Utah Utes vs Arizona Wildcats Match Player Stats On Nov 14, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Nov 15, 2015

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Arizona wide receiver Nate Phillips caught a 25-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime as the Wildcats upset No. 10 Utah 37-30 in double overtime Saturday night and wrecked the Pac-12's hopes of appearing in the College Football Playoff.

Arizona (6-5 overall, 3-5 Pac-12) ended a three-game losing streak to become bowl eligible. Utah (8-2, 5-2) was the league's last realistic chance at the playoff after No. 7 Stanford lost to Oregon earlier Saturday.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, leaving the game tied at 27.

Utah's offense gained only 3 yards in the first overtime, and kicker Andy Phillips bounced in a 40-yard field goal off the right upright for a 30-27 lead. Arizona also failed to gain a first down before kicker Casey Skowron sent the game to a second overtime with a 35-yard field goal.

Phillips' winning pass came from backup quarterback Jerrard Randall, who entered the game in the fourth quarter after Anu Solomon left with an apparent head injury. It came on the first play of the second OT.

Utah reached the 8 on the ensuing possession but a sack pushed the ball back to the 17. Quarterback Travis Wilson's pass into the end zone on fourth-and-16 was incomplete.

Solomon completed 17 of 27 passes for 277 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception, and he also ran for a season-high 86 yards. But he was knocked out of the game with 9:25 to go when he took a shot to the head (although no penalty was called) at the end of a 10-yard rush. Randall's only completion in five attempts was the touchdown pass.

Utah running back Devontae Booker ran 34 times for 145 yards and a touchdown. Wilson was 20 of 31 for 219 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception.

Utah took its first lead of the game on the second snap of the second half. Wilson hit tight end Harrison Handley over the middle, and Handley ran untouched into the end zone on a 59-yard score for a 24-20 edge.

The Utes thwarted an Arizona red-zone chance on the next possession when cornerback Brian Allen picked off an underthrown pass from Solomon in the end zone.

After Phillips pushed the lead to 27-20 on a 38-yard field goal, Arizona quickly tied the game. Wide receiver Cayleb Jones ran sideline to sideline after a catch for a 50-yard gain to set up Solomon's 6-yard touchdown run with 4:01 left in the third quarter.

Arizona scored on its first two possessions to take a 10-0 lead. Skowron converted a 47-yard field goal, and then Solomon connected on a 7-yard scoring pass to receiver Samajie Grant with 9:10 left in the opening quarter.

Utah responded with an efficient 13-play march that covered 75 yards and took 6 minutes, 28 seconds. Running back Devontae Booker capped the drive with a 1-yard run.

Arizona kept having success on offense, taking advantage of Utah's tight coverage by going deep for a 45-yard pass to Grant that set up a 17-yard touchdown pass to Cayleb Jones late in the first quarter.

Another deliberate Utah drive -- 13 plays that ate up another six minutes -- set up Andy Phillips' 34-yard field goal to make the score 17-10 with 5:39 left before half.

The Wildcats squandered a touchdown chance when a bad snap on third-and-2 from the 4 resulted in a 19-yard loss. Skowron booted a 40-yard field goal.

Utah, helped by a 46-yard screen pass to freshman receiver Britain Covey, scored with 45 seconds left in the half on a 2-yard fade pass to receiver Kenneth Scott to cut its deficit to 20-17 at the break.

NOTES: Arizona honored alum Bob Baffert, the Triple Crown-winning trainer of American Pharoah, on the field during a timeout in the first quarter. Earlier this season, Baffert was the guest picker on ESPN's College GameDay show, when it was in Tucson for the UCLA-Arizona game. ... Scouts from the St. Louis Rams, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins were in attendance. ... Utah entered the game having lost three in a row to Arizona, allowing a 200-yard rusher in each game. ... Arizona LB Scooby Wright, the winner of the Bednarik and Nagurski awards last season as the nation's top defensive player, missed his seventh consecutive game because of a foot injury. He is not likely to play in UA's season-ender next Saturday at Arizona State.