TUCSON, Ariz. - Redshirt junior kicker Casey Skowron accounted for 15 of Arizona's 27 points, but but none were bigger than the final three he recorded, as he booted through a game-winning 47-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Wildcats to a thrilling 27-26 victory over Washington, Saturday afternoon, at Arizona Stadium.

"I'm just proud of our guys for playing 60 minutes," head coach Rich Rodriguez said. "We talk a lot about not being average because we want our guys to feel special and elite. As a football player and football program your status is based on wins. No matter how you win, you're considered better than average when you do. I'm proud of our guys and this team. Coming out of high school these guys may not have been the special recruits, but I think they're pretty special."

Skowron's field goal goes down as Arizona's first game-winning field goal since Alex Zendejas converted on a 32-yarder as time expired on Nov. 28, 2009 against Arizona State, while the conversion marks the program's longest game-winner since Nick Folk booted through a 48-yard field goal with just a second remaining to defeat BYU, 16-13 on Sept. 2, 2006.

"It felt fantastic," said Skowron on his game-winner. "Any time we get a chance to hit a field goal and we make it is a great win. Anytime we win a game, I'm happy whether it's off of a field goal, whether it's a blowout or whether it's off of a last-minute touchdown. It doesn't matter how we get the win, as long as we get it."

Trailing 26-24 with just 1:23 remaining in the contest, Arizona's defense came up with arguably one of the biggest turnovers of the season, as Tra'Mayne Bondurant found himself involved on his second Arizona forced turnover of the afternoon, forcing a fumble to give the Wildcats the ball on the Washington 44-yardline after Derrick Turituri came up with the recovery.

Four plays later, the Cats thought they had their game-winner, as Anu Solomon chucked a 34-yard bomb to Cayleb Jones in the back of the end zone with under a minute to play, but was eventually ruled incomplete upon review after originally being called a touchdown.

The Arizona offense ended up gaining four more yards afterwards to set up the eventual game-winning field goal.

For Arizona (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12), the victory brings its win total to eight games, already matching the team's win total from a year ago, while the home team has now won seven-straight contests in the Wildcats' all-time series with Washington.

On a day where Arizona forced three turnovers, it was redshirt senior safety Jared Tevis who led the way, as he recorded a game-high 14 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble, while Jourdon Grandon chipped in with career-high equaling 12 tackles. Scooby Wright also recorded 11 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, as he's had at least one tackle for a loss in every game this season.

In addition to Skowron's dramatic heroics, he also ran for his first career touchdown and converted two field goals and three extra points.

Freshman Nick Wilson led the ground attack for Arizona, as he rushed for 104 yards on 30 carries for his fifth 100-yard rushing performance of the season, while he also scored a career-high two touchdowns for the third time this season.

Six Arizona receivers hauled in a pass with Samajie Grant leading the way with four catches and a team-best 85 yards on the day.

Arizona struck first, taking advantage of a missed Washington (6-5, 2-5 Pac-12) field goal attempt, moving the ball 75 yards down the field for an eventual two-yard Wilson touchdown run, to put Arizona in front 7-0 with 8:32 remaining in the opening quarter. The score marked the ninth time Arizona had scored in the first quarter this season.

The Huskies fired right back with some trickery of their own, scoring on the ensuing drive, as wide receiver Marvin Hall slung a bomb down the left side to tight end Joshua Perkins for a 36-yard touchdown to knot things up at 7-7 with 6:36 left in the first quarter.

Then it was Arizona's defense doing what it's done all season long, coming up with a timely turnover to open the second quarter, as William Parks recovered a fumble on Arizona's own 18-yard line to potentially keep more points off the board for Washington. The turnover extended UA's forced turnover streak to seven consecutive games, while it also marked Parks' first fumble recovery of the season.

Washington took its first lead of the afternoon at 10-7, after Cameron Van Winkle booted through a 39-yard field goal with 9:27 remaining in the first half.

The Huskies struck once again, as Dwayne Washington broke off a 66-yard touchdown run to sport UW its first double-digit lead of the game at 17-7 with 5:16 remaining in the half.  

However, the Cats quickly flipped the momentum right before the intermission, as Skowron took off down the right sideline for an 18-yard touchdown score after originally lining up for a field goal attempt on a 4th-and-4 to bring Arizona within 17-14 with just 1:39 remaining before the half.  

Arizona's momentum surge didn't stop there. Four plays later, UA's defense recorded its second forced turnover of the day, as Bondurant recovered a fumble for the second consecutive contest on Washington's own 19-yard line to set up an eventual eight-yard Wilson touchdown run for his second score of the game, but more importantly putting the Cats back on top, 21-17 with just eight seconds left before the half.

UA went into halftime with the lead, despite having possession of the football for just 10:30 and generating 193 yards of total offense, as Arizona's final scoring drive of 25 seconds marked its fourth shortest scoring drive of the season. The Cats improve to 6-1 when leading at the half this season.

The Huskies recorded the first points of the second half, as Van Winkle converted on a 32-yard field goal attempt to trim the Wildcat lead down to 21-20 with 10:19 remaining in the third quarter.

UW then regained the lead at 26-21, after Washington punched it in from a yard out for his second touchdown of the game with 2:45 left in the third quarter. The extra point attempt failed after a botched snap.

Skowron brought Arizona within 26-24 after booting through a 35-yard field goal with 13:08 remaining to snap what was nine straight unanswered points for UW. Neither team was able to score again until Skowron's final kick of the game.

The Cats will get back to work next Saturday as they head to Salt Lake City to take on Utah. Game time and television broadcast information is still to be announced, while the Arizona IMG Sports Network will have the radio call.

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