Shock and Awe in Eugene; Arizona over No. 2 Oregon 31-24

By Francisco Romero.-

Arizona’s freshman quarterback Anu Soloman outplayed Heisman Trophy hopeful Marcus Mariota and guided the Arizona Wildcats to a 31-24 victory over the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium in Eguene Oregon.

Picture Courtesy of Arizona Athletics

Solomon finished the night with 287 passing yards, completing 20 of 31 passes. 

Arizona’s running backs had a field day.  Nick Wilson carried the ball 13 times for 92 yards and scored two touchdowns, Wilson caught a 34-yard pass in the third quarter for a touchdown.

With the game tied at 24 with 2:54 to go in the game, Terris Jones-Grigsby rushed from the 1-yard line for the tiebreaker and eventually the winning score.  Jones-Grigsby finished the game with 115 yards on 27 carries.

Arizona’s record stands now at 5-0, 2-0 in Pac-12 play.  Dating back to last year, the Wildcats have now won 6 games in a row.  It is also the second victory in a row against the Ducks; the Wildcats beat Oregon last year at Arizona Stadium 42-16.

Arizona shut down the Ducks in the first quarter 3-0.  At the half Oregon had a 7-3 lead.  The Wildcats outscored the Ducks in the second half 28-17.

On the defensive end, Scooby Wright came up with the play of the game late in the fourth quarter. With Oregon seeking to drive the ball to tie the game, Wright strip-sacked Marcus Mariota, recording a sack, a forced fumble and a fumbled recovered to give the Cats the ball and a chance to run out the clock offensively.

Mariota finished the game with 276 passing yards, completing 20 of 32 passes and 2 touchdowns.

Arizona has defeated an Associated Press Top 25 team in 10 of the last 11 seasons and in each year under Rich Rodriguez, who is now 4-8 against ranked teams with the school.

Next up for Arizona is USC at Arizona Stadium on Saturday October 11.