Great catch Austin Hill!
#beardown— Andre Iguodala (@mindofAI9) September 2, 2012
Austin Hill says he didn’t think he fully extended for a touchdown grab in the second quarter against Toledo.
He might have changed his mind after he went home following Saturday night’s 24-17 overtime victory against Toledo and saw himself on ESPN as the No. 3 college football play of the day (see photo sequence below).
Hill made the first touchdown of the Rich Rodriguez era a spectacular one, launching himself in the end zone to haul in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Matt Scott. He caught the pass on his fingertips, then quickly gathered control against his chest as he hit the ground.
He said he was so excited after the catch, he didn’t get a chance to see the replay on the mammoth video board in the opposite end zone.
Hill had been lined up in the slot to the right of the formation and ran past safety Jermaie Robinson.
“Matt saw me open,” Hill said. “I thought he had overthrown me, but I told myself I was just going to dive for it, make something happen.”
Hill’s catch gave Arizona a 10-7 lead with 12:04 to play in the second quarter. He added a 32-yard catch later in the quarter but lost a fumble at the end of the play.
Hill, a sophomore, ended up with seven catches for a career-high 139 yards. Senior Dan Buckner gave the Cats a second triple-digit receiver with 116 yards on 10 catches.
Hill (6-3, 211) said he wasn’t surprised at the success of the passing game, which produced 387 yards.
“I knew we were going to come out and throw,” he said. “It’s the job of the receivers to try to take advantage of as many passes as we were going to get to get as many yards as we did.”
Photos by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE