Who said nothing good happens after midnight?
Arizona made sure Friday night ended with a punch line, not a letdown, rallying from eight points down in the final two minutes to stun TCU 29-28 at Casino Del Sol Stadium. Michael Salgado-Medina delivered the finish, drilling a 37-yard field goal with 38 seconds left after the Wildcats recovered an onside kick. The kick came after Arizona had already scored a touchdown with 1:45 remaining, missed the 2-point try, and then chose to go for the surprise recovery instead of playing for overtime.
The winning kick landed at 12:05 a.m. Tucson time. Two minutes later, Tyrese Boss sealed it with an interception.
Arizona’s comeback gave it a seventh straight home win, the program’s longest run in Tucson since an eight-game stretch in 1993-94.
The Wildcats had spent much of the night chasing TCU, and the Horned Frogs looked in control when Jaden Craig pushed them ahead 28-20 with 6:35 left on a 2-yard run. Craig finished with 232 passing yards and a touchdown on 28-of-40 throwing, plus two rushing scores. But Arizona never rushed the finish, instead piecing together one last drive that started to take shape when Isaiah Mizell hauled in a 16-yard catch to move the ball into the red zone with under three minutes left.
Mizell finished with six catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. Giovanni Richardson was even busier, catching 11 passes for 171 yards.
Arizona nearly let the chance slip away on the next snap when Quincy Craig fumbled, but Noah Fifita fell on the loose ball at the 15. Two plays later, Fifita found Craig for a 15-yard touchdown with 1:45 left.
That was Fifita’s second passing touchdown of the night. He went 24 of 37 for 313 yards, threw an interception, and added a rushing score, the sixth time in his career he’s both run for a touchdown and thrown for at least one.
The 2-point try failed, leaving Arizona down two. Even with three timeouts, the Wildcats chose the onside kick, and Ian French didn’t go with the usual low skimmer.
He pooched it deep instead. TCU’s Ed Small muffed the ball while trying to field it, and seldom-used defensive back Zuri Watson recovered at the Frogs’ 26.
After three runs forced TCU to burn its timeouts, Salgado-Medina stepped in and buried the winner.
Boss then picked off Craig on the first play after the kickoff, one of the few clean moments for an Arizona secondary that was missing two starters and lost another during the game. The Wildcats were flagged five times for pass interference, with three on Dwight Bootle II and two on Boss.
The game had already swung back and forth long before the late chaos. TCU led 14-10 at halftime and opened the second half with the ball, but the drive ended in a 50-yard field goal attempt that Tre Smith blocked, his second blocked kick of the season.
Arizona turned that into points when Fifita scored on a 9-yard run to put the Wildcats back in front 17-14 with 8:14 left in the third. One play earlier, Fifita had scrambled left and found Richardson behind the defense for a 36-yard gain.
TCU answered with a 75-yard march in 11 plays, converting two third downs before Jordan Dwyer caught a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-17 with 2:39 left in the third. Bootle was targeted repeatedly on the drive and picked up his second pass interference penalty.
Arizona responded with a 46-yard catch by Richardson to get to the TCU 9, but the Frogs held and Salgado-Medina hit a 23-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to trim the margin to 21-20. The Wildcats’ defense then forced a quick punt, with Tre Smith sacking Craig on third and long, but Arizona’s offense went three-and-out.
TCU then put together the drive that seemed to matter most at the time, converting two third-and-longs and getting a third pass interference call on Bootle before Craig finished it with a 2-yard touchdown run. The Frogs chose the extra point and went up eight.
Arizona’s first drive set the tone early, marching 75 yards in 10 plays and finishing with Mizell’s diving 20-yard touchdown catch. After TCU went three-and-out on its first possession, including a Cooper Blomstrom sack, Arizona added a 43-yard Salgado-Medina field goal. That series stayed alive when TCU was called offside on a third-down play that had originally ended in a sack.
TCU had its first real chance early in the second quarter, reaching the Arizona 15 before lining up for fourth-and-inches. The Horned Frogs called timeout, then were hit with a false start and settled for a 37-yard field goal attempt that missed wide right.
Arizona penalties helped TCU get on the board soon after. A hold on Tristan Bounds wiped out a strong run and led to a three-and-out, then a pass interference call on Bootle gave the Frogs first and goal. Craig scored on a 7-yard run to make it 10-7 with 8:53 left in the second quarter.
Later, Arizona drove back into the red zone, but on third down Fifita tried to hit Richardson and TCU linebacker Hudson Hooper dropped into coverage for a 93-yard interception return touchdown, flipping the score to 14-10 with 4:09 left before halftime.
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Arizona Pulled Off A Late Rally TCU Fans Will Hate
Arizona spent the fourth quarter staring at an eight-point deficit, then found just enough offense to turn the game at Casino Del Sol Stadium and leave TCU with a bitter finish. Giovanni Richardson was a major part of the comeback, piling up a career-high 171 receiving yards as the Wildcats kept chipping away and gave themselves a chance late.
Michael Salgado-Medina supplied the go-ahead kick from 37 yards out with 39 seconds left, capping a rally that had the home crowd buzzing and the Horned Frogs scrambling for one last answer. Arizonas defense then finished the job with a late interception by Tyrese Boss, closing out a 29-28 win that felt a lot bigger than one regular-season result. [Read more 🡒]
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The atmosphere around it should be as loud as the stakes. Arizona is planning a Military Appreciation backdrop and a fan Stripeout, and the national stage should only amplify the sense that this is more than just another conference date. For a program trying to keep building credibility in its new league, this is the kind of afternoon that can shape the conversation well beyond one Saturday. [Read more 🡒]