Arizona blasts mistake-prone Oklahoma State

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Instead of producing more than 80 points on its own, 18th-ranked Oklahoma State allowed Arizona to join in the scoring barrage Saturday night.

The non-conference shootout resulted in a 59-38 victory by the Wildcats in front of 45,602 at Arizona Stadium. The penalty-prone Cowboys, coming off an 84-0 victory over Savannah State in Stillwater, Okla., compiled 636 total yards against Arizona, but it was not enough.

The Wildcats (2-0) did not commit a turnover, and they scored on all eight drives inside the red zone (five touchdowns and three field goals) in new coach Rich Rodriguez's second game.

"Where does this win rank?" Rodriguez said with a grin in response to a postgame press conference question. "It's the best one I've had at Arizona."

Oklahoma State (1-1) committed 15 penalties for 167 yards, with many contributing to Arizona scoring drives after the Wildcats trailed 14-0 early in the first quarter.

Arizona fifth-year senior quarterback Matt Scott often made the Cowboys pay for the miscues, passing for two touchdowns and running for another. He completed 28 of 41 passes for 320 yards without an interception. He also gained 55 yards on 19 carries.

"The difference in the game is we kept our composure even when we got down early," Scott said. "Oklahoma State helped us out. We still had to play, but obviously they helped us with all the penalties."

Oklahoma State true freshman quarterback Wes Lunt, making his first collegiate road start, completed 37 of 60 passes for 436 yards and four touchdowns. He also threw three interceptions, one of which was returned 49 yards for a touchdown by Arizona cornerback Jonathan McKnight.

Neither defense contained the other for the most part. Oklahoma State was also perfect inside the red zone, finishing 5-for-5 (four touchdowns and field goal). The Cowboys, however, made a lot more miscues with their penalties and four turnovers.

"Way too many mistakes," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "It was poor coaching and poor playing; that's a bad combination.

"It is undisciplined (committing so many penalties). ... I'm giving Arizona credit, but we gave them (167) yards in penalties and four turnovers. It was bad football."

After Oklahoma State cut the lead to 37-31 in the final seconds of the third quarter, the Cowboys were poised for another scoring drive early in the fourth. Lunt, however, felt the blitz and threw his second interception of the game, returned by McKnight for a touchdown.

Lunt threw his third interception on the next possession. Josh Stewart could not handle the pass, and safety Jared Tevis made his second interception of the game. That led to Arizona's Ka'Deem Carey rushing for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Wildcats an insurmountable 52-31 lead with 4:35 left in the game.

The Wildcats answered an early 14-0 deficit with a seven-play, 78-yard touchdown drive, aided by consecutive personal foul penalties on Oklahoma State defensive tackle Calvin Barnett.

He was first penalized for roughing Scott. After the play was dead, Barnett flung Scott to the ground for another 15-yard penalty. The 30 yards on penalties helped set up a 15-yard touchdown pass from Scott to Richard Morrison that cut the lead to 14-7 lead with 5:19 left in the first quarter.

"I thought it looked like a WWF move," Rodriguez said of Barnett's takedown of Scott. "I thought to Matt's credit that he kept his composure and didn't retaliate. (Barnett) just tossed him around, from what I saw, but Matt didn't let that affect him."

John Bonano made field goals of 22, 46 and 24 yards on three straight possessions to put the Wildcats ahead 16-14 with 11:46 remaining in the half. Arizona never trailed again.

A late-hit penalty by cornerback Brodrick Brown helped put Bonano in position for the 22-yard attempt. The 24-yarder was aided by a spearing penalty by linebacker Shaun Lewis against Scott, who slid to avoid contact on the play.

NOTES: Lunt's completion streak of 12 was snapped on Oklahoma State's first drive. He completed his first pass after completing all 11 against Savannah State last week before he was pulled after the first quarter in that game. After Lunt's streak was snapped, he proceeded to convert seven consecutive passes afterward to start 18-for-19 in his career. ... The Wildcats ended a six-game losing streak against Top 25 competition that dated to Sept. 18, 2010, when Arizona defeated No. 9 Iowa 34-27 at Arizona Stadium. ... The game was the third in the last three years between the teams. Oklahoma State defeated Arizona 36-10 in the 2010 Alamo Bowl and 37-14 last year in Stillwater.