Zona Zealots
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Arizona Football: Arizona Upsets No. 10 Utah on Senior Night!

By Shereen Rayan

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The Utah Utes wanted to get one more win under their belt in their quest for the Pac-12 South, the Arizona football team just wanted a win to be bowl eligible.

Petros Papadakis, Fox Sports 1, suggested that possibly Arizona would start Jerrard Randall at quarterback. Did he not watch Anu Solomon play against USC last week?

Arizona came out swinging in the first quarter, Tellas Jones making some big plays including breaking up a tremendous pass by Utah’s Travis Wilson. Anu Solomon passed for 112 yards (7-10) to four different receivers in the first quarter.

High snaps have killed this team all season and as the Wildcats were knocking on the door in the red-zone, third down, Cayman Bundage snapped the ball high and to the right, Anu had to chase it. Rich Rod was livid, and we mean livid. He was covering his mouth while talking, he threw off his headset, he was red in the face, but who could blame him? Arizona could have been ahead by four more points if they had scored a touchdown instead of a field goal. Plus they could have kicked a field goal instead of going for it on fourth down as well.

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At the half, Arizona was ahead 20-17. Anu Solomon had passed for 186 yards and was the leading the team in yards rushing (54 yards.) Cayleb Jones was the leader in yards receiving catching four passes for 76 yards, Samajie Grant went 2-52 yards. Utah’s Travis Wilson had passed 123 yards completing 11 of 15 passes. Devontae Booker, hurt for some plays, came back and earned 63 yards on 14 carries.

In the third quarter, Arizona’s defense held Utah back from scoring a touchdown by stopping them in the red zone on third down settling for a field goal. Cayleb Jones caught a 50-yard pass from Solomon to get the Wildcats going. Anu fooled the Utah defense and ran in for a touchdown. Kind of a redemption for throwing that interception earlier.

The fourth quarter began with the two teams tied, just like the game hadn’t been played up to this point. Anu ran the ball and was hit in the helmet, taking him out of the game and onto the trainer table for concussion protocol. Yes, the Pac-12 referee’s did not call it, funny how that works. Jerrard Randall came in after a time-out and threw a pick deep in Utah territory.

Nov 14, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; Arizona Wildcats defensive lineman Parker Zellers (93) celebrates after recovering a fumble during the fourth quarter against the Utah Utes at Arizona Stadium. Arizona won 37-30 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Utah started their long and methodical march toward their end zone.  Jake Matthews went down to injury, leaving a hole on the defense with three or so minutes left in the game. This game was about to come down to a field goal, but then the Arizona defense stopped the Utes with 1:08 to go and two time-outs remaining. Arizona quarterback Jerrard Randall threw a couple of passes that no one caught and one was almost intercepted forcing an Arizona punt.

The punt went all the way to the Arizona five-yard-line and the defense stopped Britain Covey. Utah took a knee, and we went to overtime!

Arizona won the toss and elected to give Utah the ball first. Arizona’s defense was pumped up, and for two downs, stopped the ball from moving forward forcing a field goal that Utah made. Arizona could not move the ball either which resulted in a Skowron field goal. Double Overtime!

On the first play in Double overtime, Randall passed to Nate Phillips for a touchdown!!! Skowron kicked the extra point. Arizona 37 Utah 30.

Utah made a first down on their first try; there was an apparent fumble that was reviewed and NOT overturned. The ball had seemed out of the Ute’s hands before he landed on the ground. Arizona forced a fourth and 16 yards to go. Pass incomplete!

The seniors stepped up the defense stepped up the offense stepped up, Scooby was on the sideline cheering his team, Anu stepped up but couldn’t go back into the game, so Randall stepped up! ARIZONA WINS AND UPSETS THE NO. 10 UTAH UTES!!

Twitter went nuts! The ZONAZOO stormed the field!

Coach Rich Rodriguez spoke to IMG Sports Networks Brian Jeffries, “Our defense hung in there..it was a team win..we had been behind the sticks the whole game..we felt good offensively but we didn’t have the ball. I tell the guys to play all 60 minutes, but I think we played 80. When we got to overtime, I felt pretty confident. We are playing a little bit more of man coverage..I’m so happy for our seniors, they are the one’s who deserve it the most.”

Rich Rod dances in the locker room.

