountain West teams, freshman quarterback Pete Thomas ignited a 21-point first quarter with a touchdown pass, Leonard Mason ran for 124 yards and three scores, and Colorado State (3-6, 2-3) defeated New Mexico (0-8, 0-4) 38-14 in Fort Collins, Colo. ... Ryan Lindley passed for 365 yards and three touchdowns, and Brandon Sullivan scored on three short runs to lead San Diego State (6-2, 3-1) past Wyoming (2-7, 0-5) 48-38. San Diego State is eligible for a bowl for the first time since 1998.
Sports, Pages 38 on 10/31/2010