Comeback Cats

Ian Mayer Arizona Daily Wildcat UA wide-receiver Rodney Williams (3) leaps to catch a pass in Saturday night's game against San Diego State. The Wildcats broke their three game losing streak by defeating the Aztecs by a score of 31-28.

The Arizona football team has a pulse.

The Wildcats overcame a three-touchdown deficit as Mark McDonald hit a 28-yard field goal with 1:12 left in regulation to defeat San Diego State 31-28 in front of 39,195 fans at Arizona Stadium Saturday night.

"I have made that kick 100 times in practice," McDonald said. "I'm just glad I got the chance and that I came through."

Arizona head coach Dick Tomey expressed his happiness with his team's ability to comeback.

"Our guys really fought hard tonight and Mark made a big kick," Tomey said. "We worked so hard and it is great to get a win."

The situation didn't look so good early on as Arizona dug themselves into a hole for the third week in a row.

SDSU scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions and, with 3:06 to go in the first quarter, the Wildcats found themselves down 21-0.

The Wildcats have been outscored 55-21 in the opening quarter this season.

"We have got to quit doing that," said quarterback Ortege Jenkins after winning his first game as a starter. "I am just glad we came back and won this game. This is a big win for us."

Jenkins, filling in for the injured Keith Smith, may have earned himself a starting spot with his near perfect performance.

Jenkins completed 17 of 32 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns - two to Dennis Northcutt and one to Rodney Williams.

Northcutt finished the game with six catches for 121 yards, while Williams caught five balls for 103 yards.

The biggest statistic for Jenkins is that he went the entire game without throwing an interception.

"OJ played phenomenal tonight," Tomey said. "He was cool, he was poised, he was absolutely terrific."

It appeared early in the game that the Arizona secondary would provide its usual collapse and surrender to their opponent's passing attack.

Arizona played the first quarter without starting cornerback Chris McAlister, who was benched for failing to meet an academic requirement.

The Aztecs' pass-oriented offense took full advantage of Arizona's inability to defend against the pass on their very first drive, marching 84 yards in 6 plays as quarterback Kevin McKechnie found All-America candidate Az-zahir Hakim who then burned Kelly Malveaux up the sideline for 41 yards and a touchdown. The drive used up only 1:50 of the game clock.

After the Wildcats went three-and-out on their first series, Hakim struck again, returning a Ryan Springston punt 51 yards to the Arizona 30-yard line.

Three plays later, Damon Gourdine snuck in between Kelly Malveaux and David Fipp and caught a picture-perfect McKechnie pass for a 22-yard touchdown, putting SDSU up 14-0 just four minutes into the game.

San Diego State scored again later in the first quarter on a 6-play, 87-yard drive which lasted just 2:30. McKechnie hooked up with Hakim for the second time on a 37-yard strike. That score increased SDSU's lead to 21-0.

"You look up at the clock at a time like that and all you can say is 'Wow'," Jenkins said.

McKechnie completed 4 of 4 passes for 84 yards on the last drive and was 10 for 17 for 141 yards and three touchdowns in the first quarter.

Enter McAlister.

McAlister requested to be moved to cornerback for the game just so he could cover Hakim and he did just that.

The Aztecs' receiver caught only one pass the rest of the way for 14 yards.

"He is one of the best defensive backs around," Hakim said of McAlister after the game.

The entrance of McAlister seemed to provide a spark in the defense and the rest of the team as the Wildcats showed quick-strike potential of their own, scoring a pair of touchdowns just 1:55 apart, midway through the second quarter.

The first was on a 4th and 14 play from the SDSU 30-yard line as Williams went up and over the defense to grab a rainbow from Jenkins in the right corner of the end zone.

The second was on a 96-yard run up the middle of the field by Trung Canidate that got the UA fans on their feet and cheering. That brought Arizona to within a touchdown at 21-14.

Arizona tied the game midway through the third quarter on a nifty catch and run by Northcutt.

Jenkins underthrew a fade route which Northcutt adjusted to, made a leaping grab and dashed across field for a 56-yard score.

The drive was keyed by a 21-yard run by Jay Hinton on third and 19 from the Wildcats own 6 yard line.

SDSU battled back as running back Jonas Lewis scampered up the left side, 36 yards for a touchdown that put the Aztecs back on top at 28-21.

On the following drive, Arizona went 74 yards in 13 plays, capped off by Northcutt's second touchdown catch of the night coming on his favorite route, the fade.

"We went over that play all week in practice," Northcutt said. "Coming in here we knew we could dominate their defensive backs with our speed and our size and we did that."

After SDSU failed to convert on their next possession, Arizona used another clock-controlling drive to set up McDonald's eventual game-winning kick.

The Wildcats final two drives took up nearly 12 minutes off the play clock and took the Aztecs offense completely out of their rhythm.

SDSU's last hopes died when Wildcat linebacker Chester Burnett intercepted McKechnie's pass on third and 13, sealing the victory and drawing a huge roar from the Arizona faithful that were still in the stands.

"We had given up the big play all day and I was just glad the guys up front forced him (McKechnie) into throwing a bad pass," Burnett said. "This is a very important win for us. We had to have this one."