Miscues & Field Goal Spell Doom

ORANGE, Calif. –  Matt Deter's 51-yard field goal with 5 seconds left lifted Chapman University to a stunning 27-25 victory over Azusa Pacific in the Cougars' 2001 season finale tonight.

Azusa Pacific appeared to have overcome itself and win the game for all practical purposes when Cougar QB Luke Winslow hit a diving Jeremy Tortora on a 6-yard TD strike with 77 seconds left to put Azusa Pacific up 25-24.  However, Chapman turned around and moved the ball 28 yards, converting a crucial fourth-and-a-foot with 44 seconds left, to set up Deter's game-winning heroics.

The Cougars struggled much of the night and didn't take the lead until 9:01 left to play when Dan Gray barreled over from a yard out to put the Cougars up 19-17.

Chapman, though, answered on the ensuing drive when freshman QB Patrick Josten capped an 8-play, 57-yard drive with a 5-yard run around end, diving into the end zone to put the Panthers back up 24-19 with 5:20 to play.  That's when the Cougars responded with a 10-play, 69-yard drive, converting 2 third downs and a fourth down prior to Tortora's touchdown catch.

Azusa Pacific was perhaps its own worst enemy on the night, committing 6 turnovers comprised of 2 fumbles and 4 interceptions, including 1 in the end zone midway through the second quarter.  Additionally, the Cougars recovered 2 of their own fumbles to keep the nightmare from getting any more frightening.  The turnovers negated Azusa Pacific's 539 yards in total offense. Chapman netted 369.

Chapman jumped out to a 14-0 lead, scoring on its first possession of the game and it's final possession of the first quarter.  The Cougars answered just before halftime when Lathian Tyler dove over from a yard out to cut the Panther lead in half at halftime.

Deter connected on a 32-yard field goal to push the Panther lead to 17-7 with 7:09 left in the third quarter.  Gray then scored the first of his back-to-back 1-yard TD blasts with 21 seconds left in the quarter to pull the Cougars to within 4 at 17-13.

Both of the point-after-attempts on Gray's touchdowns were blocked, forcing Azusa Pacific to go for a 2-point conversion on its final TD of the game.  However, Winslow's lob pass for Ryan Allen fell to the ground untouched, keeping the door open for Chapman to win the game on a field goal.

Early in the game, Luke Winslow completed a pass over the middle to become Azusa Pacific's all-time leader in passing yards, breaking John Tully's 28-year record of 4,436 yards.  On the night, Winslow was 19-for-26 for 247 yards, giving him 4,664 yards in his 30-game career at Azusa Pacific.

With the loss, Azusa Pacific ends its season at 4-5 and endures its first losing sub-.500 record since 1997.  Ironically, Chapman had lost 3 straight to Azusa Pacific and hadn't beaten the Cougars since the 1997 season-finale, when they handed the Cougars a 17-12 setback and their last losing season (4-5) until tonight.

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