Football '98:
vs Arizona, December 30, 1998

(5) ARIZONA 23, (14) NEBRASKA 20

SAN DIEGO (AP) - This was the Holiday Bowl, so something dramatic was bound to happen. Arizona's Dennis Northcutt was counting on it.

"You never knew who was going to make a big play for us the whole year, so I knew something good was going to happen," the Arizona receiver said.

Keith Smith threw for one fourth-quarter touchdown and scrambled to set up the game-winning, 1-yard plunge by Kelvin Eafon with 6:08 to go as the No. 5 Wildcats beat No. 14 Nebraska 23-20 Wednesday night.

All-American Chris McAlister. capped a big game with a leaping interception of Eric Crouch's pass with 3:03 left. McAlister jumped in front of Shevin Wiggins at about the 8 and returned it 22 yards.

"He's made big plays all year," Crouch said. "He made the play on the ball."

Nebraska had one final desperation shot, but McAlister deflected Crouch's pass as time expired.

Arizona (12-1) padded its school-record victory total after being knocked out of the Rose Bowl when UCLA was upset by Miami on Dec. 5.

A Holiday Bowl-record crowd of 65,354 saw a rarity -- Nebraska's first four-loss season in 30 years. The Cornhuskers finished 9-4 under first-year coach Frank Solich, who replaced Hall of Famer Tom Osborne.

"We're not going to go back to Nebraska with our heads down," Solich said.

Smith, who with Ortege Jenkins forms Arizona's quarterback tandem, led the Wildcats 68 yards to the winning score. He had scrambles of 20 yards, 8 yards on a third-and-6 and then 7 yards to the Cornhuskers 1 to set up Eafon's TD.

Arizona went ahead 16-13 on Smith's 15-yard pass to Brad Brennan, who made a fingertip catch before tumbling into the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter. The Wildcats converted one fourth down and one third down on the 66-yard drive.

McAlister had a chance to really swing the momentum when he intercepted Crouch's pass deep in Nebraska territory, but split end Kenny Cheatham forced McAlister to fumble, and recovered it.

Nebraska went on to complete the eight-play, 88-yard drive thanks to two big catches by tight end Tracey Wistrom, including a 4-yard TD pass from Crouch with 10:55 left for a 20-16 lead. Wistrom, who had just two catches in the regular season, had a 33-yard catch three plays before the score.

The Cornhuskers' option game continued to struggle, and their 87 rushing yards was their second-lowest total of the season.

The Cornhuskers did get hot right before halftime, scoring 13 points in the final 4:58 of the second quarter to take a 13-9 lead. It was the first time all year that Arizona trailed at halftime.

(5) Arizona 23, (14) Nebraska 20


                   1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                   --- --- --- ---  -----
Nebraska            0  13   0   7    20
Arizona             6   3   0  14    23

First Quarter
      Ari-FG McDonald 25, :52
Second Quarter
      Ari-FG McDonald 48, 13:41
      Neb-FG K.Brown 25, 4:58
      Neb-Wiggins 25 pass from Crouch (K.Brown kick), 1:53
      Neb-FG K.Brown 23, :00
Fourth Quarter
      Ari-Brennan 15 pass from Smith (McDonald kick), 14:56
      Neb-Wistrom 4 pass from Crouch (K.Brown kick), 10:55
      Ari-Eafon 1 run (McDonald kick), 6:08
 	
 	
                          Neb     Ari
                          ---     ---
First downs                12      16
Rushes-yards            34-87  44-107
Passing                   193     158
Comp-Att-Int          12-28-2 12-23-0
Return Yards                6      88
Punts-Avg.               6-39    7-36
Fumbles-Lost              4-2     4-3
Penalties-Yards           2-6    7-59
Time of Possession      27:26   32:34
 	

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-Nebraska, Crouch 15-28, Makovicka 5-26, Buckhalter 8-22,
Christo 2-11, Evans 4-0. Arizona, Canidate 22-101, Smith 11-25,
Eafon 5-14, Northcutt 1-(minus 15), Jenkins 5-(minus 18). 	

PASSING-Nebraska, Crouch 12-28-2-193. Arizona, Smith 11-19-0-143,
Jenkins 1-4-0-15.

RECEIVING-Nebraska, Davison 3-64, Wistrom 3-41, Cheatom 2-16,
Wiggins 1-45, Makovicka 1-22, Haafke 1-8, Buckhalter 1-(minus 3).
Arizona, Northcutt 4-47, Brennan 2-78, Shields 2-12, Lucky 1-15,
McDaniel 1-9, Nash 1-4, Eafon 1-(minus 7).

A-65,354.