Salgado-Medina’s 37-yard field goal gives Arizona 29-28 win over TCU

A Late Kick Seals Narrow Victory

Michael Salgado-Medina’s 37-yard field goal as time expired gave the Arizona Wildcats a 29-28 victory over the visiting TCU Horned Frogs on Friday at Casino Del Sol Stadium. The win improved Arizona’s record to 7-2, while TCU fell to 4-5 in front of 40,501 fans in Tucson.

Early Arizona Lead and TCU Comeback

Arizona jumped out to an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Noah Fifita connected with Isaiah Mizell on a 20-yard touchdown pass, followed by Salgado-Medina’s 43-yard field goal. The Horned Frogs responded with momentum shifts in the second period.

Jaden Craig scored on a 7-yard run to make it 10-7, and then TCU took its first lead of the game when Hudson Hooper returned an interception 93 yards for a touchdown, pushing the score to 14-10 at halftime.

Third Quarter Swaps

The third quarter saw both teams trade scoring drives. Fifita ran in from 9 yards out to give Arizona a 17-14 advantage. However, Craig answered with a 6-yard pass to Jordan Dwyer, restoring TCU’s lead at 21-17 going into the final period.

Fourth Quarter Thriller

The fourth quarter began with Salgado-Medina kicking another field goal, this one from 23 yards, narrowing the gap to 21-20. TCU then extended its lead to 28-20 on Craig’s 2-yard rushing touchdown. Arizona mounted a dramatic comeback attempt. Fifita threw a 15-yard pass to Quincy Craig for a touchdown, but the subsequent two-point conversion failed, leaving the score at 28-26.

With seconds remaining, Salgado-Medina drilled a 37-yard field goal to secure the 29-28 win. Fifita finished with 313 passing yards on 24-of-37 passing and two touchdowns, along with one interception. Giovanni Richardson led Arizona’s receivers with 11 catches for 171 yards.

For TCU, Craig completed 28 of 41 passes for 232 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while Amante Martin rushed eight times for 35 yards and Kari Ashley caught 14 passes for 95 yards.

Sources

ESPN