• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Arizona hits jackpot in Las Vegas Bowl

Dec 21, 2008 - 8:27 AM TUCSON, Arizona (Ticker) -- Willie Tuitama threw for 327 yards and a pair of touchdowns and ran for another score as Arizona turned the tables on the Mountain West's dominance of the Pac-10 with a 31-21 victory over 16th-ranked Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl on Saturday.

"This has been a long journey with a lot of ups and downs, to get this means a lot to me, and for these seniors," Wildcats coach Mike Stoops said. "It hopefully shows that what we already knew and that this program is headed in the right direction."

The Mountain West was 6-1 against the Pac-10 this season, including New Mexico downing Arizona, 36-28, in September. The Wildcats also had struggled against the Mountain West under Stoops, going 1-5 coming into the game.

"My credit goes to Coach Stoops and to Arizona," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "They made the critical plays when they needed to make the critical plays."

Tuitama, who was 24-of-35 passing, helped the Wildcats (8-5) stem the trend with two third-quarter touchdown passes that turned a 14-10 deficit into a 24-14 advantage.

Midway through the quarter, Tuitama hit Delashaun Dean with a 37-yard strike to give the Wildcats the lead.

With less than a minute to go in the third quarter, the quarterback connected with Chris Gronkowski from 24 yards out to complete a 65-yard drive.

BYU (10-3) was driving in the fourth quarter before Marquis Hundley picked off a pass from Max Hall in the end zone and returned it to the 18-yard line.

Hall, at one-time considered a Heisman Trophy candidate, was 30-of-47 for 329 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

On the ensuing drive, Arizona marched down the field. A personal foul for a late hit out of bounds after a 26-yard run by Nic Grigsby set the Wildcats up with a first-and-goal from the 9.

Tuitama then was flushed from the pocket on third down and raced into the end zone from six yards to make it 31-14.

Hall then drove BYU 68 yards before scoring on a quarterback sneak from a yard to make it 31-21. The Cougars recovered an onside kick and BYU drove down field. Mitch Payne missed a 38-yard field goal with just over two minutes remaining that could have brought the Cougars within seven points.

On the last play of the game, Arizona's Mike Thomas caught as pass to set a Pac-10 mark with 259 career receptions.

"It means a lot, to reach this point and to get a victory is great. I am speechless," Thomas said. "Words don't describe it."

The Las Vegas Bowl marked Arizona's third game with BYU in three years. Arizona edged the Cougars, 16-13, in the 2006 season opener; BYU got revenge with a 20-7 win last year.