Arizona wins first bowl appearance in 10 years
December 20, 2008 - 4:39 pm
Arizona beats BYU 31-21: Arizona made the most of its first bowl appearance in 10 years, taking control in the second half and defeating No. 17 Brigham Young 31-21. Quarterback Willie Tuitama passed for two touchdowns and ran for another one. The Wildcats (8-5) trailed 14-10 early in the third quarter, but then outscored the Cougars (10-3) 21-0 to take a 31-14 lead. BYU added a touchdown on quarterback Max Hall's 1-yard sneak with 3:38 left.
End of third quarter: Arizona 24, Brigham Young 14. The Cougars take their first lead, a 14-10, when quarterback Max Hall completes a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Andrew George with 11:21 left. The rest of the quarter belongs to Arizona, which scores on a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Willie Tuitama to wide receiver Delashaun Dean and a 24-yarder from Tuitama ot halfback Chris Gronkowski.
Halftime: Arizona 10, Brigham Young 7. After the Wildcats go in front 10-0 on a 31-yard field goal by kicker Jason Bondzio, BYU responds with a 78-yard drive capped by halfback Harvey Unga's 1-yard touchdown run with 6:50 left.
End of first quarter: Arizona 7, Brigham Young 0. The Wildcats take the early lead with 6:23 left on running back Nic Grigsby's 1-yard scoring run. Arizona sets up the touchdown on the previous play with a 71-yard pass from quarterback Willie Tuitama to wide receiver Terrell Turner.