The Arizona Wildcats did everything but win Saturday night.
They started brilliantly. They fought back. They gave the ninth-ranked team in the nation all it could handle.
In the end, the UA came up just short.
Washington defeated Arizona 35-28 in overtime in front of an announced crowd of 48,747 at Arizona Stadium.
The Wildcats (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) came excruciatingly close to winning a game in which they weren’t supposed to be competitive. Arizona opened as a 10-point underdog. The line swelled to 16 points by Saturday evening.
Yet the Wildcats literally battled until the very end.
“It was a testament to our team,” said quarterback Brandon Dawkins, who rushed for 176 yards and accounted for three touchdowns. “Ever since I got here, we’ve always been looked down upon. It was kind of a good statement. To put up a fight like that, I’m really proud of the guys.”
After twice rallying from seven-point deficits in the second half, Arizona tied the score at 28-all on Dawkins’ 3-yard touchdown pass to Josh Kern with 17 seconds left in regulation. The Wildcats won the overtime coin toss and elected to defend.
Arizona’s defense, which kept the team in the game time and again in the second half, allowed a 24-yard run to Lavon Coleman (11 carries, 181 yards, one touchdown) on the first play. Three plays later, with Arizona’s defense scrambling to get lined up properly, Jake Browning hit Dante Pettis for a 4-yard touchdown to give Washington a 35-28 lead.
Arizona advanced to the UW 10-yard line. Dawkins got sacked for a 1-yard loss on second-and-nine, then had to throw the ball away on third down.
Rich Rodriguez called time out to set up one final play. But Dawkins couldn’t handle an errant snap. He had to scoop the ball up and roll to his right. His pass into the end zone for 5-foot-7 Tyrell Johnson fell incomplete.
“It was a little bit off,” Rodriguez said of the final snap. “I don’t look at how (the last play) ended. We didn’t play well in overtime.”
The Wildcats played extremely well at times during the first four quarters. They struggled for long stretches. They needed to play a near-perfect game to upset the Huskies (4-0, 1-0).
It looked promising early, but Arizona couldn’t finish what it started.
The Wildcats simply made too many mistakes. They turned the ball over three times. The defense, missing three key starters, eventually crumbled.
Despite injuries on both sides of the ball – five Week 1 starters were absent, and another key performer got hurt during the game – the Wildcats hung with the Huskies deep into the night.
Every time it seemed as if Washington would pull away, Arizona came up with a stop. Every time the offense seemed to be stifled, Dawkins came up with a play.
After taking a 21-14 lead early in the third quarter, Washington had multiple chances to go up two scores. But cornerback Dane Cruikshank intercepted Browning inside the 5-yard line. Safety Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles broke up a pass, leading to a 40-yard field-goal attempt that missed wide right. Flannigan-Fowles then broke up another third-down throw, leading to a punt.
On third-and-seven from the UA 37, Dawkins ripped off a 56-yard run. Two plays later, Dawkins leaped across the goal line to tie the score at 21 with 4:45 remaining.
Washington needed only three plays to recapture the lead. Coleman dashed through a gaping hole on the left side for a 55-yard touchdown with 3:25 left.
Arizona still had time. A clipping penalty on left tackle Layth Friekh put the Wildcats in a difficult spot. On second-and-25 from the UA 31, Dawkins nearly got sacked. He kept the play alive, drifting to his left, almost all the way to the sideline. He then flung the ball downfield to Shun Brown for a 54-yard gain. Brown finished a game-high seven catches for 114 yards.
Five plays later, Dawkins hit Kern to make it 28-27. Rodriguez said he gave no consideration to attempting a two-point conversion.
Dawkins was asked afterward if he wanted to go for two.
“That’s up to the coach,” Dawkins said. “If he trusts me enough to make a play, I’m definitely confident enough to go out there and give it the best I’ve got.”
The first half was filled with big plays – and equally big misplays.
No play was grander than Dawkins’ 79-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. After nearly getting stopped in the backfield, the redshirt sophomore raced passed the vaunted Washington defense and down the right sideline. It was Arizona’s longest rush since Jared Baker’s 79-yard touchdown run against Colorado last season.
Later in the quarter, Dawkins threw his first interception of the season. He tried to hit Nate Phillips down the right sideline, but Phillips was never open. Kevin King made the pick at the UW 10-yard line.
After Arizona forced Washington to punt, Phillips tried to field the ball on a bounce. He got drilled by UW’s Darren Gardenhire and fumbled. The Huskies recovered at the Wildcats’ 21.
But Washington went backward from there, and Cameron Van Winkle missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt just before intermission.
J.J. Taylor’s 1-yard run 5:59 into the first quarter – capping an impressive 15-play, 75-yard opening drive – gave Arizona a 7-0 lead. The Wildcats were within 2 yards of making it 14-0. But on fourth-and-goal from the 2, the Huskies stuffed Taylor for a 1-yard loss.
Taylor got hurt in the third quarter, suffering a broken left ankle. The flashy freshman, starting in place of the injured Nick Wilson, had 97 yards at that point after rushing for 168 the previous week.
