TUCSON, Ariz. – Anu Solomon threw for nearly 400 yards and running back Jared Baker scored three touchdowns to spark a furious Arizona rally, but the Wildcats came up just short in a 28-26 thriller in front of a sold-out Arizona Stadium crowd on Saturday night.

Down 21-6 early in the second half, UA posted a late touchdown run by Baker and recovered an on-side kick to give itself a go-ahead field goal attempt in the closing seconds, but was unable to put the winning points on the board.

“Losing on a last-second play isn't easy,” Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “I'm proud of the guys overall, even though we didn't play well at times. You have to give USC credit. They're a talented group of guys and they're well coached. We didn't execute well, but we kept at them for 60 minutes.”

Solomon finished the night 43-of-72 for 395 yards and a touchdown, spreading the ball among 10 different receivers as UA tallied 473 yards of total offense. Four receivers – Austin Hill, Cayleb Jones, DaVonte' Neal and David Richards – each finished the night with seven receptions, with Hill totaling 70 yards to lead the way.

“Anu Solomon competed well,” Rodriguez said. “Everyone says he struggles, but we put a lot on the guy. He didn't make all the plays in the first half, but for a redshirt freshman in a big arena, Solomon has accounted for himself pretty well.”

Baker came on in relief of an injured Terris Jones-Grigsby and served as the catalyst for the Wildcats' late charge, piling up 93 yards of total offense, two touchdowns on the ground and a score through the air in roughly a half of action.

The Wildcats were 11-of-22 on third down, picked up 34 first downs and outgained USC by a 395-185 margin through the air.

Scooby Wright III and Tra'Mayne Bondurant led the way for Arizona on the defensive side of the ball, finishing with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively. Wright had three of UA's five tackles for loss, including his sixth sack of the season.

Arizona's defense forced a pair of turnovers on the night, getting an interception from Jonathan McKnight at the end of the first half and a second-half fumble recovery from Dan Pettinato that set up Baker's first touchdown run.

“Finishing strong is important,” Rodriguez said. “We finished better than we played well in the first half. We have to correct what we need to correct. We'll move on from this game in 24 hours.”

Neal was active early, catching three balls for 38 yards on the Wildcats' first drive and ripping off a 43-yard punt return after UA forced a three-and-out by USC on its first drive. The long punt return set up Arizona's first score of the night, a 32-yard field goal by Casey Skowron at the 8:21 mark of the first quarter.

USC took a 7-3 lead on touchdown run by Javorius Allen, which UA answered with a 25-yard Skowron field goal to narrow the deficit to a point with 42 seconds left in the first period.

With the Trojans up 14-6 and looking to tack on another score at the end of the half, McKnight came up with is first interception of the season to set UA up at the USC 43 yard line, but Arizona's field goal attempt was blocked as time expired.

USC opened the second half with a touchdown to go up 21-6, and after the UA offense was forced to punt on its first possession of the half, the Arizona defense came up with another big play.

Reggie Gilbert forced a fumble at the USC 22-yard line, and Pettinato came up with the recovery to set the Wildcats up deep in plus territory. Four plays later, Baker plunged into the end zone for his first rushing touchdown of the season, and Skowron's extra point brought UA to within eight at 21-13.

Allen's third touchdown run of the game increased the Trojans' lead to 28-13 in the waning seconds of the third quarter, but Arizona wouldn't go away. On a fourth-and-three from the USC 41, Solomon found Baker all alone on a wheel route for a 41-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 28-20 with 10:19 to play.

After forcing punts on consecutive USC possessions, Arizona got the ball back at its own 20-yard line with 3:27 to play and no timeouts.

Solomon engineered a 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by a one-yard Baker scoring run, to bring UA to within two at 28-26 with 1:07 to play. He connected with Jones four times and found Trey Griffey three times on the drive to move UA down the field.

USC was whistled for pass interference on the Wildcats' first two-point attempt, but Baker was stopped short of the goal line on the subsequent try.

Needing to recover the onside kick to have any chance, Jones leapt over a USC player to snag a high hop and give UA life at its own 47 with 1:07 to play.

Solomon hit Richard on back-to-back plays and Baker had a three-yard run to the USC 22 before the Trojans called timeout with 27 seconds on the clock. The Wildcats had a shot at a go-ahead field goal with 17 seconds left to play, but the attempt missed wide right and the UA rally came up just short.

After a bye week, Arizona will play the first of two-straight road games when it visits Washington State on Saturday, Oct. 25. Time and television information for the game have yet to be determined. The Arizona IMG Sports Network will have the radio call of the action.

For continued coverage of Arizona football, follow the team on Facebook at facebook.com/ArizonaFootball and on Twitter @ArizonaFBall.