TUCSON -- In an electrifying offensive duel, all it took was one stop to win.
Arizona came up with two.
After Nic Grigsby raced 57 yards for a touchdown with 2:57 to play, the Wildcats repelled Stanford deep in Arizona territory to preserve a 43-38 victory and end a wild Saturday night in the desert.
Stanford's last thrust died when Wildcats cornerback Trevin Wade batted down a pass intended for Chris Owusu in the end zone. One series earlier, Arizona (4-2, 2-1 Pac-10) had stuffed the Cardinal on fourth-and-1 at the Wildcats' 8.
"That was kind of old Pac-10 football there," raspy-voiced Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "The bottom line is just winning."
After winning its first three Pac-10 games, Stanford (4-3, 3-2) controlled its own Rose Bowl destiny. Now the Cardinal are searching for answers after back-to-back conference losses.
"This is the toughest loss you could have been a part of," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. "I feel bad for our kids."
The Wildcats felt bad last week after blowing a late lead at Washington. In a YouTube-worthy moment, a pass deflected off Arizona receiver Delashaun Dean's foot and into the arms of a Husky defender who returned it for the decisive touchdown.
As this game kicked off on a 99-degree afternoon, the Wildcats seemed to have a hangover from that loss. They fell behind 28-13 in the second quarter and seemed listless until a touchdown late in the first half pulled them to within 28-20 at halftime.
"It shows the character of our team," Arizona quarterback Nick Foles said. "A lot of times a loss can break a team, but not us."
The teams combined for 81 points and 1,137 yards, and the game featured some stellar individual performances.
Foles threw for 415 yards and three touchdowns, and Juron Criner caught 12 passes for 152 yards for the Wildcats.
Cardinal tailback Toby Gerhart ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns, and Andrew Luck threw for 423 yards and three scores. He also had an interception.
Arizona and Stanford haven't both finished in the upper division of the Pac-10 since 1995. But both teams entered this game with dreams of contending in the wide-open conference race.
Leading 31-29 midway through the third quarter, the Cardinal seemingly took command with a 6-play, 86-yard march. The big play was a 47-yard strike down the middle from Luck to Owusu, setting the Cardinal up at Arizona's 2.
Gerhart barged over on the next play to give the Cardinal a 38-29 lead.
Arizona's Greg Nwoko burst up the middle for a 43-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 38-36 with 10:06 to go, setting the stage for the memorable finish.
Tackling seemed optional for most of the game, but defense decided it.
The game turned when Stanford, leading 38-36, went for it on fourth-and-1 at Arizona's 8 with 5:27 to go.
The natural call would have been a handoff to the hard-charging Gerhart, but he limped off with an ankle injury before the play. Luck found Owusu in the flat, but Owusu dropped the ball.
Harbaugh said he eschewed a chip-shot field goal because he thought he might win the game with a touchdown.
"We go up by two scores, and it would have been tough to come back," Harbaugh said. "Toby going down changed the play."
Given new life, the Wildcats rallied on Grigsby's dramatic run on third-and-17 from the Arizona 43-yard line.
With Stanford blitzing, the shifty Grigsby took a delayed handoff, danced through traffic at the line and then broke down the left sideline, outrunning the secondary to the end zone as the Arizona Stadium crowd of 53,479 erupted.
"I just think of making big plays," Grigsby said. "I just set up my blocks and went."
The Cardinal responded in a heartbeat.
Luck, a redshirt freshman, kept the ensuing drive alive by scrambling for a first down on fourth-and-5 in his own territory, then hit Doug Baldwin for 36 yards to the Wildcats' 17 with 50 seconds remaining.
But that's where the drive died. Luck missed on his last three passes, including one that glanced off Ryan Whalen's fingertips in the end zone.
"It's heartbreaking," Luck said. "I've played sports for a long time and I've lost a lot of games in a lot of sports, and this one stinks the most."
