COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Mournful Arizona Comes Up Short : Nonconference: Tomey misses 9-7 loss to Illinois to attend funeral of tight end Damon Terrell in Los Angeles.

Playing without Coach Dick Tomey and with a heavy heart, No. 17 Arizona fell victim to a tough Illinois defense and was upset, 9-7, on Saturday.

Tomey missed the game to attend the funeral of tight end Damon Terrell, who died Sept. 7 in Los Angeles.

“It was hard to be out there, real hard,” Arizona receiver Rodney Williams said. “Damon and I were real close. I was the last player to see him.”

As the teams lined up for the opening kickoff, Arizona called a timeout. The Wildcats then formed the letters D and T on the sideline and pointed their helmets to the sky. Defensive back Shawn Parnell of Compton, a longtime friend, held up Terrell’s No. 80 jersey.

Illinois, which had surrendered 72 points in two games, forced five turnovers, including a fumble that was turned into the winning touchdown.

“It gives the young players and the old coaches their enthusiasm back,” Illinois Coach Lou Tepper said. “I know that there are a lot of people who wrote us off after two games.”

The Wildcats (2-1) were ahead, 7-3, with 5:15 to play when Kevin Schmidtke caught a third-down pass and lost the ball after a hit by safety Tyrone Washington. Linebacker David James grabbed the ball on the bounce and raced 53 yards to the end zone.

“I saw nobody in front of me except the quarterback,” James said. “It was wide open.”

Both offenses were overwhelmed by tough defenses until the fourth quarter when a 47-yard field goal by Illinois’ Bret Scheuplein broke a scoreless tie.

On the next possession, the Wildcats moved 80 yards in nine plays, capped by Dan White’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Williams.

Illinois (1-2) had only nine first downs and 139 yards of offense. Reserve quarterback Scott Weaver, who replaced ineffective starter Johnnie Johnson, led the Illini to their only field goal.

Arizona’s Gary Taylor topped all rushers with 113 yards in 24 carries.