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NCAA Football Recap (Nebraska-Arizona)
Posted: Thur December 31, 1998 at 1:40 a.m EST SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Arizona took Nebraska's best shots, then beat the Cornhuskers at their own game to complete the best season in school history with a 23-20 victory in a thrilling and unpredictable Holiday Bowl. Arizona took advantage of four turnovers and made the big plays at key times to hand the Cornhuskers (9-4) a fourth loss for the first time since 1968. Arizona became the first Pac-10 Conference team to win the Holiday Bowl. With Kansas State losing in Tuesday's Alamo Bowl, the Wildcats are assured of finishing in the nation's top five, which would be the highest ranking in school history. "I've never been a party to anything like this, not even close," said Arizona wide receiver Dennis Northcutt. "But now we need to focus on next year ... work harder and harder so we can do this again next year. I'm really happy for our seniors." Wildcats players celebrated their school-record 12th victory -- and one of the biggest in the program's history -- at midfield even though they were left out of the game they wanted. The Wildcats (12-1), the only member of the Pac-10 or Big 10 conferences never to appear in the Rose Bowl, were heading to Pasadena until UCLA lost its regular-season finale at Miami. The Bruins would have played for the national title with a victory, but instead garned the Rose Bowl berth as Pac-10 champions. "We tied for the most wins in the country," said Arizona coach Dick Tomey. "It was a big-time atmosphere. The Culligan Holiday Bowl does not take a back seat to any other bowl game, the Sugar, Cotton or any other bowl." A Holiday Bowl-record 65,354 fans showed up at Qualcomm Stadium to witness the contest, which was filled with momentum-turning plays and terrific defensive performances. Kelvin Eafon scored the winning touchdown on a one-yard run with just over six minutes remaining. Trailing 13-9 and with time winding down in the third quarter, Arizona faced a 4th-and-1 at the Nebraska 22-yard line. Disdaining the field goal, Tomey handed to Eafon, who barreled his way for three yards. Moments later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Keith Smith drilled a dart down the middle for Brad Brennan, who hauled in the 16-yard score between two defenders. On the first play of the next possession, Nebraska's Eric Crouch was picked off by All-American cornerback Chris McAlister. As McAlister raced up the right sidelines, however, he was caught by receiver Kenny Cheatham, who stripped the ball. "I just hit the ball from underneath," Cheatham said. "My high school coach taught me to do it that way." Nebraska recovered at its own 11 and mounted an eight-play, 88-yard drive. Couch hit freshmen tight end Tracey Wistrom with a screen pass for a 33-yard gain to the Arizona 28 and three plays later found him again in the back right corner of the end zone for a four-yard score. "(The 33-yard reception) was an option pass, delay route," said Wistrom. "Eric put it right in there to me. I just caught it and went. I stumbled but didn't mean to. I got back up and got the catch. I was wide-open because of (the stumble)." Wistrom, who caught three passes for 41 yards, is the younger brother of Grant Wistrom, a two-time All-American defensive lineman for Nebraska and the 1997 Lombardi Trophy winner. With Arizona's potent passing attack being stifled, the Wildcats turned to their ground game en route to the winning touchdown. On the third play of a possession that started at the Arizona 31, Smith broke free for 20 yards to the Nebraska 36. The next play went to Trung Canidate, who busted loose for a 15 more. Canidate finished with 101 yards on 22 carries. "I thought we could win if we got our running game going in the second half," Tomey said. "I had our quarterback ad lib some offensive plays in the second half. We used the counter play more in the second half." Smith split time this season with Ortege Jenkins, but was called on to lead the Wildcats for most of the game. He completed 11-of-19 passes for 143 yards and added 25 yards on 11 carries. Smith's rushing total was deceiving as he gained 38 yards on the ground on the winning drive after losing yardage on several carries early in the game. Jenkins was 1-of-4 for 15 yards. The Wildcats completed the 68-yard march when Eafon fought his way through the line for a one-yard TD. Nebraska moved to the Arizona 47 in five plays. But on 3rd-and-11, Crouch forced a pass deep down the middle of the field that was picked off by McAlister, ending the Cornhuskers' final threat. "We played well at times, but we just didn't play well enough," said Nebraska first-year coach Frank Solich. "Right now we just have to concentrate on spring practice. We're not going to go back to Nebraska with our heads down." Crouch was 12-of-28 for 193 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Nebraska's vaunted running game was held to 87 yards, with Crouch leading the way with 28 yards on 15 attempts. Nebraska totaled 280 yards, 15 more than the Wildcats. "We were able to shut down Nebraska's running game and that's one of the main reasons we won the game," Tomey added. Nebraska played a sloppy first half, but the Wildcats were unable to reach the end zone. After Shevin Wiggins muffed a punt deep in Cornhuskers territory early in the contest, Mark McDonald converted a 38-yard field goal. McDonald connected from 25 yards late in the first quarter and hit a career-best 48-yarder 79 seconds into the second to give the Wildcats a 9-0 lead. The third field goal was set up when quarterback Monte Christo was rocked by defensive end Mike Robertson and coughed up the ball at the Nebraska 15. But the Wildcats lost 16 yards in 11 plays before McDonald clicked again. Jenkins' fumble at the Wildcats 35 led to Nebraska's first score, a 25-yard field goal by Kris Brown with 4:58 left in the half. The Cornhuskers quickly stopped Arizona on the ensuing possession, then struck for the game's biggest play when Crouch hit Wiggins for a 45-yard touchdown. Northcutt fumbled the ensuing kickoff at the Arizona 10 and Brown booted a 23-yard field goal as time expired to give the Cornhuskers a 13-9 halftime advantage.© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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