Arizona football scored early and scored often to get revenge at Washington State, blowing out the Cougars 59-37.
The No. 15 Wildcats (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12 Conference) beat Washington State to become bowl eligible for the third year in a row and the sixth time since 2008. Last year, WSU beat the UA 24-17 in Tucson.
Arizona freshman quarterback Anu Solomon was 26-for-38 for 294 yards through the air in the game with five touchdowns. WSU senior quarterback Connor Halliday was 56-for-79 for 489 yards for four touchdowns and had two interceptions.
WSU outgained Arizona 543 to 451, though.
Ten Wildcat receivers caught passes, led by redshirt sophomore wide receiver Cayleb Jones, who had seven catches for 78 yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore linebacker Scooby Wright III had eight tackles, three sacks and three forced fumbles.
Senior running back Terris Jones-Grigsby ran for 107 yards on 13 carries.
WSU got a one-yard touchdown run on its first drive of the fourth quarter. The Cougars made it 52-30 with an eight-yard touchdown pass.
However, on the ensuing kickoff, Jones returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.
The Wildcats took at 45-16 lead after a 14-yard touchdown pass to redshirt senior wide receiver Austin Hill. They followed that with a 13-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Trey Griffey.
Arizona opened the second half with a two-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Nick Wilson, following a 41-yard pass completion to sophomore wide receiver Samajie Grant on 3rd and 10th.
Washington State ended the shutout with a 37-yard touchdown pass with 6:36 left in the first half. The pass gave Halliday the WSU career passing yards record.
WSU scored another touchdown, on a 18-yard pass, with 1:51 following Arizona’s first punt. After a Wildcat fumble on the kick off, the Cougars kicked a 40-yard field goal.
The Wildcats took a 31-0 lead after a three-yard touchdown pass to Jones.
Arizona took a 24-0 lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Nate Phillips right before the first quarter ended.
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver DaVonte’ Neal scored the first offensive touchdown of the day, on a two-yard pass.
Redshirt junior kicker Casey Skowron gave the Wildcats a 10-0 lead with a 31-yard field goal in his first attempt since the USC game.
Arizona opened up the scoring with an 81-yard punt return touchdown by Neal following the Cougars’ first possession. It was the Wildcats’ first punt return touchdown since 2012.
Arizona’s last game with a punt and kick return for a touchdown was 2009 against WSU.