Offensive Point of view:
William “”Bug”” Wright: “”Offensively we were just at loss for words. One of the most craziest plays that happened the whole year. Just for that to happen for us and to lose the game just — a loss of words.””
On if the ball actually bounced off the ground:
Wright: Yes, it hit the ground.
Wright: “”Offensive guys, we look to make plays every time we touch the ball so when Nic did that we just knew we had a pretty good team and we keep things rolling. I believe that put us over the hump and showed us that we can make plays like that when we really need it.””
Wright: “”I would say unforgettable for that game . . . That game we’ll remember for the rest of our lives. We was just so close to being in the Rose Bowl but you know stuff happens.””
On what they were thinking when the Zona Zoo came on the field for the final minutes of the fourth quarter:
Wright: “”Trying to get them back in the stands because we knew the game was far from over. A minute (in football) is like 30 minutes in real time. A lot of things can go down in that one-minute time span.””
Wright: “”From an offensive perspective, we came out to that game very excited, came out with our hair on fire. We knew that we was going to have to make some plays in order to win. We also knew that coach Stoops had never beat (USC) … as an offensive player we put that in our minds to do that really for coach Stoops.””
Moments
Moment: A controversial interception off the foot of former wide receiver Delashaun Dean in the fourth quarter of the Washington game, resulting in a heartbreaking 36-33 loss.
Moment: Against Stanford, running back Nic Grigsby capped a 15-point comeback for the Wildcats, scoring a 57-yard touchdown with 2:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Moment: The double-over-time loss to the Oregon Ducks in which former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli had six touchdowns and the Zona Zoo prematurely rushed the field.
Moment: When receiver Juron Criner caught a 36-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to put Arizona on top 21-17. It was the first time that head coach Mike Stoops beat USC.
Defensive Point of view:
Joe Perkins: “”That was the sickest feeling in the world because when the defense we were on the sideline and we just knew we were up. We were [like] ‘ok, this game is over.’ Then we just heard this big roar and were like ‘Hold up, what’s happened?’ We looked up and he was already in the end zone.””
On if the ball actually bounced off the ground:
Perkins: Yeah, it hit the ground.
Perkins: “”Defensively, it was a tough game for us. We was just happy the offense was able to pull it out for us.””
Perkins: “”I think for me defensively we kind of knew it was going to be a long night. When it hit off the cross bar and went right in that was like ‘Aw man you’ve got to be kidding me. They’re getting all the breaks.’ But that’s football.””
Perkins: “”I was ecstatic. I’m from L.A. so that was a big ‘that’s what you get for not recruiting me’. I was ecstatic. I was on the sideline jumping and cheering the whole time.””
