University of Arizona Athletics

No. 20-ranked Wisconsin used a 16-play drive to move into field position for a game-winning field goal by Mike Allen to beat an inspired Arizona team, 9-7, in a game marked by some oddities due to a storm system pushed into Southern Arizona by Hurricane Javier hundreds of miles southwest.

Arizona drove into position for a potential game-winner of its own, but Nick Folk’s 47-yard attempt sailed just left of the upright with :43 seconds remaining.

"It was a disappointing outcome but the kids played well throughout the game," UA heqad coach Mike Stoops said. "Wisconsin was able to make all the plays and we were not able to make near enough in the last quarter. Wisconsin is a very good football team but we made them work, so I'm proud.

"I have been around football for a long time and I know what this team is capable of. We are a good team -- we were only a field goal away from winning," he said.

The game was delayed for 88 minutes with 6:13 remaining in the second quarter, when a thunderstorm was accompanied by severe lightning in the Tucson area.

"The delay was unfortunate but you have to deal with things like that. We got the players relaxed so I don't think that it affected them too much," Stoops said.

Arizona struck first after the delay, scoring on a 44-yard pass from Kris Heavner to Mike Jefferson, the first touchdown allowed by the Badgers this season.

Referee Gordon Riese and coaches Mike Stoops of Arizona and Barry Alvarez of Wisconsin agreed before resumption of play to forego the halftime break in order to try to get the game played ahead of another storm cell expected in the area. The rain resumed shortly after the game started again, but no lightning allowed the play to continue.

Arizona secured decent field position a few minutes later after linebacker Dane Krogstad jarred a ball loose from UW tailback Booker Stanley and tackle Carlos Williams recovered the ball. But Folk was wide right on a 43-yard field goal attempt.

Wisconsin put points on the board with 14:21 left in the game on a seven-yard touchdown run by Stanley to cap a 10-play drive, but UW kicker Mike Allen was wide right on his point-after kick and the Cats held a 7-6 lead.

Allen’s field goal capped a drive of 7 minutes and 26 seconds that took the game down to the 3:36 mark.

The Wildcats took the ensuing kickoff and drove to the UW 25 yard-line, but a false start and three stopped running plays moved the ball back to the 31 and Folk had to attempt the career-long effort.

"Nick has kicked well during camp and practice, but missing field goals is what happens sometimes in football. This wasn't a very good kicking turj for either team anyway," Stoops said.

Stanley led the Badgers with 135 yards on 30 carries, providing most of the offense in the game. UW quarterback John Stocco completed 12 of 24 passes for 116 yards while Arizona’s Heavner finished with nine completion in 15 attempts for 103 yards.

UA running back Gilbert Harris helped get the Cats into field goal position on the final drive with nearly half of his total of 56 yards (11 carries), but UA could manage only 96 total rushing yards and finished with a season-low total of 199 yards in total offense.

Despite the wet conditions and near steady rain throughout most of the game, Arizona did not turn the ball over, but also didn’t capitalize on the two turnover possessions it had following the fumble by Stanley and one by running back Jamil Walker.

UA dropped to 1-2 on the year while Wisconsin moved to 3-0.

                                Box Score (Final)
   #20 Wisconsin Badgers vs Arizona Wildcats (Sep 18, 2004 at Tucson, Ariz.)

  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  Wisconsin Badgers...  0  0  0  9  -  9       Record: (3-0)
  Arizona Wildcats....  0  7  0  0  -  7       Record: (1-2)

  Scoring Summary:
  2nd 00:32 ARIZ - Jefferson,Mike 44 yd pass from Heavner,Kris (Folk,Nick kick), 5-57 2:53, WIS 0 - ARIZ 7
  4th 14:21 WIS - Stanley,Booker 7 yd run (Allen,Mike kick failed), 10-56 4:43, WIS 6 - ARIZ 7
      03:47 WIS - Allen,Mike 23 yd field goal, 16-72 7:26, WIS 9 - ARIZ 7

                                      WIS     ARIZ
  FIRST DOWNS...................       18       12
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   46-146    33-96
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      116      103
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  24-12-0   15-9-0
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   70-262   48-199
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............     3-46      0-0
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........      1-2     1-21
  Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0      0-0
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   4-42.8   7-42.3
  Fumbles-Lost..................      2-2      1-0
  Penalties-Yards...............     6-36     5-50
  Possession Time...............    33:36    26:24
  Third-Down Conversions........  6 of 15  2 of 11
  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   3 of 4   0 of 0
  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-3      0-0
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-38      0-0

  RUSHING: Wisconsin Badgers-Stanley,Booker 30-135; Stocco,John 4-7; Randle El,Marc 3-6; Walker, Jamil  5-0; Bernstein,Matt 2-0; Team 2-minus 2. Arizona Wildcats-Harris,Gilbert 11-56; Bell,Mike 9-43;  Henry,Chris 7-25; Jefferson,Mike 1-3; Costa,Nic 1-0; Heavner,Kris 4-minus 33; Limon,Pedro 0-2.

  PASSING: Wisconsin Badgers-Stocco,John 12-24-0-116. Arizona Wildcats-Heavner,Kris 9-15-0-103.

  RECEIVING: Wisconsin Badgers-Bernstein,Matt 2-27; White,Brandon 2-24; Stanley,Booker 2-13;
  Daniels,Owen 2-12; Orr,Jonathan 1-15; Charles,Darrin 1-10; Paciotti,Tony 1-9; Williams,Brand 1-6.  Arizona Wildcats-Jefferson,Mike 2-46; Johnson,A. 2-12; Harris,Gilbert 2-8; Fleming,Steve 1-23; Williams,Ricky 1-11; Bell,Mike 1-3.

  INTERCEPTIONS: Wisconsin Badgers-None. Arizona Wildcats-None.

  FUMBLES: Wisconsin Badgers-Walker, Jamil 1-1; Stanley,Booker 1-1. Arizona Wildcats-Heavner,Kris 1-0.

  Stadium: Arizona Stadium       Attendance: 50275
  Kickoff time: 1:13 pm   End of Game: 5:16      Total elapsed time: 4:13
  Officials: Referee: Gordon Riese; Umpire: Al Granado; Linesman: James Rinne;
  Line judge: Michael Batlan; Back judge: Jeff Sadorus; Field judge: Mack Gilchrist;
  Side judge: Brad Glenn; Scorer: G. Fitz;
  Temperature: 88, 38%H  Wind: 8, vrb    Weather: High clouds