The Arizona Wildcats avoided a scare at the Rose Bowl against the UCLA Bruins today. After the Bruins cut the lead to five, Arizona answered behind a strong performance from backup quarterback Matt Scott and held off the Bruins, 29-21. Scott, seeing extensive action in a third straight game in place of injured Nick Foles, put on a show through the air, throwing for 320 yards and one touchdown against one interception.
Juron Criner had another big game for the Wildcats, catching passes for 128 yards and one touchdown. On the ground, Keola Antolin paced the Arizona backs, rushing for 110 yards and a touchdown.
The Bruins closed the gap in the third quarter with a big play when backup quarterback Richard Brehaut hit Randall Carroll for 68 yards and a touchdown. Derrick Coleman led Bruins in the run game, rushing for 42 yards and a touchdown. Against a stout Arizona defense, UCLA used trick plays to make some headway, but couldn't quite get over the hump in the end. A fourth quarter strike from Brehaut to Josh Smith on a trick play brought the Bruins within five before Arizona kicked a field goal to give us the final margin.
Arizona improves to 7-1 while UCLA falls to 3-5.