HANCOCK BOWL : Teaff Gambles and Goes Out With a Victory

EL PASO — A gambling Grant Teaff went out a winner, thanks to the good hands of flanker Melvin Bonner.

Bonner caught two touchdown passes and Baylor beat No. 22 Arizona at its own defensive game Thursday, presenting the Baylor coach with a career-ending 20-15 victory in the Hancock Bowl.

Teaff, doused with ice and lauded at midfield by the jubilant Bears, is leaving the sidelines to become the school’s athletic director. He ended a 21-year coaching career with a record of 128-105-6.

He left with a flair, trying a flea flicker and faking a punt early in the game, both of which failed to fool Arizona.

But the Wildcats had no stopper for the 6-foot-3 Bonner, who finished with a Hancock Bowl-record 166 yards in five receptions and beat a defense that was No. 2 in the nation this season while giving up an average of nine points per game.

“We came out in the second half and our players were revved up,” said Teaff, who had downplayed the bowl being his coaching finale. “They wanted to win it, and every play in the second half was indicative of how much they wanted to win it.”

Baylor, a touchdown underdog, immediately tried to throw Arizona’s defense off stride. The Bears went with a flea flicker on their first play from scrimmage that failed when quarterback J.J. Joe dropped the return pitch. Then they faked their first punt attempt, which also failed.

“Everything we did today was for a reason,” Teaff said. “The fake punt was something we felt would work because they come so hard on the rush. The flea flicker was something we felt good about because they like to crowd the line.”

Bonner caught a 61-yard scoring pass on a halfback option from reserve Brandell Jackson, then broke loose along the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown run.

“It (flea flicker) really worked well because we got the coverage we wanted on Melvin,” Teaff said.

Arizona scored on a seven-yard run by quarterback George Malauulu and on field goals of 22 and 20 yards by Steve McLaughlin. The Wildcats finished with 418 yards of total offense but failed on a fourth and goal from the one early in the fourth quarter that Arizona Coach Dick Tomey said was the difference.

“We were there and it was close enough to make a difference,” he said. “We knew we could get in. We took a chance. . . You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

Bonner beat All-Pacific 10 cornerback Keshon Johnson on both of his scoring plays. Johnson fell at the Arizona 40 on the Jackson-to-Bonner pass play with 4:50 left in the half. With 14:10 to play in the game, Johnson was unable to wrap up Bonner on the sidelines, allowing him to race untouched into the end zone to put the Bears in front for good, 14-13.

Afterward, Bonner took a verbal shot at Johnson and Baylor’s critics.

“If he was All-Pac 10, I guess the (Pac-10) ain’t so strong as everyone thinks it is,” Bonner said.

Bonner also bailed out the Bears after Baylor (7-5) stopped an Arizona (6-5-1) drive at the goal line early in the fourth quarter. With the football almost touching the goal line and Baylor facing a third and 10, Bonner found a seam in the secondary and caught a pass from Joe for a first down.

The Bears converted two fourth quarter fumbles by Arizona sophomore back Chuck Levy into field goals of 32 and 35 yards by Trey Weir.

The defense did the rest, stopping two drives in the final minutes. The first Wildcat bid ended on downs at the Baylor 22 and the second was stopped at the Baylor 28. After a pass from Malauulu slipped through flanker Heath Bray’s hands at the goal line, a fourth-down pass sailed long.

Malauulu completed 20 of 38 passes for 282 yards. Flanker Troy Dickey set an Arizona record for pass catches in a bowl game with nine. That broke the record of seven by Tim Holmes in the 1979 Fiesta Bowl against Pittsburgh.