Oklahoma Is Outkicked by Arizona, 6-3

TUCSON —  On a night when field goals were the dominant offensive theme, Arizona had the last kick.

With two seconds remaining against sixth-ranked Oklahoma, Arizona’s Doug Pfaff kicked a 40-yard field goal to provide the Wildcats with a 6-3 upset Saturday night.

The ball carried past the the crossbar by about two yards on a warm evening in the desert.

Oklahoma was favored after beating New Mexico State, 73-3, and Baylor, 33-7.

However, wishbone teams are prone to fumble and Oklahoma lost three, two while driving for possible touchdowns, or even field goals in the third and fourth quarters.

Arizona is also predominately a wishbone team and, for those who enjoy watching teams slug it out on the ground, this was a classic contest.

Neither team posed much of a passing threat, although Arizona quarterback Ronald Veal was decidely better than his counterpart, Oklahoma’s Chris Melson, but that isn’t saying much.

Melson threw only four passes, without coming close to a completion. Veal completed only four of 16 passes for 49 yards.

However, his best throw wasn’t recorded. He teamed with split end Melvin Smith on an apparent 55-yard touchdown pass play in the second quarter.

The score was nullified, though, when Arizona was cited for holding.

In any event, it was a prestigious victory for Arizona regardless of how it was accomplished.

It seemed for a while that the game would end in a 3-3 tie. Then, in the waning minutes Arizona, staying on the ground, drove from its own 40-yard line to the Oklahoma 22.

The Wildcats called a time out with seven seconds left. Then, Oklahoma countered with a time out.

When play resumed, Pfaff, who had kicked a 24-yard field goal in the second quarter, was lined up in the middle of the field.

The snap was good and the kick was accurate, through the center of the uprights. After beating Stanford, 19-3, in a Pac-10 opening game, Arizona was upset last week by Texas Tech, 24-14, at Lubbock, Tex.

The Red Raiders ripped through the Wildcats on the ground and it was presumed that Oklahoma would do the same thing.

“We have to get them to throw at least 15 times to have an opportunity to win,” Arizona Coach Dick Tomey said earlier in the week. It didn’t turn out that way.

Oklahoma came into the game averaging 428 yards rushing, but Arizona limited the Sooners to 222 yards on the ground. That was, of course, the extent of their offense since they didn’t have any passing yardage.

Nonetheless, Oklahoma, despite its fear of flying (passing), could have won if weren’t for its mistakes.

Kicker R.D. Lashar missed a 35-yard field goal in the second quarter. A fumble on a punt return by Otis Taylor set up Pfaff for his first field goal and then were the two fumbles in the second half.

Fullback Kenyon Rasheed lost a fumble at the Arizona 23-yard line in the third quarter and Melson fumbled at the Wildcat 17-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

So Oklahoma’s point output was restricted to Lashar’s 42-yard field goal in the third quarter.

“The last offensive drive came against one of the best defenses in the country,” Tomey said. The drive almost died at the outset, but halfback Mario Hampton squeezed out a yard on fourth and one at midfield.

Gary Gibbs, the new coach of the NCAA probation-plagued Sooners, said the obvious, that missed opportunities were the biggest factor of the game.

“If we take care of the football, we win,” he said.

A passing game of any kind would be of some help, too.