Week 12

Week 12: A Week That Should Have Been Better

Result of Last Week's #1 Game to Watch

All you need to know is Alabama won.  I don't want to talk about it any further.

Final Score: I can't bear to type it.

Most Exiting Game of the Week

1.  Washington Huskies @ Arizona Wildcats

2 weeks prior to this game, Arizona had watched their chances of going to the PAC 12 Championship game mostly disappear in a tough loss to UCLA.  Would they be able to keep their hopes of receiving a quality bowl invite with a win over a resilient Washington team?

Fast forward to late in the 2nd quarter, Arizona is trailing by 10 but their offense has the ball in the redzone.  Unfortunately for Arizona that's as far as they can get and they have to settle for a field goal.  But Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez had a trick up his sleeve.  Instead of snapping the ball to the holder, the long snapper fired it backwards into the hands of kicker Casey Skowron.  Skowron dashed around the right side of the defense and beat the last defender to the corner of the endzone for the touchdown. (celebration below)

With about a minute left in the half, the Huskies got the ball back, but had no intention of keeping it. On the 4th play of the drive, the center snaps the ball low and the ball shoots past the quarterback Cyler Miles.  Miles picks up the loose ball, but is soon tackled and he fumbles.  An Arizona player falls on it, and the offense gets the ball again at the 19 yard line.  4 plays later, running back Nick Wilson speeds into the endzone, giving the Wildcats a 21-17 halftime lead.

Washington scores 9 points in the 3rd quarter, not 10 thanks to a botched snap on the extra point. That missing point would come back to haunt the Huskies.  At the beginning of the 4th quarter, Arizona has the ball at their own 15 yard line, but soon arrives at the Washington 22 by way of a 63 yard pass from quarterback Anu Solomon.  But they cannot get another 1st down and have to settle for a field goal.  This time Skowron kicks the field goal, and shrinks the Huskies' lead to 2.

For the next 3 drives, the teams trade punts.  Then the Wildcats mount an determined effort to take the lead.  They get all the way down to the Washington 17 yard line, but then an Arizona receiver ran the wrong route and Solomon's pass is intercepted by a wide open Washington defensive back in the endzone.   With only 4 minutes left, all the Huskies had to do was run out the clock.  They accomplished that until they reached midfield where the same Arizona player who recovered the ball in the first half forces a fumble and his teammate recovers 

About 1 1/2 minutes remain in the game and the Wildcats just need a field goal to win.  A combination of runs by Wilson and passes by Solomon get the ball to the 30 yard line.  Skowron sets his sights on the target and takes a deep breath.  The ball is snapped, the hold is good, and the football soon sails majestically through the goal posts.  The fans jump up and down in celebration and within minutes Skowron is being carried off the field on his teammates' shoulders.  Its not many times a kicker is considered the hero of a game, but scoring 13 points in 1 game certainly warrants that honor.

Final Score: Arizona 27 Washington 26

Special Requests

The Georgia Bulldogs needed a win over a tough Auburn team to stay in the hunt for a trip to the SEC Championship Game.  At the end of this game, however, Georgia looked like the tougher team. The Bulldog defense held the usual explosive Auburn offense to a measly 7 points.  The Georgia offense was just as dominant, amassing over 400 total yards, including nearly 300 on the ground. The final score was 41-7, giving new life to the Bulldogs' SEC Championship dreams.  

With its 3rd loss, Auburn's once very promising season has been chewed to shreds.  They still have to face that darn Alabama team.  They could win.  Miracles do happen you know.