Safety Jourdon Grandon and the Arizona Wildcats celebrate with the Zona Zoo after the game. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE
Arizona Wildcats Rich Rodriguez earned a signature victory in his second game in Tucson, as UA defeated No. 18 Oklahoma State 59-38 at Arizona Stadium on Saturday night.
The Cowboys defeated Arizona with ease in each of the past two seasons.
UA turned the tables with a big-play offense, an opportunistic defense (four turnovers) and by taking advantage of 15 OSU penalties for 167 yards.
All that helped Arizona overcome a 14-0 deficit after Oklahoma State scored on its first two possessions.
Arizona had 501 yards of offense; OSU did even better with 626 yards but was undone by the turnovers and penalties.
Check back later and through Sunday for postgame coverage at TucsonCitizen.com
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Wow. Touchdown by Ka’Deem Carey, who is over 100 yards for the second consecutive game. Arizona up 59-38 with 1:57 to play. Only question: Will students storm the field?
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Fourth TD reception for Tracy Moore. OSU still in the hunt with 2:58 to play, trailing 52-38. It’s going to take an on-side kick or two, though.
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CDO connection: After Jared Tevis’s interception, Ka’Deem Carey follows with a 25-yard touchdown run. Arizona, stunningly, is up 52-31 with 4:35 to play.
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It’s going UA’s way: Jared Tevis is on the spot again, this time hauling in a bobbled pass from receiver Josh Stewart and taking it back 32 yards to the OSU 33 with 6:09 left. Arizona looking to drive home the nail in this victory.
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Shades of Antoine Cason racing down the left sideline: Jonathan McKnight picks off a Wes Lunt pass, stepping in front of Jeremy Smith along the sideline, and goes untouched into the end zone. After a two-point conversion pass to Taimi Tutogi, Arizona is up 45-31 with 10:24 to go.
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In a rare case of Matt Scott trying to do too much, he spends too much time scrambling, looking for something down field. He eventually gets tossed for a loss of 11 and UA punts back to OSU. Defense is going to have to make a stop.
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Another OSU mistake. Blake Jackson dropped a catchable pass in the end zone on third zone and the Cowboys have to settle for a 25-yard field goal. Quinn Sharp barely converts, booting the ball off the left upright, but it counts and counts the lead to 37-31 with six seconds to go in the third quarter.
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Hey, Matt Scott is pretty good. He quickly answers OSU’s TD with a 5-play, 75-yard drive than included a 44-yard pass to Austin Hill and a 7-yard keeper that resulted in the touchdown. That’s a play that defenses never had to fear from Nick Foles.
Arizona up 37-28.
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It’s the shootout we thought it could be. Oklahoma State has wrested back momentum, scoring on a 10-yard run at the end of an 81-yard drive to cut Arizona’s lead to 30-28 with 4:57 to go in the third quarter.
Will OSU’s size on the offensive line eventually wear down the Wildcats?
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Oklahoma State ends Arizona’s 30-0 run by going back to Tracy Moore for his third touchdown reception of the night, this one a 9-yarder from Wes Lunt. Lots of time — potential nervous time — left between these two fast-paced, no-huddle teams. UA up 30-21 with 7:47 to go in the third quarter.
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Arizona strikes first in the second half, converting third-and-goal from the 13. Running back Ka’Deem Carey takes a swing pass at about the 18-yard line, darts up the middle of the field and drags defenders the final few yards into the end zone.
UA takes a 30-14 lead — that’s 30 unanswered points (!) — with 9:59 to play in the third quarter.
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Oklahoma State starts the second half with a late-hit penalty on DT Calvin Barnett. He has 45 yards in penalties tonight all by himself. Cowboys have 125.
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Oklahoma State’s first two drives: 15 plays, 125 yards, two touchdowns.
Oklahoma State’s next six drives before halftime: 25 plays, 96 yards, no points, two turnovers and a fourth-down failure.
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The Arizona defense does it again. The OSU receiver falls down, and CB Jonathan McKnight tips the pass from Wes Lunt into the arms of safety Jared Tevis at the OSU 9-yard line. Six straight stops for the Cats.
Arizona runs out the clock and takes a 23-14 lead into halftime.
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It’s a full-blown upset alert now. Arizona marches 66 yards on 10 plays to take a 23-14 lead with 3:22 left in the half. Couple of big plays: A nice 21-yard leaping grab over the middle by Austin Hill, and a 10-yard pass to Tyler Slavin on third-and-9 from the 11.
Ka’Deem Carey pushes in from the 1 for the touchdown.
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After giving up two early touchdowns, the Arizona defense has made five consecutive stops. Didn’t see that coming.
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Opportunity missed. Arizona was set to go for it on fourth-and-3 from the OSU 43, but a false start penalty moved the Cats back 5 yards. QB Matt Scott then tried a rugby punt from the shotgun formation … and shanked it for 10 yards.
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Arizona safety Jourdon Grandon was shaken up on the last possession. His replacement was true freshman Jamar Allah.
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Arizona comes up with a big defensive stop at midfield, stopping QB J.W. Walsh on a quarterback run from the shotgun on fourth-and-1. Momentum all with the Cats.
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And Arizona has the lead. The Cats are struggling in the red zone, settling for field goals instead of getting touchdowns, but at least they are making those field goals. John Bonano puts it through from 24 yards for a 16-14 lead with 11:46 to go in the second quarter.
OSU up to 95 yards in penalties. Arizona appreciates the generosity.
