Story: Kevin Pakos for S&E News SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE ACTION PHOTOS

UA Kicker and Punter Nick Folk #12 our MVP

The Cougars of BYU were in Tucson Saturday night to try and knock off the Arizona Wildcats. When it was over Arizona was able to pull out a last second win on the toe of kicker Nick Folk. He was clearly the most consistent offensive performer for Arizona on the night. Folk put up a field goal from 30 yards a few minutes into the game after BYU fumbled the ball on the first play after receiving the kickoff. BYU’s TE Jonny Harline took a John Beck pass then lost it as he was being tackled by Arizona’s Spencer Larsen whom then recovered the fumble at the BYU 33. The Wildcats Syndric Steptoe then pulled in a pass for 7 followed by a Mike Thomas catch and run for 14 yards. This was followed by short gains and then the field goal by Nick Folk for early lead. On the evening Folk made field goals of 30, 22 and 48, the game winner, while missing one in the second quarter of 42 yards. He was also good on the extra point attempt following the third quarter touchdown. Add to that his 60 yard average on punts and you can see why Folk is going to be a big part of the Wildcats fortune in 2006. The only other highlights for Arizona fans came on the outstanding performance by the Wildcats defense. Led by #51 Spencer Larsen with 9 tackles 3 assists, #23 Michael Johnson with 8 & 3, #3 Wilrey Fontenot 5 & 2, #8 Dominic Patrick 5 & 1, #33 Ronnie Palmer 5 & 1. But the show stopper was the other #1 for the Cats, Louis Holmes. He had a big night using his speed off the edge to totally disrupt the BYU offense. On the night he had pass breakup, three solo tackles, a forced fumble and two sacks for 15 yards in losses. His game forced BYU to adjust blocking assignments and those holes were filled by the rest of the Cats defense.

Holmes had some company in the big play department as Spencer Larsen picked up a sack and Fontenot, and #97 Jonathan Turner also had a hand in making plays in the BYU backfield. In the pass breakup department the Cats got great plays from Fontenot (2), Johnson (1) and Palmer (1). Not only did the defense set up the first Cat’s score they also forced a punt after three plays on their next drive. Same results on the next BYU drive. Unfortunately for Arizona’s defensive unit, the offensive unit was turning the ball over just as quickly on miscues, misreads and just plain sloppy play.

BYU has a quarterback John Beck that is, according to the experts going to be as good as any passer that the Cougars have ever had. He did show signs of it in this game. But luck and the officials were not with him on this cloudy night in Tucson. A night where the brightest stars for BYU were the former players that were visiting on the sidelines. Players like former Cougar and 49er Todd Shell and recent grad, now of the NFL Cardinals WR Todd Watkins. Also on the BYU sideline was USC/Cardinals star Deuce Lutui.

But with four minutes left in the first quarter John Beck got into a groove and the Cougars got moving. One of the things that makes quarterbacks great is their ability to spread the ball around, not get locked in on just one guy all night. On this drive Beck looked like his pre-season press reports, outstanding. He tossed a 6 yarder to Zac Collie, the Curtis Brown ran for 1 yard. On third and three Beck hit Michael Reed for 20 yards to the UA seven. Manase Tonga ran for 2 yards before Beck threw a perfect pass to Daniel Coats for the touchdown. Jar McLaughlin hit the EP and the Cougars led 7-3 with 2:06 on the clock.

The best part for BYU was that the touchdown was in the endzone that their fans were sitting in. After the Cougar touchdown they let out a roar that was nearly as loud as the sound the 54,000 thousand Wildcat fans had been making up to that point. In fact, there were times during the game when it seemed that BYU fans outnumbered the Wildcat fans.

UA #7 Willie Tuitama QB

Arizona took the ball after the kickoff and did manage to score in the second quarter. That score was a Nick Folk 22 yard field goal at the 12:53 mark of the second. This drive marked the first time that the Wildcat offense showed any signs of life. Quarterback Willie Tuitama was finding his targets. In fact this drive was mostly on the arm of the T-Man. On his first toss he hit Steptoe on an exciting 48 yard play to the BYU 27. After a run for no gain he then hit #9 Anthony Johnson for 11 more to the 16 yard line. Running back #19 Chris Henry then stepped up with a 5 yard run followed by a 7 yard reception. After several failed plays, some more BYU penalties the Wildcats Johnson took a pass to the 3 yard line before Folk would kick his field goal. Then things got sloppy again for both teams. The Cougars and Cats exchanged two punts before Arizona took over near the end of the half as their defense forced a Beck fumble, (see Holmes). This came as BYU’s Beck was starting to get hot with completions to Nathan Meikle for 9, 11 and 1 yards plus one to Zac Collie for 16 yards. He was sacked again, by Holmes a few plays before the fumble that was recovered by the Cats #56 Paul Phillip, courtesy of Holmes. The Cats then moved the ball a little with a Chris Henry catch of a 14 yard Tuitama pass. After a couple of incompletions and a Tuitama 4 yard run, Folk’s 42 yard kick went wide left to end the half with the score BYU 7 and UA 6.

I then waited through halftime for and was deeply disappointed at the failure to appear, as the announcer promised the “Greatest Marching Band in the History of the World.” Hhhmmmmm……. The Cats band was good, very good. But if you have ever been to a Main Street performance at Disneyland, then clearly, they should know in Tucson that the Worlds Best is in fact, a Mickey Mouse outfit from “The Happiest Place on Earth.”

