Casey Skowron had been in this situation before.
The Arizona kicker missed a potential-game winning field goal against USC earlier in the season after the opposing head coach called a timeout just before the kick. Washington's Chris Petersen did the same thing Saturday, calling a timeout just before a field-goal attempt with the Huskies leading by two.
Skowron shook off his demons though and calmly nailed a 47-yarder to give the Wildcats yet another crazy fourth-quarter finish that keeps their division hopes alive for another week. He also scored a touchdown earlier in the game on a fake field goal, sparking a comeback in the second quarter in a game where not much was working for coach Rich Rodriguez's offense.
The close, back-and-forth game was nearly ended a few plays earlier when Arizona's Cayleb Jones -- who caught a Hail Mary to beat California earlier this season -- appeared to catch a remarkable touchdown in the back of the end zone on a deep pass by quarterback Anu Solomon. Jones's foot was just a half-inch out of bounds, however, but the play was one he'll no doubt keep tucked away as a sign of what he can do in the air with a defensive back draped all over him. A Texas transfer, Jones has been a key part of a rejuvenated passing attack for Arizona and finished the game with five catches for 54 yards.
Solomon had his second iffy game of November, failing to get the offense in rhythm while throwing for 242 yards on 39 attempts to go with two interceptions. It was his second-lowest output of the season, but a lot of that can be traced to an active defense from Washington.
Two-way Huskies star Shaq Thompson started on defense at outside linebacker and added yet another turnover to his stat sheet this season when he recovered a fumble on the opening series of the second half. He did not have any carries at running back in Tucson after starting twice on offense the past two games.
Defensive tackle Danny Shelton added a sack to keep him in the top 10 nationally in that category; Hau'oli Kikaha was shut out in that department but was active most of the night coming off the edge to create pressure. Andrew Hudson, the unsung hero of the active defensive line, also added a sack and was downright unblockable on a few plays, looking just as impressive as his more highly touted teammates.
The points didn't come like they wanted for the Huskies, but it was the sharpest the offense had looked in several weeks. Washington gained 504 yards and hit several big plays to move the ball downfield. Fumbles proved to be the team's Achilles' heel -- the Huskies lost three of them, the costliest of which was when running back Deontae Cooper fumbled with just over a minute left to set up the winning drive for Arizona.
It wasn't a pretty game by any stretch for either team, but in the end the Cardiac 'Cats pulled out another clutch win.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
