Wildcats rally past Trojans
LOS ANGELES – When Juron Criner stretched and stumbled across the goal line for Arizona’s go-ahead touchdown, the half-empty Coliseum fell into a gloomy silence that matched the dark clouds above Southern California’s once-intimidating stadium.
Over on the Wildcats’ sideline, it was all sunny skies and Hollywood endings. After a bunch of crazy finishes and brutal losses, long-struggling Arizona is headed to a fine reward for its most impressive season in a decade.
Criner dived into the end zone with a 36-yard TD pass from Nick Foles with 3:14 to play, and Arizona likely wrapped up a Holiday Bowl berth with a 21-17 win over not-so-mighty No. 20 USC on Saturday.
“It feels amazing,” Criner said. “It’s an indescribable feeling.
“How would you describe it if somebody asked you how it feels to rewrite history?”
Foles passed for 239 yards and two TDs and ran for another score for the Wildcats (8-4, 6-3 Pac-10), who finally beat USC for the first time in coach Mike Stoops’ tenure by scoring the final touchdown in a defense-dominated game.
Although bowl berths won’t be given out until today, Holiday Bowl officials had said they were likely to select the winner of this game.
While the Pac-10’s No. 2 bowl would have been a consolation prize for USC (8-4, 5-4), it’s a sweepstakes jackpot for the Wildcats, who won the Las Vegas Bowl last season in their first bowl appearance since 1998
Arizona 21, (20) USC 17
| Arizona | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | — | 21 |
| Southern Cal | 0 | 7 | 7 | 3 | — | 17 |
Ari—Dean 4 pass from Foles (Zendejas kick)
USC—R.Johnson 16 pass from Barkley (Congdon kick)
Ari—Foles 1 run (Zendejas kick)
USC—Bradford 5 run (Congdon kick)
USC—FG Congdon 37
Ari—Criner 36 pass from Foles (Zendejas kick)
| Ari | USC | |
| First downs | 17 | 20 |
| Rushes-yards | 29-82 | 31-138 |
| Passing | 239 | 144 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 22-40-1 | 20-37-1 |
| Return Yards | 0 | 6 |
| Punts-Avg. | 6-37.7 | 6-33.7 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 6-35 | 3-30 |
| Time of Possession | 31:18 | 28:42 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Arizona, Antolin 13-51, Criner 3-19, Nwoko 8-10,
T.Turner 1-5, Foles 1-1, Team 3-(minus 4). Southern Cal, Bradford 11-66,
Havili 5-37, McKnight 9-35, Barkley 6-0.
PASSING—Arizona, Foles 22-40-1-239. Southern Cal,
Barkley 20-37-1-144.
RECEIVING—Arizona, Criner 6-71, Wright 5-66, Dean 5-58,
Roberts 3-20, Antolin 2-16, Nwoko 1-8. Southern Cal, Williams 8-51,
R.Johnson 5-50, McCoy 2-14, Ellison 2-10, Butler 1-14, McKnight 1-12, Carswell 1-(minus 7).