Entering Saturday night's game with Illinois, the big news for Arizona was that redshirt freshman quarterback Keith Smith would receive his first start.

In the end, however, the Wildcats proved once again that it was the defense that would finish the game.

Arizona (2-1 overall, 0-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference) used an explosive fourth quarter that included three interception returns for touchdowns to put away the Illini 41-0 in front of 43,012 at Arizona Stadium.

The Wildcats scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, all of them coming as a result of interceptions. The most important one, perhaps, came early in the fourth quarter, when Illinois quarterback Mark Hoekstra, filling in for the injured Scott Weaver, tried to squeeze a pass into the end zone. Illinois (0-3 overall, 0-1 in the Big Ten Conference) had driven to the Arizona 5-yard line and trailed the Wildcats 13-0. A touchdown could have meant another close game, the kind that has dominated the series between the two schools.

But UA free safety David Fipp wasn't about to let that happen. He stepped in front of the pass, giving Arizona its first interception of the night and the ball at the 20-yard line.

"We weren't going to let them score on us," Fipp said. "In the huddle we said, 'No way are we going to let them score.'"

As has been so common with the UA in recent years, the defense sparked the offense and Smith showed how explosive he could really be. Several plays after the interception, Smith faked a hand-off left, rolled right and took off on a 73-yard naked bootleg for a touchdown.

"It just opened up so big," Smith said. "I had to make a couple of little stutter steps. I couldn't believe it was so wide open. It was awesome. It was like a tunnel."

After that, the Illini started going to their passing game, but it was the Wildcats who became Hoekstra's primary receivers. Arizona tallied five interceptions in the quarter to inflate the score. Chester Burnett, Mikal Smith and Dennis Northcutt all returned interceptions for touchdowns. Northcutt, who was recently moved from running back to cornerback, finished with two late interceptions.

"I saw all the other guys get one and I said, 'Why can't I?'" Northcutt said.

Arizona head coach Dick Tomey said the game was a lot tougher than the score showed.

"The score is not really indicative of the game," Tomey said. "Things got a little crazy there at the end."

Keith Smith finished with 143 yards on nine carries and will likely get much of the attention. But it was Wildcat running back Gary Taylor who set the tone early.

On Arizona's first drive of the night, Taylor carried the ball three times for 66 yards, including a cut-back run for 54 yards. He finished with 12 carries for 143 yards rushing to tie Smith for the team lead.

"I just saw that the defense was over-pursuing so I tried to cut back and take advantage of that," said Taylor, who had just 31 yards rushing last weekend against Iowa. "It felt good to get back on track after last week. The offensive line did a great job of supporting us tonight."

That first drive was the Wildcats' most competent-looking series of the night. Arizona marched 80 yards in two minutes, climaxing with a touchdown toss by Smith to tight end Mike Metzler. On the play, Smith faked a hand-off inside and tossed a lead pass to Metzler on the right side of the end zone.

But Arizona could only connect on a couple of Matt Peyton field goals in the second quarter and didn't score another touchdown until Smith's sprint in the fourth quarter. However, the mini-drought was nothing compared to Illinois' 16 straight quarters without a touchdown. The Illini have still not reached the end zone this season despite out-gaining Arizona in total offense, 418 yards to 403.

Illinois showed it could move the ball, gaining 163 yards on the ground and 289 through the air. Illini tailback Robert Holcombe finished the game with 87 yards on eight carries, while the quarterbacks connected on 26 of their 49 pass attempts. Most of the rushing, however, occurred in the first half as Holcombe had 76 yards on the ground after the first quarter. The passing yards - and the interceptions - came as a result of the UA's lead.

"They had to pass the ball to try and come back late," Tomey said. "In that situation it is easy for a young guy to throw interceptions. This was a very, very hard-fought game that just got out of hand."

Despite the win and the sudden expressiveness of Arizona's new starting quarterback, Tomey said there are still many things his team needs to improve upon. Arizona's passing game, for instance, managed only 31 yards, something that will hurt the Wildcats if the ground game should stall as it did against Iowa last week.

"The running game was something I was very pleased with tonight," Tomey said. "This is certainly the best running we've done against that kind of defense. The passing game wasn't great, but it will get better. Keith Smith will continue to improve. He will be very good for us."

But for now, Tomey is happy with his team's 372 yards rushing and with the defense, which stepped up in the fourth quarter after buckling in the late going against Iowa.

"The defense showed itself early in the fourth quarter, especially on David Fipp's interception," Tomey said. "At that point it was 13-0 and I was very concerned about winning the game. The end was a good momentum builder for us."

---

Daily Wildcat News Opinions Sports PoliceBeat Comics