Utah Overcomes Arizona’s Defense : Freedom Bowl: Ute quarterback Mike McCoy throws fourth-down, fourth- quarter touchdown pass in 16-13 victory.

Body-slammed, badgered and about to be beaten, Utah quarterback Mike McCoy scrambled and threw the football where he hoped a teammate might catch it.

Thumped to the Anaheim Stadium turf by Arizona nose guard Chuck Osborne, McCoy heard the crowd roar and wondered whether that meant good news or bad.

Quickly, he sat up and saw Utah wide receiver Kevin Dyson sprinting through the back of the end zone, cradling the football.

With that improbable fourth-down, fourth-quarter pass and catch, Utah rallied for a 16-13 Freedom Bowl victory over Arizona before 27,477 Tuesday at Anaheim Stadium.

In the end, Utah needed two five-yard scoring drives and a safety to sneak past one of the nation’s best defenses. The Utes almost didn’t get the second one, but McCoy, who had been having an awful time handling the Wildcat defense, pulled out a five-yard desperation heave to Dyson with 3:34 left in the game.

Cal Beck’s 72-yard kickoff return after Arizona punter Matt Peyton stepped out of the end zone for a safety set up the winning touchdown.

“I didn’t know which side was cheering,” said McCoy, pressured into a season-low 69 yards passing. “I knew (Dyson) was in the flat and I saw that he went behind his guy. My guy kind of came up on me.”

And that left Dyson standing alone with the ball fluttering toward him and the game on the line.

“It all happened real slow,” said Dyson, a redshirt freshman who caught only one other pass Tuesday. “All I saw was the football and I knew I had to catch it.”

The victory enabled Utah to post a school-record 10th victory and the No. 14-ranked Utes probably will move up when the final poll is announced next week.

No. 15 Arizona, Sports Illustrated’s preseason pick as the top-ranked team and a consensus favorite to win the Pacific 10 Conference, finished 8-4.

“I give Utah credit,” Arizona Coach Dick Tomey said. “They did a great job. I thought we did a lot of good things, but obviously not enough. This is not the time to pick out things that didn’t go right for us, though.”

This was a game Arizona’s renowned defense dominated, with Osborne and defensive end Tedy Bruschi hounding McCoy at every turn. McCoy, a senior who started his career playing for George Allen at Long Beach State, went into the game with 3,035 yards passing and 28 touchdowns, but the Wildcats gave him little chance to do anything.

They sacked him six times--Bruschi got him three times and Osborne twice.

Arizona’s defense against the run, second-best in the nation by giving up an average of 65 yards per game, stuffed the Ute ground game. Entering the fourth quarter, Utah had a grand total of five yards rushing.

“I was real surprised that Arizona dominated on the front lines,” Utah Coach Ron McBride said. “Our (offensive linemen) are a lot better than they demonstrated today.”

Arizona could have, should have put Utah away in the second half, but managed two field goals by Steve McLaughlin in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats were inside the Utah 30-yard line twice, but one drive stalled and McLaughlin kicked a 44-yard field goal. On their next possession, the Wildcats drove to the two, but two dropped passes brought McLaughlin into the game for a 20-yard field goal with 8:05 left.

First, quarterback Dan White had Tim Thomas alone for a sure touchdown on first and goal. Then, White found wideout Lamar Lovett uncovered on third and goal from the three. The ball hit Lovett smack in the No. 7 on his chest and bounced to the ground.

After the safety, Tomey opted to have McLaughlin kick off rather than have Peyton punt.

Beck, who came close to breaking long runs earlier in the game, fielded the ball at the 23, made a swift cut through the Arizona coverage team, then sprinted up the left sideline. Shawn Parnell made a touchdown-saving tackle.

“The whole season came down to this one play, 138 days of blood sweat and tears came down to one play,” Beck said. “I had faith that Mike would come through and he did.”

McCoy was confident, but after three plays gained zero yards, he scrambled for his life.

“Kevin Dyson made a great play,” McCoy said. “I was kind of hoping, just hoping he would catch it.”

The Utes were lucky to be tied, 7-7, by halftime.

Their potent offense was left in a shambles by a relentless Wildcat pass rush.

Utah couldn’t run either, but that figured. Arizona had shut down better rushing attacks than Utah’s.

By the end of the half, Utah had more punts, six, than completed passes, five.

Utah had a mere 27 yards to Arizona’s 146. By game’s end, Arizona had outgained Utah, 184-75.

The Utes’ best production came from punter Jason Jones, who averaged 42 yards on his six punts.

White provided the break Utah needed by fumbling on a quarterback sneak from his own one-yard line.

Utah’s Ernest Boyd recovered at the five and, after a screen pass lost a yard, tailback Charlie Brown broke a tackle, then slipped into the end zone with 10:03 left in the half.

The Wildcats took a 7-0 lead thanks to a goal-line steal by tailback Ontiwaun Carter with 1:57 left in the first quarter.

Carter ripped the ball out of the hands of Utah defensive back Edwin Garrette for Arizona’s first touchdown, a 23-yard pass from White.

Garrette outjumped Carter at the goal line, had the ball in his hands, but when he fell backward into the end zone, Carter yanked the ball away for a touchdown.