More penalty problems for OSU, which is looking like the old ASU under Dennis Erickson. A holding penalty nullifies a first down, and the Cowboys eventually have to punt back to the Cats, looking to take the lead.
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It’s not a touchdown, but the Cats score again, this time on a 46-yard field goal by John Bonano with 14:18 to go in the second quarter. Arizona is doing what it needed to do — stay in contact with OSU and make this a game into the second half, when the crowd and pressure can be positive factors.
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Arizona scores on the final play of the first quarter … well, not really. Matt Scott hits Terrence Miller for an apparent 19-yard touchdown, but officials review the play and rule that play clearly began after the clock hit zero. So, it’s onto the second quarter, UA facing third-and-3 at the 19, trailing 14-10.
Arizona has hung in nicely after trailing 14-0, thanks, in part, to six OSU penalties and one turnover.
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The Cats are back in business after their TD, as Jake Fischer recovers a fumble at the OSU 29. UA gets stuffed near the goal line, but John Bonano converts a 22-yard field goal (huge sigh of relief there for UA fans) to make the score 14-10 with 3:01 to go in the first quarter.
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Arizona pulls with 14-7, helped on a drive in which OSU defensive tackle Calvin Barnett piled up 30 yards of penalties on one play — roughing the passer and then unnecessary roughness after tussling with QB Matt Scott. The Cats take advantage and score on a 15-yard pass from Scott to Richard Morrison.
Nice play: Outside receiver Dan Buckner ran a short curl to the sideline, giving space and the angle to slot receiver Richard Morrison to run the fade to the right corner of the end zone. He makes an over-the-shoulder catch for the score.
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OSU scored TDs on its first three possessions vs. Arizona last season. The Cowboys are on their way tonight, with two touchdowns in two chances, leading 14-0 with 7:50 to play in the first quarter. OSU uses the Wes Lunt to Tracy Moore connection again, this time for 30 yards, as Moore badly beats Shaquille Richardson on a slant.
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Good: Arizona’s first drive consists of 11 plays. Bad: Arizona reaches the OSU 30, then gets thrown for a sack and goes for it on fourth-and-16. The pass is incomplete. At least that’s consistent with what RichRod told me a few weeks ago: he’ll go for it, rather than punt or try a field goal, at around the 35-yard line.
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Too easy for Oklahoma State. The Cowboys convert 3-and-12 on the opening drive and carves up the Arizona defense for a 61-yard touchdown drive with less than two minutes gone in the game. The drive was capped by a 9-yard pass from Wes Lunt to Tracy Moore, wide open in the end zone.
Not sure why RichRod elected to defer the choice after winning the coin toss, rather than starting on offense. Slow starts have killed Arizona against OSU in each of the past two seasons.
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Oklahoma State has the opening possession. For Arizona, Sir Thomas Jackson makes his second consecutive start at linebacker. Jonathan McKnight gets the start at cornerback over Derrick Rainey.
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No weather concerns here at Arizona Stadium. Temperature in the low 80s. No storms. Disregard the weather note below.
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Scouts from six NFL teams have seats in the press box, from the Cardinals, Giants, Vikings, Saints, Bears and Titans.
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Arizona’s uni watch: Blue helmets, red jerseys and blue pants.
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Arizona’s third chance is its best chance to beat Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys have the better team overall, but there are a couple of potential equalizers for the Cats, namely Oklahoma State freshman quarterback Wes Lunt is making only his second start, his first on the road. How he plays, he how reacts under pressure, is anyone’s guess.
If Arizona forces him into a few mistakes, then the Wildcats can make a game of this, which should keep the home crowd around for the second half and put them into a rowdy mood. That could be fun.
Ultimately, though, Arizona is going to have to scrub all the mistakes it made on offense last week and play just about perfectly to win. That’s too much to ask.
Look for OSU to establish running back Joseph Randle and its big offensive line to eventually take control and win 42-27.
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The forecast for Tucson tonight calls for a 40 to 50 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms, which could mean a delay of the Arizona-Oklahoma State game.
There have been two lightning delays early in the season at Arizona Stadium in recent seasons.
The 2009 opener against Central Michigan was delayed 43 minutes.
The 2008 opener vs. Idaho started 62 minutes late.
There have been two other weather-related delays at Arizona Stadium in the past 20 years.
The Sept. 11, 1993, game against Pacific started 53 minutes late. And the Sept. 18, 2004, matchup vs. Michigan was stopped for 88 minutes.
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Some pregame reading:
–My five things to watch in the Arizona-Oklahoma State game
–Arizona-Oklahoma State III: This time it’s personal
–Arizona’s injury update
–Berry Tramel of the Daily Oklahoman writes how keeping Oklahoma State’s road magic going is more difficult with a freshman quarterback
Greg Hansen’s weekly Mr. Football column
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Nick Foles and Brandon Weeden were the starting quarterbacks in the Arizona-Oklahoma State matchups in each of the past two seasons. On Sunday, they will be opposing rookie quarterbacks in the NFL, when Weeden starts for the Cleveland Browns and Foles backs up Michael Vick in Philadelphia.
Foles will be ready.
“That’s something I learned a long time ago, prepare yourself like you’re the starter no matter what string you are,” Foles said in the Cherry Hills (N.J.) Courier-Post, one of our Gannett partners.
“You don’t want to be (in a situation where) something happens, you’re in the game and you’re not prepared and you don’t know what’s going on. That would be the worst feeling in the world.”