Matt Scott did a lot of this against Stanford. Photo by Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE
The Stanford defense, scorched all game by Arizona, makes a play in overtime and comes up with its first turnover of the day. On third-and-10 from the 13, Stanford defensive lineman Henry Anderson tips a pass at the line of scrimmage, with the ball soaring up and then down into the arms of linebacker Chase Thomas.
On Stanford’s second play of overtime, Stepfan Taylor goes through the middle and finds open field and paydirt for a 22-yard touchdown and a 54-48 victory.
Heartbreak for Arizona, which coughed up a 14-point lead and was one defensive stop away from winning the game in regulation.
The Cats fall to 3-3 overall, 0-3 in the Pac-12.
Matt Scott finished with a school-record 45 completions on a school-record 69 attempts, throwing for 491 yards and three touchdowns. None of the completions came in overtime, though, and he missed a key third-down throw late in the game with Arizona protecting a seven-point lead.
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Stanford won the toss. Arizona to get the ball first in overtime. Hard to think that a field goal will cut it.
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Rich Rodriguez doesn’t take a shot at the end of regulation, with the Cats starting at their 18 with about 40 seconds left. A couple of runs means that this is going to overtime. Rodriguez had been aggressive all game.
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Arizona’s defense comes up one play short. Stanford, facing fourth-and-9 from 20, gets a 16-yard pass over the middle to tight end Zach Ertz. QB Josh Nunes completes a 14-play drive with a 4-yard option run, and the PAT is good for a 48-48 tie with 45 seconds left.
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Key play: Stanford’s Josh Nunes scrambles for a 16-yard gain on third-and-7 from midfield. Less than 3 minutes left. Game on the line.
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Uh-oh. Arizona goes three-and-out after the Stanford touchdown. Matt Scott fires too high to Tyler Slavin, incomplete, on third-and-10.
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Arizona missed a chance to put this game in a headlock, as Stanford completed a 19-yard pass to (who else?) Levine Toilolo on fourth-and-2 from the UA 20. QB Josh Nunes takes it in on a keeper, cutting the lead to 48-41 with 6:34 to play.
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Matt Scott now has single-game school records for attempts (63) and completions (43). He’s 26 yards away from the yardage mark of 510 held by Willie Tuitama (at Washington, Oct. 27. 2007).
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The Wildcats take advantage of the turnover, converting a key third-and-6 on as Ka’Deem Carey takes a swing pass 24 yards to the Stanford. Matt Scott then makes good on another third-down chance, hitting Terrence Miller for a 9-yard score and a 48-34 lead with 9:13 to go.
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There’s the turnover Arizona needed. It could be the one mistake the Cats needed to break serve in this back-and-forth game. Arizona strips the ball from Stanford WR Ty Montgomery, not known for his hands, and recovers at the Stanford 45.
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Arizona still rolling. Matt Scott is throwing darts, in perfect rhythm, as he leads another touchdown drive, capped by an 8-yard touchdown run by Ka’Deem Carey. Scott kept the drive alive with a bullet over the middle to Austin Hill for a 25-yard gain to the Stanford 32 on third-and 16.
The Cats make the two-point conversion — a pass to Hill — for a 41-34 lead with 12:29 to go.
Last one with the ball wins?
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No time to catch your breath. Stanford’s Kelsey Young goes around left end and sprints 55 yards for a touchdown as the lead goes back to the Cardinal with 28 seconds left before the fourth quarter. Arizona breaks up a two-point conversion pass as Jonathan McKnight bats down a pass intended for Levine Toilolo.
It’s 34-33 Stanford. The fourth quarter won’t be boring.
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The Arizona offense still picking apart Stanford’s defense, going 75 yards for another touchdown, this one a 17-yard dart from Matt Scott to Austin Hill. With a 33-28 lead, Rich Rodriguez opts to try to two-point conversion for a seven-point edge, but the pass goes off the hands of Tyler Slavin.
Scott is at 404 yards with 1:11 to go in the third quarter.
