Sports
Wildcats withstand rain, punish Vandals
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| Scott A. Taras | Special to the Green Valley News Arizona's Willie Tuitama (left) hands off to Nic Grigsby during the Wildcats' season-opening win over Idaho last night in Tucson. |
By Nick Prevenas, Green Valley News
TUCSON—The Arizona Wildcats’ football season began with the booming sounds of “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC blasting through the stadium speakers.
Nobody knew exactly how prophetic that song would turn out to be.
Seconds after the Wildcats took the field, a bolt of lightning touched down just outside the city limits. Another one quickly followed.
The officials decided to suspend the game’s kickoff. NCAA rules state that the start of any game must be postponed at least 30 minutes after lighting has been spotted in the area. Both sides retreated to the locker room.
That’s when the rain set in.
It had been a beautiful late summer day in Tucson the hours leading up to the Arizona-Idaho match-up. The temperature at game time was 86 degrees before a monstrous monsoon covered Arizona Stadium in sheets of rain.
Everyone except for the UA faithful inhabiting the students’ section scrambled for shelter. Fans slowly started to filter back toward the bleachers once the downpour morphed into a drizzle.
After an hour delay, kickoff finally took place at 8:11 p.m.
The Wildcats didn’t take long to assert themselves after the delay, bursting out of the gate on their way to a jaw-dropping 70-0 victory.
Willie Tuitama marched the UA offense 80 yards in 11 plays, with Nic Grigsby capping the drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge.
The offensive line gave Tuitama all day to throw, allowing him to find Terrell Turner and Delashaun Dean underneath the Idaho coverage.
Tuitama enjoyed a phenomenal first half, completing 17 of 21 pass attempts for 179 yards and three touchdowns. Of his four incompletions, three hit his receivers on the hands but Turner (twice) and Dean simply dropped them. The fourth was batted down at the line of scrimmage. He gave way to true freshman Matt Scott for most of the second half.
Arizona scored again on a quick four-play drive. Grigsby’s electrifying 41-yard jaunt set up Mike Thomas’ five-yard touchdown reception and a 14-0 lead.
The Wildcats tacked on another touchdown shortly after the start of the second quarter. Thomas fumbled the Idaho punt, but senior cornerback Marquis Hundley was in the right place at the right time, turning the miscue into an 87-yard touchdown return.
On Idaho’s next punt, Thomas was inches away from converting a second UA punt return for a TD, but he stepped out of bounds on Idaho’s 44-yard line.
Four plays later, Chris Gronkowski (suiting up for his strep-throat-inflicted brother, Rob) scored on a 22-yard touchdown reception, extending UA’s lead to 28-0.
Nate Ness cut short another Idaho drive with a spectacular interception near midfield. Seven plays later, Grigsby punched in his second touchdown on the half to give the Wildcats a 35-0 advantage.
Grigsby added a 55-yard run near the end of the first half, which set up a short Keola Antolin touchdown run.
Grigsby finished the first half with 169 yards on 19 carries and two scores.
Not content with a 42-0 lead, the Wildcats tacked on another score when Tuitama found Turner for a 3-yard touchdown pass and an insurmountable 49-0 advantage, setting the UA record for most points in a half.
Idaho’s offense struggled mightily to move the ball against Arizona. Ronnie Palmer spent much of the first half camped out in the Vandals’ backfield, giving quarterback Nate Enderle and tailback Deonte Jackson no room to operate. Idaho managed only 76 yards of offense before intermission.
Pac-10 roundup
In other action around the Pac-10 conference, No. 3 Southern California throttled Virginia 52-7.
Off-season injuries to quarterback Matt Sanchez and tailback Joe McKnight did nothing to slow down the Trojans yesterday. Sanchez threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns while McKnight averaged 10 yards a pop on his six carries.
The Trojans served notice to the rest of the conference that they are still the most fearsome squad in the Pac-10.
Washington State’s rebuilding stretch began yesterday with a 39-13 home loss to Oklahoma State. The Cougars could get nothing going, gaining a meager 196 yards of offense.
