Chris Coduto/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona's Brad Wood races for the end zone during the first quarter of Arizona's 31-24 loss to No. 12 Purdue.

The Arizona football team lost 31-24 to No. 12 Purdue Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd at Arizona Stadium.

The Wildcats (1-2) played the Boilermakers (2-0) tough most of the game, but mistakes cost the team an upset win.

“I have nothing but praise and admiration for the team,” said Arizona head coach Mike Stoops. “We lost to a very talented and well-coached team. I’m proud of the effort.”

“This was a big win for us against a very good football team,” said Purdue head coach Joe Tiller. “Arizona is a much improved team.”

Arizona had the ball trailing by seven points with just under two minutes to go. The team’s hopes of a win ended when redshirt sophomore quarterback Richard Kovalcheck was intercepted with under a minute to go. Purdue knelt out the clock.
Stoops said the Wildcats' inability to run the ball -- they managed just nine rushing yards -- and too many penalties (12 for 75 yards) hurt chances to snare away victory.
“We played behind the chains too often, and our lack of balance on the field hurt,” he said.

The Arizona passing attack was a bright spot for the team, with Kovalcheck completing 23-of-40 passes for a career-high 287 yards and three touchdowns.
Two of the scores went to junior tight end Brad Wood, his third and fourth touchdowns of the year.

The turning point in the game came nearly ten minutes into the third quarter, when Arizona junior receiver Syndric Steptoe fumbled a punt in at the Purdue 37-yard line with the Wildcats trailing 21-17.

Purdue recovered the fumble and later scored a touchdown to push the lead to 28-17.
The Wildcats have a bye week Saturday before heading to Berkeley, Calif., to meet California on Oct. 1.

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