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Johnny Jackson down on the field, getting his right ankle looked at with 2:18 to play in the third quarter. He has 10 receptions today.
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Arizona’s defense hanging in there but Stanford is countering with big pass plays down the field. That’s the play UA is basically daring the Cardinal to complete, wanting first to take away the run.
In the game of pick-your-poison, the Cats give up a 54-yard pass to Jamal-Rashad Patterson to the UA 7. Two plays later, Stepfan Taylor takes it in from 5 yards. The PAT gives Stanford a 28-27 lead with 2:28 to play.
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Arizona was ready to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Stanford 43, but RT Fabbians Ebbele was penalized for a false start. The Cats had a chance to go up by two scores but they have to punt back to Stanford instead.
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Arizona holds serve, scoring again to retake the lead. This shootout stuff is fun. Matt Scott fires amid traffic to Austin Hill in the end zone for a 12-yard score to make it 27-21 UA with 8:20 left in the third quarter.
Big edge to the first defense that comes up with a turnover.
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Stanford answers Arizona’s touchdown with one of its own to lead 21-20. For as much as the Cardinal is having trouble stopping the passing of Matt Scott, the Wildcats are having equal difficulty covering tight end Levine Toilolo. He had 22- and 42-yard receptions on that drive, which was capped by a 2-yard run from QB Josh Nunes.
Toilolo has four catches for 122 yards — 20 more than his previous career high.
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Trainers attending to Jake Fischer with 12:13 to play in the third quarter. True freshman Dakota Conwell comes in for Fischer.
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Ka’Deem Carey crashes in from 1 yard out as Arizona, with ease, marches 75 yards in less than two minutes on its opening drive of the second half. The Wildcats have scored on four consecutive possessions and lead 20-14.
Arizona’s tempo and play-calling has negated Stanford’s size and strength up front.
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More record watch: UA mark for single-game completions is 42 (Willie Tuitama vs. Cal, 2007). Matt Scott with 26 at half.
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Redshirt freshman walk-on Johnny Jackson, who entered the game with eight catches, has nine receptions for 67 yards.
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Arizona gets to first-and-goal from the 10 in the final minute of the first half, but three incomplete passes (and a false start) means the Cats have to go for a 33-yard field goal. John Bonano makes it to cut the lead to 14-13 with 16 seconds left in the half.
And that’s the way the first half ends.
The Cats have done what they needed to do — hang around. Stanford is having trouble with the Arizona passing game, which is nibbling its way down field. Matt Scott attempted 41 passes in the first half, completing 26 for 216 yards.
The UA single-game record for passes is 61, set by Willie Tuitama at California on Sept. 22, 2007. That’s not going to last much longer.
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Stanford retakes the lead as 6-foot-8 tight end Levine Toilolo asserts himself on the latest drive. He beats OLB Hank Hobson (playing a lot in place of Sir Thomas Jackson) for a easy 46-yard catch-and-run to the Arizona 14 and then scores on a 12-yard pass to the back of the end zone.
The Cardinal goes up 14-10 with 2:28 to go in the half. Plenty of time left to score for Arizona, which also gets the ball to start the second half.
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Matt Scott finding all kinds of rhythm in the passing game, especially working a connection with two surprising players — slot WR Johnny Jackson and fullback Taimi Tutogi.
After a 15-play drive, Arizona stalls inside the red zone and has to try a 34-yard field goal from John Bonano. Nervous times for Arizona when having to kick a field goal, but Bonano puts it through for a 10-7 lead with 6:20 to go before half.
Rich Rodriguez made a huge call earlier in the drive, going for it on fourth-and-10 from the Stanford 40. An 11-yard pass from Scott to Dan Buckner makes the coach look good. Know this: No way Mike Stoops would have gone for that.
It could have been a touchdown drive, however, but Terrence Miller dropped a third-down pass at the goal line.
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Arizona gets a reception the hard way, as Taimi Tutogi goes over the middle, gets knocked down as the ball pops into the air, bounces off the back of a Stanford defensive back and into the arms of Tutogi on the ground. Just your typical 16-yard gain.
