Arizona Football travels to Boulder, comes away with win

BOULDER, CO – Arizona Football (4-1, 2-0) comes away with the big, road win over the Colorado Buffaloes, winning by a 35-30 final!

The Arizona Football team leads the Pac-12 South after successfully beating the Colorado Buffaloes at home this week, in a 35-30 win!

It was nothing but drama all week. Will Khalil Tate and J.J. Taylor play, or will they not against the Buffaloes in Boulder? That was seemingly the story line for Arizona as they were preparing for this huge, Pac-12 showdown.

Arizona Wildcats

Seemingly coming down to a game time decision, Tate would ultimately make the start for Arizona and propel the Cats to the big, conference win behind his arm… yes, you read that right, his arm!

Tate would finish the day, throwing for 404 yards on 31 of 41 passing, with three touchdowns to just one interception.

Coming in, Arizona was originally a 4.5-point underdog, and the line moved to just 2.0 right before the kick-off. With Tate and Taylor still uncertain, the two came in ready to go and it certainly was the difference maker in this one.

The Wildcats started out sluggish, falling behind early 3-0, due in large part to missed tackles, but the defense came through in their first series, holding the Buffaloes to a field goal in their first drive.

Not long after, Arizona would go 90 yards in nine plays, taking the lead at 7-3 after a Tate touchdown pass to Stanley Berryhill III in the first quarter.

Colorado would again, regain the lead just a few series later, going up 13-7, but luckily Arizona and Tate would respond, going 75 yards on one-play, after Tate found Cedric Peterson on a wide open route to make it 14-13, Cats.

That’s when the back and forth began, as the Buffaloes would gain the lead again just before the half, going 75 yards in nine plays to go up 20-14.

Arizona would make it interesting before the half, as Jamarye Joiner would almost return the ensuing kick-off for a touchdown, but unfortunately stepped out at the 44-yard line to negate the touchdown, and allow Colorado to hold on to the slim, 20-14 lead at halftime.

Needing a big half to start the second, Tate and Arizona responded accordingly, going 65 yards in six plays to regain the lead at 21-20, but unfortunately, the Buffaloes wouldn’t go away, scoring a few series later to go up 27-21 in the middle of the third quarter.

On the ensuing drive, the Cats would go up again, this time going 85 yards in six plays, capped by an Arizona touchdown from Nathan Tilford, to give the Cats the lead at 28-27 with 3:42 left in the third quarter.

Hoping to find some consistency on defense, Colorado would go up yet again, this time scoring on a field goal with 11:29 to play to go up 30-28, but that would shortly be outdone by Arizona on the very next drive.

Needing some big plays, Tate and Arizona would drive the field, going 77 yards in 13 plays to make to regain the lead, this time for good as the Wildcats went 35-30 after another Tilford run, his second of the game!

Luckily, the defense came up big when they needed to, as the Wildcats would hold on to ultimately win this one, improving to 4-1 (2-0) on the year. With the win, they now hold on to the first place lead in the Pac-12 South, and will return home next week to take on No. 15 Washington to see if they can increase their win streak to five games!

Listen to Tate, following the teams’ win!

At Zona Zealots, we’re proud of our Cats and hope they can continue to play well, and carry on the momentum! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!