Biggest Plays:

  • 1sr Qtr:  Casey Skowron hits a 47-yard Field Goal to start the game – Arizona 3 Utah 0
  • 1st Qtr:  Jeff Worthy, Tellas Jones, and Jack Banda Sacked the Utah Quarterback Travis Wilson
  • 1sr Qtr:  Samajie Grant caught a seven-yard touchdown from Anu Solomon – Arizona 10 Utah 0
  • 1st Qtr:  Devontae Booker ran in a 1-yard touchdown – Arizona 10 Utah 7
  • 1st Qtr:  Samajie Grant caught a 45-yard pass from Anu Solomon
  • 1st Qtr:  Cayleb Jones caught a 17-yard pass fro Anu Solomon – Arizona 17 Utah 7
  • 2nd Qtr: Interception Jamar Allah, with help from Jarvais McCall helped Utah cough up the ball
  • 2nd Qtr: Fumble with 7:54 left, forced and recovered by defensive linemen Jeff Worthy and Parker Zellers
  • 2nd Qtr: The Wildcats Defense including Paul Magloire stopped the Utes in the Red Zone, yes you read that correctly. Utah 34-yard field goal by Andy Phillips
  • 2nd Qtr:  Cayleb Jones caught a 46-yard pass from Solomon to get Arizona into the Red Zone – Solomon had passed for 186 yards at this point.
  • 2nd Qtr: After a Cayman Bundage high snap, Arizona settles for 40-yard field goal by Casey Skowron – Arizona 20 -Utah 7
  • 2nd Qtr: Touchdown Utah, 2-yard pass to Kenneth Scott from Travis Wilson – Arizona 20 Utah 17
  • 3rd Qtr:  Touchdown Utah, 59-yard pass by Travis Wilson to Harrison Handley – Arizona 20 Utah 24
  • 3rd Qtr:  Interception by Utah in the end zone, was a third down and six yards to go, Anu scrambled and threw it up, but couldn’t get it to his receiver
  • 3rd Qtr:  Utah stopped by Arizona’s Reggie Gilbert on third down, Utah kicked a field goal  by Andy Phillips – Arizona 20 Utah 27
  • 3rd Qtr: Cayleb Jones caught a 50-yard pass by Solomon to get the Cats into the end zone.
  • 4th Qtr: Randall came in to replace Anu after a helmet to helmet hit that the refs did not call and threw an interception
  • 4th Qtr: Fumble by Utah, Parker Zellers recovered the fumble!!!
  • 4th Qtr:  Jared Baker had a nice run up the middle to move the chains, one minute to go
  • OT: Utah made a 40-yard field goal that hit the uprights and went through – Arizona 27 Utah 30
  • OT: Utah was able to stop the Cats from scoring a touchdown, Casey Skowron kicked a field goal – Arizona 30 Utah 30
  • DOT: First play, Randall to Nate Phillips for a touchdown – Arizona 37 Utah 30.
  • DOT: Arizona’s Defense forces a fourth down and 16, the Utes cannot convert, and lose

Biggest Struggles: 

  • 1st Qtr:   Defense could not stop Utah in the Red Zone
  • 1st Qtr:   Utah suffered 4-44 yards on penalties
  • 2nd Qtr: Rich Rod went for it on fourth down on the Utah 30 yard line, and Solomon threw the ball high, turnover
  • 2nd Qtr: With Arizona knocking on the door, Cayman Bundage snapped the ball high and wide, Solomon had to recover, resulting in a field goal instead of a possible touchdown
  • 2nd Qtr: Davonte’ Neal called for two pass-interference penalties
  • 3rd Qtr: Solomon’s passes were high when they really needed some yardage
  • 4th Qtr: Arizona stopped Utah on third and six, but then Tellas Jones was called offsides, giving Utah five yards and the first down
  • 4th Qtr: Jake Matthews went down with a little over three minutes to go in the game, limped off the field with help
  • OT: Randall struggled with passing

Anu’s okay and going to be celebrating, got this info from his loved ones.

https://twitter.com/PaigeNFranzese/status/665785617943412736

Next: Meet Matt Dudek, the heart of Arizona's football program

Notes: 

  • 1sr Qtr: Nick Wilson played in the first series
  • 1sr Qtr: Utah is 4-44 on penalties so far tonight
  • 1sr Qtr: Cayleb Jones and Utah’s Hatfield were jawing at each other, Hatfield got the penalties
  • 1sr Qtr: Scooby Wright engaged with his teammates in this game, he was active on the sidelines, hasn’t been
  • 2nd Qtr: Again Papadakis asks why Jerrard Randall hasn’t come into the game, he apparently missed the USC game when Solomon played the entire game.
  • Halftime:  Arizona 20 Utah 17
  • Halftime: Utah gets away with performing a HAKA, because no one cares if they do the HAKA
  • 3rd Qtr: Solomon threw an interception, he could have run it six yards for the first down
  • 4th Qtr: Utah penalized nine times for 109 yards
  • 4th Qtr: Anu Solomon was the leading rusher with ten carries for 86 yards
  • DOT: Six players sacked the Utah Quarterback four times, we do believe that’s the most in a game this season.
  • DOT: Randall makes the pass of his college career to Nate Phillips
  • DOT: Final Arizona 37 Utah 30
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