Arizona 42, Boston College 19
SHREVEPORT, La. -- Arizona wide receiver Nate Phillips had nine catches for 193 yards to overshadow a battle of All-American running backs, as the Wildcats cruised to a 42-19 victory over Boston College in the AdvoCare V100 Bowl on Tuesday afternoon.
The game marked the first time that the two consensus All-America running backs met in the postseason. But it was Phillips, a 5-7 freshman, who grabbed the spotlight. He set a record for the bowl (formerly known as the Independence) for receiving yards. The previous record was 191, set by South Carolina's Sidney Rice in 2005.
Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey, who lost a fumble on his first attempt of the game, eventually got his yards, rushing 27 times for 169 yards and two touchdowns. The junior, who has not announced his intentions for the NFL Draft, extended his streak of 100-yard games to 16.
But Andre Williams of Boston College rarely was able to get into the second level of Arizona's defense. Williams, who was fourth in the Heisman voting, finished with 75 yards on 26 carries in front of an announced crowd of 36,917 at Independence Stadium.
Arizona (8-5) led 21-6 at halftime and took the opening possession of the second half 75 yards, capped by Carey's 5-yard touchdown run. The balance of Arizona's running and passing was too much for the Eagles (7-6) as the Wildcats scored on their next two possessions as well.
Arizona's B.J. Denker passed for 274 yards and ran for 51.
The Wildcats scored first on a 92-yard drive that took only four plays in 41 seconds. Phillips caught two passes for 79 yards on the drive, and Carey finished it by powering into the end zone from 2 yards with 7:51 left in the first quarter.
The much-slower paced Eagles climbed within 7-6 and was in position to take the lead when Phillips muffed a punt catch, sliding to try to stop a bouncing kick, with the Eagles recovering at the UA 40. Three plays later, safety Will Parks stepped in front of a Chase Rettig sideline pass intended for Alex Amidon and went 69 yards untouched for a touchdown.
NOTES: Future baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. took photographs from the sideline. His son, Trey Griffey, is a redshirt freshman receiver for Arizona who caught his first two career touchdown passes -- a 26-yarder in the final minute of the first half and a 3-yarder in the fourth quarter. ... Boston College senior quarterback Chase Rettig started his 46th career game. ... Arizona was just the third Pac-12 team to play in the Shreveport bowl, and the first since Oregon in 1992. ... Boston College kicker Nate Freese went 20 for 20 on field goal attempts this season, hitting tries of 32 and 41 yards in the bowl game.