The second half saw scoring by both teams, once in each quarter. Two field goals by the Cougars and a Cats touchdown and field goal. Arizona took the opening kickoff and after a Tuitama 12 yard completion to TE #17 Brad Wood the Cats lost on a run then Tuitama was sacked. On third and 19 Tuitama was intercepted by the Cougars Cameron Jensen at the UA 32 yard line.

The Cougars went backwards as much as forward because of penalties but John Beck did get completions to three different receivers. One to Daniel Coats for 25 yards, Michael Reed for 6 yards, and Jonny Harline for 16 yards. After all that the Cougars had to settle for Jar McLaughlin field goal to make it BYU 10 and the UA 6.

#9 UA Anthony Johnson TD catch.

Arizona started its drive with Tuitama being sacked for a 7 yard loss by the Cougars Hala Paongo. Finally tho, the Cats got the break they needed when Chris Henry turned an apparent loss into a 54 yard dash and first down at the BYU 33. Tuitama then hit Steptoe for 20 yards, RB #28 Chris Jennings then ran for 3 yards. Then Steptoe caught one for 3 yards, Chris Henry pulled in a 5 yard pass. This was followed by several incompletions then a touchdown grab of 2 yards by Anthony Johnson. This made the score UA 13 and BYU 10 in the third. The Cougars marched all the way down to the Arizona five yard line only to watch in dismay as the Wildcats defense stopped them on downs at the Arizona 12 yard line. After all that effort by the defense the UA offense spit up fur balls and ended up punting the ball away. Fortunately for the Cats Nick Folk’s punt rolled dead at the BYU five yard line for a 75 yard net on the punt. John Beck again looked like he could ignite the squad on a drive that saw completions to three different receivers, the biggest a 24 yarder to McKay Jacobson. But in the end the Cougars punted to the Arizona 24. The Wildcats could do nothing well and punted the ball and BYU took over at their own 48 before going on a game tying fourth quarter drive.

On this drive the Cougars mixed the run and pass well enough to keep the over aggressive Cat defenders guessing. Taking what was given, Beck passed to Curtis Brown for 3, then Fui Vakapuna ran for 6, and John Beck kept it for 1 yard and the first down. Vakapuna then ran for 9, then 3, then 2 yards. Beck soon hit Jonny Harline for 5 yards. After a no gain rush and an incomplete pass Beck hit Manase Tonga for 4 yards before Jar McLaughlin hit on his 31 yard field goal. Score BYU 13 the UA 13 with a little over 5 minutes on the game clock.

This was a huge test for Willie Tuitama and his teammates. This drive started on the Arizona 25 after a Steptoe 22 yard kick off return. On first down Steptoe ran for 6. He followed this with a 5 yard reception for the first down. Chris Henry then ran for 3. An incomplete pass followed before Tuitama hit Anthony Johnson for 11 yards and a first down at the 50 yard line. He then hit Johnson again for 6 yards; this was followed by a Chris Jennings 4 yard and then 1 yard run. Tuitama then hit Steptoe for another first down with a 10 yard pass.

Suddenly the BYU defense stepped it up and tackled Henry and Jennings for losses before Tuitama ran for 2 yards to set up the field goal. The biggest field goal attempt for Arizona football in many years fell to Nick Folk. To win and avoid overtime, he had to hit it from 48 yards out. He did, the Wildcats win it 16-13 to the delight of a packed house.

On a night when nearly every stat including the score came out even for both teams, the Wildcats prevailed in a game the Cougars should have won. John Beck the BYU quarterback is indeed on track to become another great star at that position for BYU. He had 28 completions on 37 attempts for 289 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. He also had a touchdown passed overturned on penalty. What made his passes special was that he put them all where only his man could get to them. A deadly skill in the red zone, and very rare. He was under extreme pressure all night and never lost his cool or his aim.

You cannot really be upset with the net 24 rushing yards for BYU, not when you factor in the penalties and the Wildcats ball hawking defense. The Cougars have a great defense of their own and their of secondary Quinn Gooch, Dustin Gabriel, Ben Criddle and Justin Robinson kept a dangerous group of PAC-10 receivers in check. The BYU DB’s had their hands on the ball almost more times than the Wildcat receivers.

The Wildcats will emerge at the top of the PAC-10 this season in both rushing and passing offense. Replacing Mike Bell is not possible, but mixing the running game with the conference’s best wideout in Syndric Steptoe is going to make the UA a contender in 2006. The fans know it, how else do explain the support after two sluggish years and the Bell loss. Wildcat football is back in the pac…………

UA quarterback Willie Tuitama look good, and then at times he looked lost. The luck of the unknown QB from 2005 is gone and now everyone has a book on him. He will need to rely more on the coaches plan and less on his talent if he is to lead this team to the PAC-10 title this year. His stats were 19 completions on 39 tries with 1 INT and one TD.

It is the rushing game that is the big surprise and the best thing in Tucson this season. Not based of course on this games stats, but on what they showed when they had the ball. Chris Henry and Chris Jennings will emerge as two of the best if they can just get a little help on the second level blocks. A more consistent performance from their QB will also increase their odds. Henry had a 54 yard run that could have been a loss and it reminded some of the Bell.

This win can be the start of a very good season for the Wildcats. In the PAC-10 the experts are not looking to either Arizona team to be in the hunt for the title. I predict that when the UA meets ASU that the winner could be the new conference champs. But first Arizona gets to hit the road to play one of America’s favorite teams when they travel to LSU. The Cougars will be hosting Tulsa. Both games are on September 9th.

BYU TD voided by Penalty?!? Yep.	#28 Chris Jennings RB for UA

#19 Chris Henry	#1 Syndric Steptoe	#9 Anthony Johnson, yes they called it PI on BYU