It was 2014, and the Arizona Wildcats were on the brink of experiencing their first loss of the season.
It wasn’t particularly close, either. Cal led the UA 31-13 at one point, causing fans to head for the exits at Arizona Stadium.
Then, a football miracle.
Arizona scored 36 points in the fourth quarter, with help from Tra’Mayne Bondurant’s interception and Casey Skowron’s onside kick. Anu Solomon’s last-second, 47-yard Hail Mary pass to wide receiver Austin Hill won Arizona the game 49-45.
Solomon completed 47 of 73 passes — a school record — for 520 yards and five touchdowns, with two of them going to Hill.
The game-winning play, since dubbed the “Hill Mary,” remains one of the most incredible moments in program history. Sunday marks the sixth anniversary of the thrilling finish.
“Everything that could’ve happened to go our way, went our way. … Everything that could’ve happened for us to even have a shot at a Hail Mary — it was just crazy how everything transpired,” Hill said last week. “It was a team effort, but it was also a super choke job on Cal’s part. If they would’ve just stopped us from doing one thing that luckily happened in our favor, we would’ve lost that game and had no chance.
“I don’t like to use the word luck, because we put ourselves in position to win that game. But there was definitely some crazy stuff to happen in order for us to even be in position for a Hail Mary to happen. Looking back on it, it was just a crazy sequence of events.”
Hill, now a financial advisor in Southern California, joined the Star’s Wildcast podcast last week to talk about the catch and his favorite college memories:
Was the “Hill Mary” drawn up for you specifically?
A: “Honestly, I think it was supposed to go to (Trey) Griffey. It was supposed to go to either me or Griffey and then Cayleb (Jones) was supposed to come in (on the) backside to catch anything that was tipped up in the air. He was supposed to be that athletic guy that’s like, ‘Hey, I’m just gonna jump on top of everybody and get over there.’ I don’t even think he got over there in time. But I believe the ball was supposed to go to Griffey and I was supposed to be in the front or the middle to get the ball. You know me, I’m a receiver. So when I see a ball in the air and it’s anyone that can go up for it, I’m just going to find it. I don’t care at that point who the ball is supposed to go to; I’m going to go up and catch that ball.”
Take us through the play and how it was set up.
A: “Beginning of that play, I was dead tired. That was the most tired I’ve ever been in a football game. … Griffey actually had to talk to me before that play, because I was just exhausted. And he was like, ‘Hey, come on, Austin! We got one more play!’ I’m like, ‘Boy, I know! I got it, I’m just tired.’ When I was able to come down with that (ball), I don’t know how, there were so many hands flailing trying to knock the ball down.
“When I came down with that ball, it just felt so surreal. It felt like I was close to the sideline so I was like, ‘Man, it would (stink) if I caught this ball and I’m out of bounds.’ That would be awful.
“Once I saw touchdown signals … it went from really happy to kind of fearing for my life a little bit, because I had some big ol’ guys jumping on me and it was a big pileup and I was at the bottom of the pile. My chin strap and helmet came down and I was getting choked out by my chinstrap, and I could barely breathe. … If you see the video, I’m walking around with big eyes. It wasn’t because I was excited, it was because I was trying to catch my breath. I thought I was going to die, because I couldn’t breathe for a minute.
“There were a lot of emotions in that moment, but it was just pure joy on the fans’ part. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched that fan-made video on YouTube to see how happy everyone was. It’s always a good moment when you give the fans an opportunity to rush the field. I know they love it.”
Was that the best moment you experienced as a Wildcat?
A: “Above that would be a close second to the (2012) New Mexico Bowl game. What transpired at the end of that game was kind of the same thing: the onside kick recovery, the touchdowns, and I think that was when we scored 14 or 17 points in the last 50 seconds. Winning that game is a little bit higher on my list just because that was my last season with (quarterback) Matt Scott, and there were a lot of seniors on that team that I looked up to and fought for. I had a better feeling about that game. I think I was on a high that game, because my daughter was just born like two days before the game, so the whole sequence of that is the reason why it’s higher on my list, but (the ‘Hill Mary’ catch) is a close second.”
What was the best practice memory from your time at Arizona?
A: “Probably in the (Mike) Stoops era. … There was one day and it was raining, and a thunderstorm was supposed to roll through. We were hoping for lightning … because that’s the only time practice got canceled. We’re out there practicing and getting all wet and all of a sudden a huge lightning bolt hits and we see it. … everyone starts running off the field.
“But before that, our old strength and conditioning coach, Coach (Corey Edmond), was deathly afraid of lightning. He was kind of riling us up and right when that first lightning bolt hit, he was the first one off the field. I’ve never seen such a tough man run off the field so fast, and we were dying laughing. We started to run off with him and Coach Stoops gets mad — ‘Hey, what are y’all doing?’ He brings us all back, and then another (lightning bolt) hits again and it’s even closer. It literally felt like it hit the field we were practicing on. …
“Stoops was like, ‘Alright, we gotta get off the field.’ We all ran in and it was just so funny. That was the funniest moment in the Stoops era.
“The funniest moment of the (Rich Rodriguez) era was the team fight; oh, it was so funny. It was a fight between buddies, but I’m not going to name any names. There was a group of people that were all living together … They actually had three cars and the fourth person didn’t have a car. What ended up happening is that rooms were checked, we thought everyone had gotten a ride so we all left, but one person was left behind. They get to practice late and that one person gets punished.
“We’re all taking a knee and a buddy of mine walks onto the field and then he takes his helmet off and throws it on the ground, keeps walking. At this point, I’m injured so if he tackled me, there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m just hoping he’s not going to tackle me. He’s walking towards us and I don’t know which guy he’s going to tackle. He perfectly form-tackles my buddy and puts him on the ground and they start fighting. Probably the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Just how he walked onto the field and threw his helmet, we all knew we had it coming.”
You haven’t attended a UA football game since you left six years ago. Do you plan on returning to Tucson when fans are allowed back at Arizona Stadium for games?
A: “I was actually planning on coming back for homecoming this year, but everything kind of went crazy so hopefully when things start to open up, I’ll be back for the next homecoming game whenever that might be. … If homecoming is on a Zoom call, I’m on it.”
