UTSA-Arizona Football Recap

Well that was not the prettiest of wins, but a win is a win and the Arizona Wildcats are 2-0! Still alive for the college football playoffs! Now back to tonight’s Arizona 26-23 win over the very talented UTSA Roadrunners. Safety Jared Tevis, LB Scooby Wright, WR Cayleb Jones, and RB Nick Wilson all had phenomenal games, while QB Anu Solomon looked like a freshman in his first career road game. Lets take a look at a quick recap of tonight’s game.

More from Wildcats Football

• Arizona Football begins Conference play against Stanford
• Arizona Football starts slow but runs away from UTEP
• How Wildcats Fans Can Claim $200 INSTANT Bonus at BetMGM Betting $10 Right Now
• Costly Mistakes doom Arizona Football in loss to Mississippi State
• How can Arizona Football beat Mississippi State on the road?

The game could not have started out any better for Wildcat fans. On the first play of the game Solomon connected with Jones on an 86 yard pass and just like that it was 7-0 Arizona. That was the last easy play of the game as the Roadrunners started to settle in well after the first quarter. The defense stopped UTSA on their first drive and than the Wildcats opened up a 10-0 lead after kicker Casey Skowron made his first out of four field goals on the night, this one from 38 yards. After back-to-back punts, UTSA finally got on the board with an 11 play 85 yard drive that ended in a David Morgan touchdown reception from QB Tucker Carter. Wildcats lead 10-7 after the first quarter.

Another made FG by Skowron, this one from 23 yards out, made it 13-7 Wildcats at the start of the second quarter. Then, UTSA took its first lead of the game, on a Kam Jones 18 yard rush. That made it 14-13 Roadrunners and the lead grew to 16-13 after a high snap by center Steven Gurrola forced Solomon to step out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The defense stepped up after the safety and forced a punt giving the ball back to the offense for one last chance to take the lead back before the half and that is exactly what they did. Helped by a face mask and pass interference call, Nick Wilson took the ball in for a two yard touchdown run and gave the Wildcats a 20-16 going into the half.

Aug 29, 2014; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats place kicker Casey Skowron (41) attempts a field goal out of the hold of punter Drew Riggleman (39) during the first quarter against the UNLV Rebels at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats won 58-13. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

The third quarter was the Casey Skowron show as he made two more field goals, one from 44 and one from 28, and the score was 26-16 Arizona after three.  Side note: How great is it that the Wildcats finally have a kicker that realizes you only get the three points if the kick goes through the uprights? Ok side note over. The fourth quarter started with what ended up being a huge 25 yard missed FG by UTSA kicker Sean Ianno. This ended up being the difference in this one, but was not the only reason UTSA lost.

UTSA forced an Arizona punt after the missed FG and marched down the field for a touchdown. That was one of the more frustrating drives you will see if you are a Wildcat fan. It started with a boneheaded roughing the passer penalty by Cody Ippolito. After that, Tucker Carter completed a 29 yard pass to WR Aaron Grubb and that was followed up later in the drive by a 25 yard prayer answered by TE David Morgan to convert a 4th and 11. The drive ended with a three yard touchdown run by RB David Glasco II. The teams traded a few more punts and than the play of the game happened that sealed a win for the Wildcats.

UTSA QB Tucker Carter scrambled around looking for an open receiver with the Roadrunners driving trying to tie the game up. He had a wide open receiver and all Carter had to do was throw a nice little touch pass and the WR was running for a while. Instead, Carter threw a shovel pass and it was intercepted by Jared Tevis and the Wildcats were able to take a deep breathe and exhale. After a turnover on downs and a defensive stop on the last drive of the game the Wildcats escaped. 26-23.

Key statistics from tonight’s game:

• 454 yards of total offense (231 passing and 223 rushing)
• RB Nick Wilson: 30 attempts 174 yards and one touchdown
• WR Cayleb Jones: 4 receptions for 143 yards and one touchdown
• Safety Jared Tevis: 16 tackles (1.5 TFL) and one interception
• LB Scooby Wright: 11 tackles and one sack
• Kicker Casey Skowron: 4/4 on FG 2/2 on XP

It was not pretty, but it was a win and Bear Down nation will take it. This is a game that will make both teams better the rest of the season and was a good win for Arizona football. Rich Rodriguez, and the rest of the coaching staff, have a lot to work on in practice this week, but there were still some nice things done in this game that the team can be happy about. Check back tomorrow for more news and recaps of tonight’s 26-23 Arizona Wildcat win. Bear Down!