11:24
FINAL: #ArizonaWildcats 24, Toledo 17
11:22
Arizona needs two stops and it wins. Defense wins games? Yes.
11:17
What a play by Scott! Keeps play alive with his feet, finds Terrence Miller wide open at the middle of the endzone. 24-17. Play of the night, in my opinion.
11:14
Overtime begins with a long pass attempt to Taimi Tutogi, pass interference called. Only second time his name has even been mentioned on offense all day. Kind of weird considering all the good things RichRod had to say about him throughout fall camp.
11:08
Uh oh. Bonano misses. The curse of the kicker continues at the UA.
11:06
Game to be decided with a last-second field goal attempt from John Bonano. Attempt will be from 25 yards.
11:00
Slow-moving 4th quarter. So much for the fast pace. The more Arizona runs the ball, the better it does. Two straight first down runs, one from Scott one from Carey. RichRod needs to get back to his run-first mindset. Like, now and until the end of the season.
10:49
Matt Scott throws his first interception of the game with 8:06 remaining in the game.
10:45
Look at that pass rush. 10 sacks total in 2011. Marquis Flowers just got 1/10 of that total on one play. Bravo, sir.
10:33
Chris Putton, injured in the first quarter, is back in at left guard.
10:26
Toledo’s 42-yard field goal attempt is good. Score is tied, 17-17.
10:22
Some interesting Arizona stats to consider, after the third quarter. Arizona still leading, 17-14.
– 488 total yards….yet is only up by 3 points.
– Wildcats passed the ball 36 times, rushed 23 times. Very un-RichRod
– Six penalties, 51 yards
– Matt Scott: career-high 336 passing yards
– Scott: 24 rushing yards
– Linebacker Jake Fischer and safety Jared Tevis with a combined 24 total tackles.
10:10
In his first game as a full-time starter, Scott already sets career-high in passing yards. Right now, he has 330 yards, breaking previous high of 319 against UCLA in 2010. Field goal attempt by John Bonano hits the post, bounces off. Score still at 17-14, Arizona winning.
10:06
Jake Fischer forces a fumble, recovered by part-time defensive end Taimi Tutogi. Arizona gets ball at 32.
9:56
RichRod pulling some trickery! Onsides kick recovered by the man who kicked it, John Bonano. Arizona ball. Zona Zoo wakes up. Momentum shifting.
9:55
TOUCHDOWN. Ka’Deem Carey with a huge run, three broken tackles. 73-yard touchdown run. Give that man the ball! 17-14. He now has 120 yards on the day.
9:44
And the second-half is underway. Arizona looking like it might run a bit more this half. Three straight rushes to start out.
9:20
HALFTIME: Toledo 14, Arizona 10
With less than a minute remaining, Wildcats drive the ball from its own 35-yard line all the way to Toledo 44. A long Scott pass to end the half unsuccessful.
9:03
Austin Hill was having a nice game. He even broke 100-yards receiving on the most recent play…..but he fumbled it. Turnovers and mental mishaps absolutely killing Arizona.
9:00
TOUCHDOWN. After easing its way up the field, Toledo easily scores on a 1-yard touchdown. Toledo 14, Arizona 10.
This can’t be what RichRod wanted to see in his first game. Wildcats playing an all-around sloppy game, at least defensively. Matt Scott’s performance thus far has been solid, but defense isn’t allowing him to do his thing by keeping Toledo offense on the field.
8:55
Walk-on Johnny Jackson getting some playing time. Good for him, really hard worker. He might be tiny (he’s listed at a generous 5-foot-10), but if Richard Morrison keeps on dropping balls, Jumpin’ Johnny might see some playing time this year. Terrance Owens is having his way with the Arizona secondary, by the way.
8:45
After forcing Toledo’s first three-and-out in a long time, Wildcats gain 30-yards on pass interference and roughing the passer penalties. Long Daniel Jenkins touchdown run called back after holding call on Fabbians Ebbele.
8:34
TOUCHDOWN. Austin Hill with a full-extending dive in the end zone, 30 yards. 10-7 Arizona lead. Matt Scott having a great game thus far.
