Arizona Football Bowl Game History Overall Record: 8-9-1
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VIZIO FIESTA BOWL GUIDE // www.arizonawildcats.com @ArizonaFBall /ArizonaFootball /ArizonaFBall /ArizonaAthletics Arizona Athletics Communication Services // 520-621-4163 • 1 National Championship Drive • McKale Center Room 106 • Tucson, AZ • 85721-0096 Contacts: Molly O’Mara (momara.arizona.edu) • 520-621-4283 (o) • 520-444-1068 (c) // Blair Willis ([email protected]) • 520-621-0914 (o) • 520-419-2979 (c) 2014 Schedule/Results 2014 VIZIO Fiesta Bowl: Arizona, Boise State Meet for First Time Overall: 10-3 Pac-12: 7-2 Home/Road/Neutral: 6-1/4-1/0-1 Game 14 » No. 21 Boise State (11-2, 7-1 MW) vs. No. 12 Arizona (10-3, 7-2 Pac-12) Aug. 29 UNLV W, 58-13 (ESPN) Sept. 4 at UTSA W, 26-23 (FOX Sports1) Date ...............................Wednesday, Dec. 31 Sept. 13 Nevada W, 35-28 (Pac-12 Net) Time .......................................... 2 p.m. (MST) Sept. 20 California W, 49-45 (Pac-12 Net) Location ................................. Glendale, Ariz. Oct. 2 at #2 Oregon W, 31-24 (ESPN) Oct. 11 USC % L, 28-26 (ESPN2) Stadium ...............Phoenix Stadium (72,000) Oct. 25 at Washington St. W, 59-37 (Pac-12 Net) Surface .................................................. Grass Head Coach Head Coach Nov. 1 at #25 UCLA L, 17-7 (ESPN) Television ...............................................ESPN Nov. 8 Colorado ^ W, 38-20 (Pac-12 Net) Bryan Harsin Rich Rodriguez Nov. 15 Washington W, 27-26 (FOX) All-Time Series .........................First meeting Arizona Record Arizona Record Nov. 22 at #20 Utah W, 42-10 (ESPN) at Neutral Site ..........................First meeting 11-2 (1st Year) 26-13 (3rd Year) Career Record Career Record Nov. 28 #13 Arizona State W, 42-35 (FOX) Last Meeting .........................................None Dec. 5 vs. #3 Oregon * L, 51-13 (FOX) 18-7 (2nd Year) 146-97-2 (21st Year) Dec. 31 vs. #21 Boise State & 2 p.m. (ESPN) Streak .......................................................N/A vs. Arizona vs. Boise State Time listed local to site. 0-0 0-0 % Family Weekend ^ Homecoming * Santa Clara, Calif. & Glendale, Ariz. Television & Radio Information Hard Edge Notes & Numbers Top Cats Live Stats: arizonalivestats.com » Arizona is making its 19th all-time bowl Category Player Total Television ESPN appearance, including third at the Fiesta Touchdowns Nick Wilson 16 Play-by-Play .................................Sean McDonough Bowl (also 1994 and 1979). Scoring Casey Skowron 111 Analyst ............................................. Chris Spielman Rush Yards Nick Wilson 1,289 Field Analyst .......................................Todd McShay » UA makes its third-straight bowl appear- Watch Online .........................................WatchESPN Pass Yards Anu Solomon 3,458 ance and sixth in the last seven seasons. Radio Arizona IMG Sports Network Pass Touchdowns Anu Solomon 27 Play-by-Play .........................................Brian Jeffries Receptions Cayleb Jones 65 » Under Rich Rodriguez, Arizona is 2-0 in Analyst ...............................................Lamont Lovett bowl games (2012 New Mexico Bowl and Rec. Yards Cayleb Jones 902 Sideline ................................................Dana Cooper 2013 AdvoCare V100 Bowl). Tackles Scooby Wright III 153 Flagship Stations .......................1290 AM, 107.5 FM Tackles For Loss Scooby Wright III 27.0 Statewide Affiliates ............................... See Page 7 » The Wildcats captured their first Pac-12 Listen on TuneIn ........... www.arizonawildcats.com Sacks Scooby Wright III 14.0 South Division Championship. Satellite Radio ........................ XM (83), SIRIUS (83) Interceptions Jourdon Grandon 3 ESPN Radio Punting Avg. Drew Riggleman 46.4 » Arizona finished the regular season with Play-by-Play .................................... Dave Flemming 10 wins for only the second time in program Punt Return Avg. DaVonte’ Neal 11.9 Analysts/Sideline ...Danny Kanell, Allison Williams history. The Matchup Table of Contents » The Cats are set to play a nationally-ranked Statistical Comparison team for the fourth-straight contest, a feat Category BSU ARIZ Game Information .......................................................... 1 never done before at the school. Total Offense 496.1 461.5 Arizona Season Review ..............................................2-5 Rushing Offense 217.8 183.8 Offensive/Defensive Profiles ......................................6-7 » Arizona is 3-2 against ranked teams this Passing Offense 278.2 277.7 Head Coach Rich Rodriguez .......................................... 8 season, with all but one contest being Team Passing Efficiency 155.68 130.67 Arizona Game Notes .................................................9-14 played away from home. Scoring Offense 39.8 34.8 College Bowl Schedule ................................................ 15 Total Defense 366.5 449.5 Key Contributor Profiles .........................................16-17 » Rich Rodriguez was named the 2014 Rushing Defense 141.5 170.4 Depth Chart/Game-by-Game Starters .................. 