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John Hancock Bowl 1992
Baylor 20 Arizona 15 |
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Bonner caught two touchdown passes and Baylor beat No. 22 Arizona at its own defensive game Thursday, presenting the Baylor coach with a career-ending 20-15 victory in the Hancock Bowl.
Teaff, doused with ice and lauded at midfield by the jubilant Bears, is leaving the sidelines to become the school's athletic director. He ended a 21-year coaching career in Waco with a record of 128-105-6.
He left with a flair, trying a flea flicker and faking a punt early in the game, both of which failed to fool the tough Arizona defense. But the Wildcats had no stopper for the 6-foot-3 Bonner, who finished with a Hancock-record 166 yards on five receptions, and wrecked an Arizona defense that was No. 2 in the nation this season while giving up an average of just nine points a game.
"We came out in the second half and our players were revved up," said Teaff. who earlier in the week downplayed the fact that the bowl would be his coaching finale.
Baylor, a touchdown underdog, immediately tried to throw Arizona's defense off stride. It went with a flea-flicker on its first play from scrimmage. The attempt failed when quarterback J.J. Joe dropped the return pitch.
"Everything we did today was for a reason," Teaff said. "The fake punt was something we felt would work because they come so hard on the rush. The flea-flicker was something we felt good about because they like to crowd the line."
The flea flicker didn't work, but it ensured Bonner would see single coverage through much of the game.
"It (flea-flicker) really worked well because we got the coverage we wanted on Melvin," Teaff said.
Arizona got a 7-yard scoring run from quarterback George Malauulu and field goals of 22 and 20 yards by Steve McLaughlin. The Wildcats finished with 418 yards, but failed on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 early in the fourth quarter that coach Dick Tomey said was the difference.
"We were there and it was close enough to make a difference," he said. "We knew we could get in. We took a chance. ... You're damned if you do and damned if you don't."
Bonner caught a 61-yard scoring pass off a halfback option throw from reserve Brandell Jackson and shook loose on the sideline for a 69-yard TD run.
Bonner burned All-Pac 10 cornerback Keshon Johnson on both of his scoring plays. A beaten Johnson fell down at the Arizona 40 on the Jackson-to-Bonner connection with 4:50 left in the half. With 14:10 left in the game, Johnson was unable to wrap up Bonner on the sidelines, allowing him to streak untouched into the end zone to put the Bears in front for good 14-13. His yardage topped the Hancock record of 143 yards by Tulsa's Saxon Judd against Texas Tech in 1942, when the game was known as the Sun Bowl.
Shortly into the fourth period, the Bears capitalized on two Arizona fumbles in UA territory and cashed them in for two Terry Weir field goals and a 20-13 lead.
Arizona had a chance to win the game at the end. With time running out, UA held Baylor deep on fourth-and-eight, and punter Rhett Delaney took an intentional safety at 0:31. A Chuck Levy 27-yard kickoff return put the Cats in decent shape, and UA drove to the Baylor 28. Two passes from Malauulu into the end zone were incomplete although Heath Bray nearly snagged the game winner on the first try.
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David Mims carries for the Bears. |
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Arizona quarterback George Malauulu provided the spark for the Wildcats.
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Melvin Bonner on one of two long Baylor touchdown receptions.
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Baylor's Michael McFarland (33) and Robbie Mirleson (42) stop Arizona's Troy Dickey. |
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It was legendary coach Grant Teaff's last game. |
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Attendance- 41,622
Scoring Summary
First Quarter UA- FG McLaughlin 22
Second Quarter UA- Malauulu 7 run (McLaughlin kick) BU- Bonner 61 yard pass from Jackson (Weir kick) UA- FG McLauahlin 20
Third Quarter BU- Bonner 69 yard pass from Joe (Delaney kick) BU- FG Weir 32
BU- FG Weir 35 UA- Safety, Delaney ran out of end zone
Individual Statistics
Rushing UA- Carter 15-49, Malauulu, 11-47, Lew 13-31, Johnson 5-9 BU- Strait 10-23, Bell 4-17, Lewis 4-12, Mims 5-15, Henry 4-10
Passing UA- Malauulu 20-38-292 BU- Joe 7-23-141, Jackson 1-1-61
Receiving UA- Dickey 9-108, Levy 4-85, Bray 4-55, Vauahn 2-19, Carter 1-15 BU- Bonner 5-166, McKenzie 1-14, Miller 1-12, Mims 1-10
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