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Ka’Deem Carey now has 17 touchdowns in 16 career games.
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Walk-on slot receiver Johnny Jackson getting some good work in, especially since it appears no one else wants to catch the ball. Jackson has four catches for 26 yards as Arizona is marching. A 31-yard sideline pass to Dan Buckner gets the Cats to the 12.
Ka’Deem Carey takes it in from there to tie the game at 7 with 12:10 to go in the second quarter.
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Arizona’s defense holds again as the first quarter ends. The Cats start the second quarter at their 19, trailing 7-0.
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Stanford sacks Matt Scott on back-to-back plays as Arizona goes three-and-out. Scott doesn’t seem to be moving around well, playing through hip and ankle problems. The Cardinal entered the game ranked fourth nationally with 9.0 tackles for loss per game; Stanford is likely to exceed that average today.
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Sophomore linebacker Hank Hobson hasn’t played much this season because of injury, but he plays on Arizona’s second possession at Stanford and gets part of a sack as the Wildcats force a punt.
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Arizona’s first drive ends just across midfield, with Matt Scott throwing into traffic for a 2-yard gain to Dan Buckner on an inside screen. That play didn’t have much hope on third-and-9.
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Shane Zink starts at left guard, with Chris Putton moving to right guard. That’s how Arizona lined up last week, too, with right guard Trace Biskin out with an injury.
Starting center Kyle Quinn is out. Addison Bachman gets the start.
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Stanford establishes its offensive superiority with an 11-play drive that covers 65 yards and takes 5:32 off the clock. The key play was letting QB Josh Nunes scramble for a first down on third-and-11 early in the drive.
Nunes eventually finds tight end Zach Ertz in the back of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown, as replacement safety Patrick Onwuasor tries to defend but appears to mistime his jump to deflect the ball.
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Patrick Onwuasor starts for Bandit safety Jared Tevis, who is out because of an ankle injury. Kirifi Taula starts at defensive end for injured Dominique Austin.
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Stanford wins the toss, elects to receive, and Arizona wastes no making a special teams mistakes, as John Bonano kicks the ball out of bounds, giving the Cardinal possession at the 35.
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The Arizona Wildcats will take on their third consecutive ranked team today with a game at 18th-ranked Stanford.
UA has lost its past six games to ranked Pac-12 teams.
The early schedule hasn’t been kind to Arizona in each of the past two seasons, but every obstacle is also an opportunity, and the Wildcats would be sitting in great shape, at 4-2 overall, with a win today on The Farm.
Arizona can do enough nibbling at the edges of Stanford’s defense to move the ball, and, unlike, the past few seasons, there is a chance to make the Cardinal one-dimensional on offense.
Andrew Luck isn’t there to get Stanford into the right play at the line of scrimmage, avoid negative plays and provide a deep threat in the passing game. With quarterback Josh Nunes at the helm, Stanford ranks 111th nationally in third-down conversions (29.8 percent).
I can see Arizona keeping this close into the second half, but asking a thin, undersized defense to hold up for 60 minutes against the physical Stanford attack is too much to ask.
The Cardinal wins the fourth quarter and takes a 35-24 victory.
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The National Football Post considers Stanford outside linebacker Chase Thomas one of the most underrated prospects in the Pac-12. Writes Russ Lande:
“While Thomas’ pass rush skills are good, he separates himself from many other good pass rushers with his outstanding play against the run. You can observe from watching him play that he has been coached well and learns from that coaching. He consistently carries out his responsibility, maintains proper positioning, has good footwork and uses hands correctly to take on run blocks.”
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Some pregame reading:
Arizona-Stanford: Five things to watch
Carey on: Sophomore on pace for one of best seasons for an Arizona running back
Arizona’s Matt Scott as NFL prospect: ‘Raw, but talent worthy of developing’
San Jose Mercury News: Stanford’s objective: Stop Arizona’s spread offense
Javier Morales offers his pregame notes at WildAboutAZCats.net
Greg Hansen’s Mr. Football column