18-19 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, while LB Scoo- Passing Yards Allowed 225 279.1 Arizona Roster .........................................................20-21 by Wright III was named Pac-12 Defensive Team Passing Efficiency Defense 117.31 139.25 2014 Game Summaries ...........................................22-34 Player of the Year. Scoring Defense 26.5 27.5 2014 Statistical Reports ..........................................35-52 Turnover Margin 0.54 0.62 Arizona Bowl History/Records ...............................53-60 » Wright became UA’s sixth all-time unani- 3rd Down Conversion Pct 45.0% 38.7% mous All-American. He also won the Bronko 4th Down Conversion Pct 47.6% 60.9% Naguski, Rotary Lombardi and Chuck Bed- 3rd Down Conversion Pct Defense 35.1% 40.8% narik awards. 4th Down Conversion Pct Defense 40.0% 38.9% Red Zone Offense 89.7% 80.0% » Arizona freshman QB Anu Solomon has Red Zone Defense 80.0% 88.0% started all 13 games after becoming the first Net Punting 36.88 39.62 freshman ever to start a season opener for Punt Returns 11 10.75 the school. Kickoff Returns 19.15 21.52 First Downs Offense 316 317 229 315 » The Wildcats’ offensive line combines for First Downs Defense 6.62 6.62 169 career starts entering the Fiesta Bowl. Penalties Per Game Penalty Yards Per Game 56.08 63.54 Time of Possession 31:38 26:56 2014 Arizona Football // Pac-12 South Division Champions 2014 Arizona Football Season Review Season in Review: 60 Minutes of Arizona How 60 minutes in September shaped a season to remember Sixty minutes of Arizona. It became the victory cry for the Wildcats when Anu Solomon’s 47- yard Hail Mary pass fell cleanly into the hands of a leaping Austin Hill in the corner of the north end zone late on a warm Septem- ber evening at Arizona Stadium. For the first time all night – on the game’s final play – Arizona had the only lead that mattered: an im- probable comeback, 49-45, to open the Pac-12 Conference season with a win over the California Golden Bears. Few fully grasped what those 60 magical minutes meant to the Ar- izona program. Even fewer predicted at that moment in time the Wildcats would go on the win the Pac-12 South Division Champion- ship some two months later on the very same field. Upon entering the home locker room beyond the north end zone, head coach Rich Rodriguez led a spirited chant that echoed through- out the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility. “Sixty Minutes of Ari-zona! Sixty Minutes of Ari-zona!” Players, coaches, support staff, boosters and anyone else within an earshot of the locker room joined in the jubilation. It was a proud moment to be an Arizona Wildcat. While the euphoric rush of victory would fade in the days and weeks to come, “60 Minutes of Arizona” took on new meaning throughout the season. The Cardiac Cats found themselves in plenty of nail-biters and heart-stoppers. At times they controlled their own destiny in the South Division, other times they needed a helpless list of things to happen. But Arizona was always giving itself a chance; it kept fighting every game and, with that week-to-week mindset, was in the race to win the South. Over the course of 100 days from late August through early December, Rodriguez and an unassuming group of Wildcats established themselves as a top-10 team and earned a berth to the VIZIO Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz. Coincidentally or not, their journey to the Pac-12 Championship game uniquely paralleled the “60 Minutes of Arizona” mantra, making 2014 a season to remember in the desert. The Non-Conference Slate On paper, Arizona appeared to have a relatively tame non-conference schedule. The intent was to break in a first-time starter at quarter- back, who happened to be redshirt freshman Anu Solomon who secured the starting job at the end of fall camp after a four-way battle throughout the summer. Also the pre-conference checklist was to find suitable replacements for two-time All-American running back Ka’Deem Carey, and fill in some holes on the defensive side of the ball. The script went as planned in the opener when the Wildcats rolled UNLV, 58-13, on a Friday night at Arizona Stadium. Solomon shined with a 425 passing yards and four touchdowns, in the process becoming the first UA freshman – true or redshirt – to start a season opener. A healthy running game answered some early questions, too, as fifth-year senior Terris Jones-Grigsby started and racked up 124 yards and a score. But the surprise was true freshman Nick Wilson, who showed some star potential with 104 yards and a score of his own. The second week of the season took Arizona to the Lone Star State for a Thursday night showdown with a veteran UTSA squad. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but found themselves in the first of many close calls throughout the season. Ultimately, Wilson and the Cats ran by the Roadrunners, with the defense coming up with some key stops late in a 26-23 victory. Closing out non-conference action, Nevada visited Tucson with a veteran dual-threat quarterback in Cody Fajardo. Yet it was Solomon who impressed the most, throwing for 278 yards and three scores on 22-of-26 passing.