The Arizona Wildcats got a glimpse of what their future might look like Saturday night.
Quarterback Khalil Tate and tailback J.J. Taylor — the biggest names on the Arizona Stadium marquee — couldn’t play against UCLA because of injuries.
With Tate unavailable, UA coach Kevin Sumlin turned to freshman Grant Gunnell. The record-setting quarterback from Texas passed for 352 yards and a touchdown, and Arizona hung on for a 20-17 victory in its Pac-12 opener.
The Wildcats won their third straight to improve to 3-1, 1-0. The Bruins fell to 1-4, 1-1.
Tate — Arizona’s leading passer and rusher — came up gimpy late in the fourth quarter against Texas Tech after a 7-yard run. The injury he suffered reportedly was to his hamstring. Tate watched the game in sweats from the sideline — just like last year’s meeting at the Rose Bowl, when he sat out because of an ankle injury.
UCLA won that game by a point. The Bruins had a chance to tie this one in the final minute. But kicker JJ Molson missed a 39-yard field goal attempt wide right with 34 seconds remaining. Sumlin used a timeout to ice Molson just before his initial strike.
After a third and final kneel-down, Gunnell turned toward the north end zone to exhort the crowd. Sumlin sounded confident in the freshman before the game.
“He’s ready to go,” Sumlin told ESPN. “The good thing is, he’s had a couple of weeks and he’s prepared.”
What did Sumlin say to his young quarterback?
“We talked about the team,” Sumlin said. “It’s not up to him; it’s the other 10 guys on the field to help him.
“We’ve got confidence in him. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have recruited him.”
Unlike the QB situation, the running backs had experienced a game situation without Taylor. The redshirt junior missed most of the final three quarters against Texas Tech after injuring his lower right leg. Gary Brightwell and Bam Smith combined for 30 carries, 148 yards and two touchdowns.
Brightwell was asked earlier in the week what the backs talked about once it became apparent Taylor could not longer play against the Red Raiders.
“There was really no discussion, because going into the game we were well prepared,” Brightwell said. “If anything happened, we’d still know what to do.”
The backs surprisingly played a secondary role in the first half. While Gunnell attempted 29 passes, Arizona ran the ball only 13 times. Five of the attempts were shovel passes to receivers streaking in front of Gunnell. Still, the imbalance was glaring.
It didn’t take long for a tailback to make an impact in the third quarter. On Arizona’s first play from scrimmage, Gunnell hit a wide-open Smith streaking down the right sideline. The 75-yard touchdown gave the Wildcats a 13-10 lead with 8:17 left in the third.
UCLA recaptured the advantage with two seconds left in the period on Joshua Kelley’s 3-yard TD run. He charged through the UA defense for 36 yards on the previous play. Both plays featured UCLA’s backup quarterback, Austin Burton, behind center.
On the preceding play, Arizona’s Jalen Harris landed on the left ankle of Bruins starting QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Thompson-Robinson — who accounted for 564 total yards and seven touchdowns in UCLA’s 67-63 comeback victory at Washington State last week — did not return.
The Wildcats responded with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to reclaim the lead. Brightwell extended it by barely converting on fourth-and-1 and finished with a 10-yard run to make it 20-17 with 10:51 remaining. In between, Gunnell neatly avoided a sack and connected with Cedric Peterson for 27 yards.
After the defense held again, UCLA pinned Arizona at its own 6. On third-and-10, the Gunnell-Smith combo came through again. Smith made a twisting catch just inside the left sideline with a defender on him. The play gained 22 yards and enabled the Wildcats to advance the ball downfield and drain time off the clock.
Mistakes killed the Wildcats for much of the first half. On their first possession, usually reliable Peterson dropped a pass. On their second, a pair of penalties stalled the drive. Arizona committed six fouls in the first half — one more than the entire game against Texas Tech.
By that point, UCLA had a 7-0 lead. The Bruins marched 85 yards in 12 plays on their opening series. Arizona hadn’t faced a true dual-threat quarterback this season, and it showed. Scrambles of 26 and 14 yards by Thompson-Robinson – the latter on third-and-11 – were the key plays on the drive. Thompson-Robinson finished it with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Matt Lynch.
The UA defense bounced back on UCLA’s next possession. Coach Chip Kelly elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Bruins’ 36-yard line. Kelley tried to leap over a pile of players, but Kylan Wilborn and several teammates stopped him short.
Arizona appeared to have a first down in the red zone on the next possession, but Stanley Berryhill III, trying to gain extra yardage, got tackled 2 yards short at the UCLA 16. Lucas Havrisik missed a 34-yard field goal attempt on the first play of the second quarter.
The Arizona defense, coming off its best performance of the season, came up big again on the next drive. Lorenzo Burns, who also missed last year’s UCLA game, intercepted Thompson-Robinson.
Burns’ third interception of the season led to Havrisik’s 40-yard field goal. An unforced error – this time a holding penalty on center Josh McCauley — derailed that drive as well.
After a three-and-out — keyed by Colin Schooler’s tackle for loss on third-and-2 — the Wildcats again drove for a field goal. Havrisik hit that one from 41 yards. A 28-yard run by Nathan Tilford put Arizona within scoring range.
Extra points
• Arizona’s Paiton Fears made his first career start at right tackle. He continued to rotate with Edgar Burrola at that spot.
• Tristan Cooper returned to the “Spur” safety position against the more run-oriented Bruins after sitting out against Texas Tech. Jace Whittaker played mainly on the perimeter.
• UCLA was without receiver Theo Howard and safety Quentin Lake.
