Wild win for ’Zona

TUCSON, Ariz. – In an electrifying offensive duel, all it took was one stop to win.

Arizona came up with two.

After Nic Grigsby raced 57 yards for a touchdown with 2:57 to play, the Wildcats repelled Stanford deep in Arizona territory to preserve a 43-38 victory and end a wild Saturday night in the desert.

Stanford’s last thrust died when Wildcats cornerback Trevin Wade batted down a pass intended for Chris Owusu in the end zone. One series earlier, Arizona (4-2, 2-1 Pac-10) had stuffed the Cardinal on fourth-and-1 at the Wildcats’ 8.

“That was kind of old Pac-10 football there,” raspy-voiced Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. “The bottom line is just winning.”

After winning its first three Pac-10 games, Stanford (4-3, 3-2) controlled its own Rose Bowl destiny. Now the Cardinal are searching for answers after back-to-back conference losses.

Leading 31-29 midway through the third quarter, the Cardinal seemingly took command with a six-play, 86-yard march. The big play was a 47-yard strike down the middle from Luck to Owusu, setting the Cardinal up at Arizona’s 2.

Gerhart barged over on the next play to give the Cardinal a 38-29 lead.

Arizona’s Greg Nwoko burst up the middle for a 43-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 38-36 with 10:06 to go, setting the stage for the memorable finish.

The game turned when Stanford, leading 38-36, went for it on fourth-and-1 at Arizona’s 8 with 5:27 to go.

The natural call would have been a handoff to the hard-charging Gerhart, but he limped off with an ankle injury before the play. Luck found Owusu in the flat, but Owusu dropped the ball.

Given new life, the Wildcats rallied on Grigsby’s dramatic run on third-and-17 from the Arizona 43-yard line.

With Stanford blitzing, the shifty Grigsby took a delayed handoff, danced through traffic at the line and then broke down the left sideline, outrunning the secondary to the end zone as the Arizona Stadium crowd of 53,479 erupted.