NCAA Game Summary - Boise State vs. Arizona

Glendale, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Boise State once again had a party in the Fiesta Bowl, even if it couldn't start celebrating until the very end.

Jay Ajayi rushed for three first-half touchdowns, Thomas Sperbeck amassed a career-high 199 yards on 12 catches and the 21st-ranked Broncos stopped Arizona near the goal line on the final play to hold on for a thrilling 38-30 victory over the No. 12 Wildcats.

Boise State built a 21-0 first-quarter lead and stayed in front the rest of the way, though Arizona got within eight yards of a potential game-tying touchdown before Anu Solomon was sacked by Kamalei Correa as time ran out.

"What an awesome opportunity for us to go out there on that stage and find a way to win the game," Broncos head coach Bryan Harsin remarked.

Ayaji finished with 134 yards on 22 carries in the Mountain West champion Broncos' ninth straight win and third in the past nine Fiesta Bowls. Grant Hedrick threw for 309 yards with a touchdown and an interception while completing 24-of-34 passes for Boise State (12-2).

Solomon had both a rushing and passing touchdown and put up 335 yards on a 28- of-49 completion rate, but the freshman also had a few rookie mistakes that hurt Arizona (10-4) in its first major bowl appearance since the 1994 Fiesta.

He was intercepted twice, one of which was returned 16 yards for a critical touchdown by Donte Deayon late in the third quarter, and couldn't throw the ball away on Correa's game-ending tackle on third down with the Wildcats out of time outs.

"We got it executed at the end, not take a sack, try to score a touchdown," said Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez. "Got to finish better than that. But we competed until the end."

Cayleb Jones had eight catches totaling 117 yards for Arizona. Nick Wilson rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on 19 attempts in the loss, but sat out the entire second half with a head injury.

The Wildcats got the ball back at their own 20 after Boise State, which managed just 74 yards in the second half after moving the ball effortlessly in the first, punted with 2:53 remaining while clinging to a 38-30 lead.

Arizona moved the chains three times prior to Jones coming down with a leaping 43-yard catch that moved the Wildcats inside the 10-yard line with 21 seconds left. After spiking the ball, Solomon couldn't connect with David Richards in the end zone to set up a 3rd-and-goal.

Solomon again wasn't able to find an open receiver while rolling right on the next play, and was taken down from behind by Correa as the final seconds ticked off the clock.

"We didn't have the second half on the offensive side, but we did do enough," Harsin said. "We kept battling and fighting. I thought the defense really stepped up."

Boise State appeared to have the game well in hand when Deayon stepped in front of Austin Hill and picked off Solomon before weaving his way into the end zone, with the defensive touchdown giving the Broncos a 38-20 advantage with 1:57 left in the third quarter.

Solomon atoned for the miscue on the ensuing drive, buying time outside the pocket before heaving a pass down the right side that Samajie Grant hauled in for a 51-yard touchdown that came just 1:16 after the interception.

An Ajayi fumble in Arizona territory with just over nine minutes to go helped the Wildcats draw closer, with Solomon connecting on 5-of-6 throws after the turnover to put Casey Skowron in range for a 32-yard field goal that trimmed the deficit to 38-30 with 3:06 left to play.

Ajayi, who announced prior to the game he will be declaring for the NFL draft, did showcase his skills on his first carry of the day. The junior back burst through a gaping hole and out-sprinted the Arizona defense for a 56- yard touchdown that sent Boise State ahead just 1:42 in.

It was one of three touchdown drives for the Broncos to begin the contest.

Hedrick, who completed his first 14 attempts, hit Chaz Anderson in stride down the left sideline for the second score, then went 3-for-3 for 67 yards on the Broncos' next possession. Ayaji finished that one off with an impressive 16- yard touchdown after taking a behind-the-back handoff, a play very similar to the one that produced the winning points in Boise State's memorable overtime upset of Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta.

After generating little on its first two series, Arizona gained some momentum by putting together an 11-play, 65-march that featured the running of Wilson and Solomon, who capped the drive with a 1-yard keeper into the end zone.

Solomon had an ill-advised pass intercepted by Cleshawn Page in Arizona territory on the Wildcats' next trek, however. Hedrick's 31-yard strike to Sperbeck shortly afterward set up Ajayi's third TD, a diving 1-yard score that put Boise State up 28-7 early in the second quarter.

The Wildcats answered with a 13-play, 83-yard sequence in which Wilson ran seven times for 43 yards, with the freshman's 1-yard plunge getting Arizona back within two touchdowns.

Hedrick's first incompletion, an interception that Cam Denson returned 31 yards to the BSU 30, led to the Wildcats cutting the lead to 28-17 on Skowron's 42-yard field goal with just 30 seconds left in the half.

That was still enough time for the Broncos, as Hedrick hit on three straight attempts totaling 57 yards to position Dan Goodale for a 36-yard field goal.

Boise State piled up 397 total yards over the first two quarters, led by Hedrick's 272 through the air on a sparkling 17-of-18 completion rate.

The Broncos went three-and-out on their initial three second-half possessions, but Arizona mustered only a 24-yard Skowron field goal over that stretch as both defenses stiffened in the third quarter.

"In the third quarter we had great field position offensively. What killed us is we didn't finish," said Rodriguez. "We either got field goals or didn't score. That was a big difference in the game."