Mike Stoops smirked, just a little.
He knew how this was going to sound.
His Arizona Wildcats had just been outgained and outslugged at home by Stanford's best team in a decade. And yet, as the clock ran out, the Wildcats found the magic that had been missing all night.
"Things have a funny way," Stoops said, "of evening out."
A week after suffering a heartbreaking loss at Washington, the Wildcats stole a game of their own.
Nicolas Grigsby ripped off a 57-yard touchdown run with 2 minutes 57 seconds remaining and Arizona's defense held inside its own 15-yard line in the final seconds, giving the Wildcats a harrowing 43-38 win over the Cardinal in front of 53,479 fans at Arizona Stadium.
This time, the football gods deserve a high-five.
"That was fun. That was amazing," said UA quarterback Nick Foles, who threw for 415 yards and three touchdowns in his most impressive performance to date. "What a game. That's all I can say. What a game."
Arizona (4-2 overall, 2-1 Pac-10) appeared destined for a loss again Saturday before switching to a no-huddle offense in the second half.
The result: A shootout Mike Stoops called "kind of old Pac-10 football."
Arizona and Stanford combined for 49 first downs and 1,137 yards, 849 of them coming through the air. Of the game's 142 plays, just four were punts.
A little-known redshirt freshman quarterback (Stanford's Andrew Luck) and a once-obscure wide receiver (Arizona's David Douglas) were among the game's most valuable players.
There was intrigue, including an interception reversed by video replay, questionable play calls on both sides and — on Stanford's final offensive play — a make-or-break, jump-ball pass.
Baking October heat — 95 degrees at kickoff — only ratcheted up the weirdness.
It was fitting, then, that the game was won on an admittedly bad play call.
It was third-and-17 with 3 minutes left in the game when the Wildcats lined up at Stanford's 43-yard line. Arizona trailed 38-36, and was reeling from a false-start penalty.
Thinking Stanford was going to drop into a zone, the Wildcats called for "F-5" — a delayed draw to Grigsby, who had been rendered ineffective for weeks with a separated shoulder.
Only Stanford didn't drop. They blitzed everybody.
Grigsby saw the blitzing cornerback out of the corner of his eye, dodged a tackle, cut to his left and saw an open field.
His eyes got big. Daylight.
"That's my specialty — daylight," he said. "When I see room, I start going crazy. I make people try to guess where I'm going, I use my blockers, and I just use it."
Arizona turned the botched blitz into a fast-break of sorts. As Grigsby streaked down the sidelines, wide receivers Delashaun Dean and David Douglas threw blocks, guiding him into the end zone.
The play was as inspired as it was unexpected.
"The line did a good job blocking, the receivers ran the guys off, and Grigsby made a play," Foles said.
Foles was brilliant in his third career start, connecting with Douglas on a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal in the third quarter and driving the team 92 yards as time ran down for the decisive score.
The Wildcats spent most of the second half running a no-huddle offense, their only way to combat a defensive effort that players and coaches called embarrassing.
Staked to its first lead since the first quarter, Arizona's defense tried desperately to put Stanford away. But the Cardinal converted on a fourth-and-short play deep in Arizona territory to keep its hopes alive, and moved to the Wildcats' 17 on a 36-yard pass from Luck to Doug Baldwin.
The Cardinal took a timeout with 38 seconds left to get composed, but was flagged for a delay of game.
The football gods seemed to take over from there.
Baldwin dropped a sure catch on second-and-10 from the 17, and Luck overthrew Ryan Whalen in the end zone on third down.
Facing fourth-and-goal with 28 seconds left, Luck threw a perfect fade to his favorite target, receiver Chris Owusu, in the corner of the end zone. Arizona's Trevin Wade, who gives up 3 inches and 20 pounds to Owusu, jumped at the perfect time and knocked the ball away.
The Wildcats insisted they didn't catch any breaks.
Things just simply, mercifully, evened out.
"It just shows the character of this team," Foles said. "A lot of times, a loss can break a team. But not us."
Up next
• Who: UCLA at Arizona
• When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday
• TV: FSAZ
• Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM, 990-AM (Spanish)
