Michael Salgado-Medina’s FG caps late Arizona comeback to beat TCU

Who said nothing good happens after midnight?

Down eight points with less than two minutes to go, Arizona pulled out some late magic to rally for a 29-28 win over TCU on Friday night at Casino Del Sol Stadium.

Michael Salgado-Medina kicked a 37-yard field goal with 38 seconds to go, his third FG of the game and a score that came after the Wildcats (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) recovered an onside kick. The UA had to try the trick play after scoring a touchdown with 1:45 left but missing the 2-point conversion.

The winning kick came at 12:05 a.m. Tucson time, then two minutes later Tyrese Boss iced it with an interception.

It was the 7th straight win for Arizona at home, the longest streak since eight in a row in 1993-94.

TCU (4-5, 2-4) took a 28-20 lead with 6:35 left on a 2-yard run by quarterback Jaden Craig, who threw for 232 yards and a TD on 28-of-40 passing with two rushing scores. Despite being down eight, Arizona didn’t rush and moved into the red zone with under three minutes left on a 16-yard catch by Isaiah Mizell.

Mizell had six catches for 78 yards and a TD while teammate Giovanni Richardson had 11 catches for 171 yards.

Arizona’s comeback was almost thrwarted on the next play when Quincy Craig fumbled but Noah Fifita fell on the loose ball at the 15. Two plays later, Fifita and Craig connected on a 15-yard TD pass with 1:45 left.

It was the second TD pass of the game for Fifita, who was 24 of 37 for 313 yards with an interception as well as a rushing score, the 6th time in his career he’s run for a TD and thrown for at least one.

Fifita’s 2-point pass was incomplete, keeping the UA down 2. Despite having three timeouts it opted for an onside kick, but rather than the standard ground skinner Ian French pooched it deep.

TCU’s Sebastian Peterson muffed the ball as he ran back to try and catch it, and seldom-used defensive back Zuri Watson recovered at the Frogs’ 26. After three runs to get the Frogs to use their timeouts, Salgado-Medina drilled the 37-yarder.

Boss then picked off Craig on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, one of the few solid plays by a secondary that was missing two starters and saw another get hurt during the game. The Wildcats were flagged five times for pass interference, three on Dwight Bootle II and two on Boss.

TCU led 14-10 at halftime and got the ball first, getting into Arizona territory before stalling and settling for a 50-yard field goal. Tre Smith busted through the line and blocked it, his second blocked kick of the season.

Arizona capitalized, with Fifita scoring on a 9-yard run to go back up 17-14 with 8:14 left in the 3rd. The play before saw Fifita scramble to his left and find Richardson behind the defense for a 36-yard catch.

TCU went 75 yards in 11 plays, converting a pair of third downs along the way, to retake the lead at 21-17 on a 7-yard catch by Jordan Dwyer with 2:39 left in the third.Bootle was victimized multiple times on the drive, including picking up his second pass interference penalty.

Arizona quickly got in position to go in front again after a 46-yard catch by Richardson down to the TCU 9. But the Frogs’ defense held andSalgado–Medina hit a 23-yard field goal on the first play of the 4th quarter, cutting the deficit to 21-20.

The UA defense did its part right after that, forcing a quick punt with Tre Smith sacking Craig on 3rd and long. But the Wildcats went 3-and-out, getting stopped on a 3rd and short run.

TCU converted a pair of 3rd and longs on the ensuing drive, then a third pass interference call on Bootle set up a 2-yard TD run by Craig. The Frogs opted for the PAT to make it an 8-point game with 6:35 to go.

Arizona had one of its best opening drives of the season, going 75 yards in 10 plays capped by Mizell’s diving catch for a 20-yard TD.

After TCU went 3-and-out on its first possession, that included a Cooper Blomstrom sack, Arizona got three via a 43-yard Salgado-Medina field goal. The drive was kept alive by an offsides call on the Horned Frogs on a 3rd down play that had resulted in a sack.

The Horned Frogs had their first scoring opportunity early in the 2nd quarter, getting down to the UA 15. They lined up to go for it on 4th and inches, called a timeout and then afterwards were called for a false start and instead opted for a 37-yard field goal that was wide right.

A pair of Arizona penalties helped get TCU on the board a few minutes later. First, a hold on Tristan Bounds negated a nice run gain, instead resulting in a 3-and-out, then the a pass interference againstBootle gave the Frogs 1st and goal which led toCraig scoring on a 7-yard run to make it 10-7 with 8:53 left in the 2nd.

The run keyed a trip into the red zone on Arizona’s next possession, getting inside the 10, but on 3rd down Fifita tried to hitRichardson but TCU linebacker Hudson Hooper dropped into coverage and picked it off for a 93-yard interception return TD and a 14-10 lead with 4:09 to go before halftime.

Arizona is back home next week to take on No. 3 Utah. The Utes (8-0, 5-0) host No. 7 BYU on Saturday.