Arizona Wildcats receiver Austin Hill caught the ball about 10 yards down field, turned and saw one defender standing between him and the goal line.
Sorry, Sean Parker.
In a move that the team’s video crew will want to show in super slo-mo for the season-ending highlight video, Hill delivered Arizona’s best stiff arm of the year, planting his left hand on the side of Parker’s helmet and driving him to the turf.
Hill carried on, diving into the end zone past the would-be tackle of Washington safety Travis Feeney for a 17-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half. That gave the Wildcats a 38-17 lead en route to a 52-17 victory over the Huskies.
“I haven’t stiff-armed anybody since high school,” Hill said.
“It’s been a while since I had that feeling. Natural instinct. … I just wanted to get into the end zone.”
Earlier in the season, Hill made one of Arizona’s most athletic plays of the season with a diving catch in the end zone against Toledo.
Against the Huskies’ Parker, Hill might have channeling the physicality of his father, David Hill, a two-time Pro Bowl tight end who played in 176 NFL games from 1976 to 1987 for the Lions and Rams.
Austin Hill catches a pass that turned into a 53-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE
Austin Hill’s stiff arm will be one of the enduring snapshots of the win over Washington.
“Man, I didn’t know what do to,” quarterback Matt Scott said about his reaction to the play.
“I was so excited. I was jumping up and down. It was crazy. He’s a player, man. He’s a good player.”
Hill caught only two passes against the Huskies, but both went for scores. His earlier reception covered 53 yards late in the first half, Arizona’s longest pass play of the season.
Hill has 44 catches this season (tied for the team lead with Dan Buckner) for a UA-best 678 yards.
Hill, a 6-3 sophomore, has caught two touchdown passes in each of the past three games and is 13th nationally with 96.9 receiving yards per game. With five regular-season games left, plus a possible bowl, Hill is well within reach of the school single-season record for touchdown receptions.
The record is 11, accomplished by T Bell in 1974, Mike Thomas in 2007, and Juron Criner in 2010 and 2011.