8:30
Long pass from Scott to Dan Buckner. 21-yard gain. Follwed soon after by another 22-yard pass to Buckner.
8:28
Toledo “backup” quarterback Owens is 5-for-5 with 74 passing yards and a touchdown.
8:26
TOUCHDOWN. Blown coverage by Shaq Richardson leads to 59-yard passing play from Toledo’s Terrance Owens to Alonzo Russell. Toledo leads 7-3.
8:23
Stats thus far for Arizona:
Matt Scott: 6-of-8, 101 yards
Ka’Deem Carey: 5 rushes, 31 yards
Austin Hill: 2 receptions, 48 yards
8:21
And another third down conversion for Toledo….leading to a RichRod timeout. Toledo is 8-for-10 on third down.
8:20
Second quarter underway. Jake Fischer opens with a tackle.
8:17
END FIRST QUARTER. Arizona- 3, Toledo- 0
8:16
Again, Arizona fails to make a stop on third down. Two straight times. Third-down appears to be this defense’s kryptonite.
8:12
Richard Morrison fumbles, Toledo ball on their own 7-yard line
8:10
Injury timeout. Offensive Lineman Chris Putton limps off the field with an apparent leg injury. Only thing slowing down this offense thus far — Injuries.
8:08
Big play to Austin Hill, 33 yard gain. Arizona on Toledo’s 24-yard line
8:07
QB Matt Scott keeps the ball to himself, gets a first down on the run
8:03
Finally, Arizona makes a stop on third down. Jake Fischer with a tackle behind the line. Great to see him back on the field after missing last year with an ACL injury, he’s the heart of this Arizona defense.
8:01
Arizona making defensive stops on every down besides third, Toledo has moved all the way up the field. Now at Arizona’s 25-yard line
7:58
Toledo QB Austin Dantin tried pulling a Tim Tebow, with the jumping pass. Receiver dropped it though.
7:52
It’s not easy to simultaneously live-tweet, blog with this no-huddle offense. Toledo clearly not ready for the fast pace on offense though. That element of surprise clearly coming in to play.
7:51
Richard Morrison drops surefire touchdown pass, so John Bonano puts 27-yard field goal through the uprights. 3-0 Arizona lead.
7:48
Arizona passing it quite a bit to start out, thrown it four times, ran it two. Doing pretty well through the air. Terrence Miller had a 27 yard gain.
7:46
Three plays within 10 seconds. No-huddle offense on the move, as expected.
7:45
Let’s see how Matt Scott takes his first hit in two years. First pass intended for Terrence Miller, dropped.
7:44
Defense makes a stop. When’s the last time you heard that? Richard Morrison back to receive the punt.
7:41
Toledo gets a 19-yard gain on third down. Porous Arizona pass defense back in action.
7:40
Walk-on redshirt freshman Sir Thomas Jackson is starting at linebacker for the injured Hank Hobson
7:37
And we’re off. UA kicker John Bonano opens the game with a kickoff to the back of the end zone. Touchback.
***
7:35
After performing the “Haka” dance in front of Zona Zoo, Arizona wins the coin toss. Chooses to defer to Toledo for the opening kickoff.
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7:25
National Anthem. Kickoff in 11 minutes.
***
7:06
No. 19 Oklahoma State — Arizona’s next opponent — is winning 77-0 right now against Savannah State. Yikes.
***
7:02 p.m.: Expected starting linebacker Hank Hobson isn’t suited up for the game. Freshman Keoni Bush-Loo will probably start in his place. He was brought to Arizona as a tight end, switched to defense to fill in depth at linebacker. The fact that he might start shows just how scarily thin the linebacking corps are right now.
***
Former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti currently in the press box. At one point, he was rumored to be the leading candidate for Arizona’s head coaching position, now occupied by Rich Rodriguez
***
We’re here at Arizona Stadium for the Wildcats season opener against Toledo. Fans have started filing in to the Zona Zoo section as we are less than two hours away from kickoff.
Check back for updates throughout the game and follow @WildcatSports on Twitter for updates throughout the night.
