Ohio becomes latest team to win Arizona Bowl with walk-off OT touchdown

TUCSON — Perfect football weather. Imperfect football. No complaints.

The Arizona Bowl always has been a bit quirky. The play on the field is seldom pristine. But Tucson’s bowl game has charm, a good heart and a fighting spirit.

Bowl organizers were determined to put on a good show after the pandemic impacted the past two Arizona Bowls. The 2020 version was played without fans in the stands; the ’21 game, the first with new title sponsor Barstool Sports, was canceled.

Typical of most Arizona Bowls since the game’s inception in 2015, this one came down to the wire. CJ Harris’ 10-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Foster in overtime gave Ohio a 30-27 victory over Wyoming on a picturesque Friday afternoon at Arizona Stadium.

The Arizona Bowl has been contested seven times. Friday’s game marked the third time it was decided in overtime — and the third time it ended with a walk-off score.

The lead changed hands four times in the second half and OT. The Bobcats rallied from a 17-11 halftime deficit behind the running of tailback Sieh Bangura, who had a game-high 138 yards, and the clutch play of Harris, who took over as Ohio’s starter late in the season after MAC Offensive Player of the Year Kurtis Rourke hurt his knee.

Harris was named the Arizona Bowl MVP after passing for 184 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 52 yards.

“The boys supported me,” Harris said. “They had my back, and I had theirs.

“It means a lot. I just wanted to give it my all for the team.”

The Bobcats finished 10-4, reaching double figures in wins for the first time since 2011 and the third time in modern program history. Wyoming, a two-time participant in the Arizona Bowl, ended the season with a three-game losing streak and finished 7-6.

The Cowboys took a 27-24 lead in overtime on John Hoyland’s 29-yard field goal. The Bobcats won it on Harris’ pass to Foster, a 6-5, 247-pound tight end, in the back left corner of the end zone.

“One on one, I just saw my man versus their man,” Harris said. “I’m going to give my man a shot every time.”

The Bobcats raced down the west sideline to mob Foster. Soon after, second-year coach Tim Albin and his team accepted the Arizona Bowl trophy.

“Unbelievable football game for four quarters,” Albin said, his voice breaking. “And a little extra.”

Bangura gave Ohio an 18-17 advantage with a 3-yard touchdown run with 5:14 remaining in the third quarter.

Wyoming’s offense had been completely stymied in the second half before the Cowboys pieced together a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to reclaim the lead late in the fourth quarter. Wyoming had four previous possessions in the half. The Cowboys gained just 17 yards.

A 31-yard pass from quarterback Andrew Peasley to tight end Treyton Welch moved Wyoming to the Ohio 11-yard line. On third-and-4 from the 5, Jordon Vaughn — the Cowboys’ fifth-string running back — plowed into the end zone to give Wyoming a 24-21 lead with 2:08 remaining.

Ohio had ample time to get into field-goal range and did. Nathanial Vakos’ 46-yard field goal — his third from 40-plus yards in the game — tied the score with four seconds left in regulation.

While Ohio lost its star quarterback – but was able to overcome it – Wyoming was hit hard by late-season injuries and pre-bowl transfer-portal departures.

“We have what we had, and we put them out there,” Cowboys coach Craig Bohl said. “I’m proud of them.”

The first quarter was characterized by big plays and big mistakes.

Wyoming opened the scoring with a 17-yard touchdown run by Vaughn, who was making his college debut.

Since the bowl matchup was set, Bohl had dodged questions about the Cowboys’ running back situation. He knew Titus Swen, a 1,000-yard rusher, had been dismissed from the team. Bohl also knew one of Swen’s backups, Joey Braasch, had entered the transfer portal.

With second- and third-stringers Dawaiia McNeely and D.Q. James unavailable because of injuries, Wyoming listed its running backs as “TBA” on the official pregame depth chart. Vaughn — a redshirt freshman from Manvel, Texas — got the start and the bulk of the work. He carried 16 times for 67 yards and two scores.

Vaughn’s backup was Sam Scott — a redshirt-freshman linebacker. Scott normally wears No. 32; he donned a No. 22 jersey for this special assignment.

The Cowboys’ early lead was short-lived, in large part because of a poor decision by cornerback Kolbey Taylor. Wyoming was set to get the ball back after an overthrown Ohio pass on third-and-11. But Taylor lowered his head and made helmet-to-helmet contact with receiver Sam Wiglusz, drawing a targeting foul and a disqualification.

“I’m going to be real guarded on the targeting,” Bohl said. “As coaches, we have pushed to have that rule adjusted to have ‘targeting 1’ and ‘targeting 2.’ … We have taken the play that is the big headhunting play out of the game. We’ve coached that out of the game.

“When you have a young man who loses basically a whole game on a play that is viewed as targeting, that is nowhere connected to a malicious hit, this is why as coaches we say that there needs to be some balance.”

On the next play, Harris connected with Jacoby Jones for a 34-yard touchdown. The Bobcats pulled off a fake PAT for a 2-point conversion that gave them an 8-7 lead.

Wiglusz — a transfer from Ohio State who led Ohio in receiving this season — was involved in the next scoring sequence as well. He muffed Clayton Stewart’s punt, which Cole DeMarzo recovered at the Bobcats’ 17-yard line. On the next play, Peasley threw a strike to Welch for a touchdown to give Wyoming a 14-8 lead.

The second quarter was a slog. The teams combined to complete only 3 of 13 passes for 31 yards. An exchange of field goals — including a 53-yarder by Hoyland — left the Cowboys with a 17-11 advantage at halftime.

The third quarter featured much of the same — until Bangura burst through a hole for a 40-yard gain to the Wyoming 3. He scored on the next play to put Ohio up 18-17.

Vakos’ 45-yard field goal made it 21-17 with 4:17 remaining.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ohio latest team to win Arizona Bowl with walk-off OT touchdown