Arizona Surprises Washington : Wildcats Beat 11th-Ranked Huskies, 20-17, With Late Field Goal

For the second consecutive week, Doug Pfaff kicked a game-winning field goal against a ranked opponent, this time hitting a 35-yarder with 1 minute 1 second remaining as No. 23 Arizona defeated No. 11 Washington, 20-17, in a Pacific 10 game Saturday night.

After Washington had committed four penalties on one series midway through the fourth quarter and was forced to punt, Arizona took possession at its 44 with 6:02 to play.

The Wildcats held on from there, consuming 5:01 as quarterback Ronald Veal directed a 13-play drive to Washington’s 18. Veal’s one-yard keeper on fourth-and-one at the 33 kept the drive alive for Pfaff’s field goal.

Washington fell to 2-1 and is 0-1 in the Pac-10.

Last Saturday, Arizona, 3-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play, defeated then-No. 6 Oklahoma, 6-3, on Pfaff’s 40-yard field goal with two seconds left.

Pfaff had tied the game, 17-17, with 11:53 to play on a 19-yard field goal after Washington halted a 74-yard Arizona drive at its two.

Washington quarterback Cary Conklin threw for 354 yards, his career best, but was intercepted twice, the last on a desperation pass with six seconds remaining.

Washington’s James Compton broke up the middle for a seven-yard touchdown on the Huskies’ first possession of the third quarter for a 17-14 lead.

Conklin, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior, completed six of seven passes for 81 yards on the drive, including a 31-yard pass to Mario Bailey.

But Washington’s John McCallum missed a 41-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

Arizona took a 14-10 edge late in the first half, driving 70 yards in six plays, capped by Veal’s 43-yard touchdown pass to Melvin Smith between two Husky defenders.

The Huskies had gone ahead, 10-7, on a 38-yard over-the-shoulder catch of a Conklin pass by Orlando McKay in the Arizona end zone.

Washington’s score was set up by Veal’s second fumble of the first half, which Eugene Burkhalter caused and recovered at the Huskies’ 49.