The California Golden Bears out-lasted the Michigan State Spartans in an exciting 38-31 shootout. Kevin Riley stepped in for a wildly ineffective Nate Longshore and, along with tailback Jahvid Best, led Cal to a big season-opening victory against a tough Big Ten foe.
nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747
Nobody knew exactly how prophetic that song would turn out to be.
Seconds after the Wildcats took the field, a bolt of lightning touched down just outside the city limits. Another one quickly followed.
The officials decided to suspend the game’s kickoff. NCAA rules state that the start of any game must be postponed at least 30 minutes after lighting has been spotted in the area. Both sides retreated to the locker room.
That’s when the rain set in.
It had been a beautiful late summer day in Tucson the hours leading up to the Arizona-Idaho match-up. The temperature at game time was 86 degrees before a monstrous monsoon covered Arizona Stadium in sheets of rain.
Everyone except for the UA faithful inhabiting the students’ section scrambled for shelter. Fans slowly started to filter back toward the bleachers once the downpour morphed into a drizzle.
After an hour delay, kickoff finally took place at 8:11 p.m.
The Wildcats didn’t take long to assert themselves after the delay, bursting out of the gate on their way to a jaw-dropping 70-0 victory.
Willie Tuitama marched the UA offense 80 yards in 11 plays, with Nic Grigsby capping the drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge.
The offensive line gave Tuitama all day to throw, allowing him to find Terrell Turner and Delashaun Dean underneath the Idaho coverage.
Tuitama enjoyed a phenomenal first half, completing 17 of 21 pass attempts for 179 yards and three touchdowns. Of his four incompletions, three hit his receivers on the hands but Turner (twice) and Dean simply dropped them. The fourth was batted down at the line of scrimmage. He gave way to true freshman Matt Scott for most of the second half.
Arizona scored again on a quick four-play drive. Grigsby’s electrifying 41-yard jaunt set up Mike Thomas’ five-yard touchdown reception and a 14-0 lead.
The Wildcats tacked on another touchdown shortly after the start of the second quarter. Thomas fumbled the Idaho punt, but senior cornerback Marquis Hundley was in the right place at the right time, turning the miscue into an 87-yard touchdown return.
On Idaho’s next punt, Thomas was inches away from converting a second UA punt return for a TD, but he stepped out of bounds on Idaho’s 44-yard line.
Four plays later, Chris Gronkowski (suiting up for his strep-throat-inflicted brother, Rob) scored on a 22-yard touchdown reception, extending UA’s lead to 28-0.
Nate Ness cut short another Idaho drive with a spectacular interception near midfield. Seven plays later, Grigsby punched in his second touchdown on the half to give the Wildcats a 35-0 advantage.
Grigsby added a 55-yard run near the end of the first half, which set up a short Keola Antolin touchdown run.
Grigsby finished the first half with 169 yards on 19 carries and two scores.
Not content with a 42-0 lead, the Wildcats tacked on another score when Tuitama found Turner for a 3-yard touchdown pass and an insurmountable 49-0 advantage, setting the UA record for most points in a half.
Idaho’s offense struggled mightily to move the ball against Arizona. Ronnie Palmer spent much of the first half camped out in the Vandals’ backfield, giving quarterback Nate Enderle and tailback Deonte Jackson no room to operate. Idaho managed only 76 yards of offense before intermission.
Pac-10 roundup
In other action around the Pac-10 conference, No. 3 Southern California throttled Virginia 52-7.
Off-season injuries to quarterback Matt Sanchez and tailback Joe McKnight did nothing to slow down the Trojans yesterday. Sanchez threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns while McKnight averaged 10 yards a pop on his six carries.
The Trojans served notice to the rest of the conference that they are still the most fearsome squad in the Pac-10.
Washington State’s rebuilding stretch began yesterday with a 39-13 home loss to Oklahoma State. The Cougars could get nothing going, gaining a meager 196 yards of offense.
The California Golden Bears out-lasted the Michigan State Spartans in an exciting 38-31 shootout. Kevin Riley stepped in for a wildly ineffective Nate Longshore and, along with tailback Jahvid Best, led Cal to a big season-opening victory against a tough Big Ten foe.
nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747
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