By the end of the night, it was hard to notice he was even gone, and Arizona has Jared Baker to thank for that in a 38-31 win at Folsom Field.
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The Wildcats will now try to follow upwith another win Saturday at struggling Colorado. Colorado lost its opener than won three straight games, then lost its last two, giving the streaky Buffaloes a 3-3 record for the year. Baker finished with 204 yards on 22 carries.
Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon, left, hands off the ball to running back Jared Baker for a long gain against Colorado in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, October 17, 2015, in Boulder, Colo.
The Wildcats entered half-time tied 17-17 due to a few costly errors.
With 3 Wins and 1 Losses, Arizona Wildcats gained 538.8 total yards on an average including 241.0 passing yards (with 34.3 passing attempts having completion percentage of 65.0) and 297.8 rushing yards per game. The Sun Devils capitalized on a key first quarter fumble to take the lead against Colorado, and the Buffaloes were never able to make a comeback.
That was the score going into the fourth quarter, as the Buffs held a Pac-12 opponent scoreless in consecutive quarters for the first time since November 2011. Five plays later, quarterback Sefo Liufau rushed for a 2-yard touchdown to tie the game up.
The Arizona offense was floundering.
Baker, starting because Nick Wilson was out with a foot injury, scored on a 79-yard run, a 45-yard run and a 25-yard reception that gave Arizona (5-2, 2-2) a 31-24 lead with 9:17 to go.
“We knew once we lined up, we had the look we wanted”, said Fields, who caught eight passes for 168 yards.
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On Arizona’s first drive, Anu Solomon completed a 44-yard pass to Nate Phillips to set up a 48-yard Casey Skowron field goal. Arizona had a 44-yard pass completion on its second play of the game and would have had a touchdown on the next play if wide receiver Samajie Grant hadn’t dropped a pass in the end zone. It was Arizona’s first touchdown pass to a true tight end since A.J. Simmons in 2009.
