Arizona's offense was supposed to have caught up to the defense, which has carried the Wildcats to bowl games three straight years.
But it was the defense that saved the day against Georgia Tech."The defense played great. The offense couldn't get it going until the end," wide receiver Richard Dice said Thursday night after the 17th-ranked Wildcats scored 13 points in the final six minutes to defeat Georgia Tech 20-19.
Dan White and Dice got Arizona (2-0) within a touchdown when they hooked up on a 60-yard pass-run play. Then the defense, torn up most of the game by Georgia Tech tailback C.J. Williams, came through.
Arizona held the Yellow Jackets to three plays and forced a punt. Armon Williams, a reserve linebacker, charged up the middle to block it and recoved at the 4. White scored on a 1-yard sneak three plays later for the final points of the game with 2:21 left.
In the other game Thursday night involving a ranked team, Boston College shaded No. 20 Virginia Tech 20-14.
Arizona appeared in over its head Thursday night, down by 12 points with about 8 minutes to play. But Arizona made such a comeback last year in beating Tech 19-14.
"We still had a lot of confidence. We knew there was a lot of work to do, but we thought we could do it," said Dice, who is averaging more than 29 yards per reception.
"Dice made a great catch and a great run, and that's sometimes how you win ballgames," White said.
The Jackets (1-1) dominated the line of scrimmage while running up a 9-0 first-half lead and holding Arizona to 13 rushing yards - their fewest since 1969. Georgia Tech also big plays from defensive backs Nathan Perryman, who held Dice in check for 54 minutes, and Ryan Stewart, who returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown which sent the Jackets to a 16-7 lead late in the third.
Perryman got burned, though, when Dice faked toward the sideline and turned downfield to catch White's pass on the 35 and race for the end zone.
Boston College 20
No. 20 Va. Tech 14
Mark Hartsell threw three touchdown passes and Steve Everson caught 10 passes for 142 yards, helping Boston College rebound from a first-game rout to beat Virginia Tech.
Hartsell completed 24 of 38 passes for 273 yards for the Eagles (1-1, 1-0 Big East), who were held without a touchdown in the 39-6 loss to Ohio State in the Kickoff Classic.
Jim Druckenmiller, starting his first game in Virginia Tech's opener, completed 21 of 42 passes for 296 yards.