Arizona football walked into the Holiday Bowl with expectation and pressure, then crashed into a 24-0 halftime wall against SMU football. The Wildcats looked stunned early. The Mustangs dictated tempo, hit throws, and owned field position. Arizona fans waited for something, anything, to snap the silence. Then the spark arrived late in the second half, and it came in one clean strike.

The Arizona football play was simple in design and ruthless in execution. First, Noah Fifita took the no-huddle shotgun snap, looked down the deep middle, and let it fly. Then Jacob Whatley broke free and never looked back. The ball settled in. He crossed the plane. Touchdown Wildcats. In one motion, a 28-yard strike with 2:37 left on the clock finally put Arizona football on the board. The crowd exhaled first. Then, suddenly, it roared. Emotion returned to the sideline. Soon after, belief followed closely behind.

Up to that point, Arizona football had trailed SMU 24-0 by the end of the first half. Pride mattered now. Response mattered more. You could see it in body language and in the way helmets slapped together after the score. In that instant, a team that had been searching found rhythm in one throw. From there, the game felt different from that moment on.

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Arizona football and the fourth-quarter question

Momentum is fragile in bowl games. Yet at the same time, it also spreads fast. Afterward, following the touchdown, Arizona football’s defense tightened. Tackles finished. Assignments sharpened. Meanwhile, the Mustangs tried to slow things down, but the Wildcats kept pushing. In response, Fifita delivered quick decisions. On the ground, the run game found creases. With each snap, a little more energy arrived, a little more noise rose beneath the stadium lights.

In the end, this is how bowl stories flip. One comeback. One stop. One surge that turns doubt into noise. For now, the Mustangs still lead. The Wildcats finally answered. And under the San Diego night sky, one question hangs over the Holiday Bowl: is this the start of a full Arizona football surge?