Wildcats end 10-game conference losing streak and remain bowl eligible

KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat

UA junior wide receiver Bobby Wade attempts to break a tackle from a Cal defender Saturday in Memorial Stadium.

BERKELEY, Calif. -It now becomes a two-game season.

That is the way the Arizona football team is looking at the remaining two games after defeating California 38-24 Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, ending a 10-game Pacific 10 Conference losing streak and keeping hope alive of making a bowl game.

"It gives us an opportunity to even our record to 5-5, and that would be significant for us," said UA head coach John Mackovic who earned his first victory in the conference. "We had a three-game stretch that we knew we had to win, and this is game 1."

The Wildcats (4-5 overall, 1-5 in the Pac-10) scored 38 unanswered points in the second and third quarters with quarterback Jason Johnson and wide receiver Bobby Wade doing most of the damage.

Johnson connected with Wade on touchdown passes of 50, 13 and 60. Wade's three touchdowns tied an Arizona record.

"It's just another day at the job," said Wade, who had six catches for 118 yards.

Johnson said he was looking to take advantage of a Cal (0-8 overall, 0-6 in the Pac-10) defense that uses a lot of one-on-one coverage in the secondary.

KEVIN KLAUS/Arizona Daily Wildcat

UA freshman running back Tremaine Cox breaks a tackle by a California defender during Saturday's game against the Bears in Berkeley.

"Bobby and I have been trying to get on the same page all year and we knew the way they lined up against us defensively. We knew we would be able to get some one-on-ones and we took advantage of that," said Johnson, who threw for a career-high 315 yards on 18 of 29 passing and four touchdowns.

After being held scoreless in the first quarter, the Wildcats scored on all four possessions in the second quarter.

UA sophomore tailback Clarence Farmer got UA on the scoreboard when he took a 65-yard run straight up the middle - untouched - for a touchdown.

Less than three minutes later, Johnson connected with sophomore tight end Justin Levasseur from 3 yards out for his first career touchdown.

While the UA offense clicked in the second and third quarters, it was the Wildcat defense that kept the Golden Bears off guard. The defense held Cal to only three points until the Golden Bears scored with eight minutes remaining in the game.

Cal head coach Tom Holmoe decided to start freshman quarterback Reggie Robertson - a Tucson native - instead of junior Kyle Boller, who missed the last two weeks with a back injury.

Robertson struggled, completing only 5 of 15 passes for 61 yards.

"It was really important to put pressure on (Robertson) early," said junior middle linebacker Lance Briggs. "As a young quarterback, we tried to get him out of his game. To get some hands on him and to get him out of the pocket really helps our coverage."

With the exception of a fourth-quarter hot streak, Boller did no better in his three quarters of work. He completed 9 of 25 passes for 178 yards, with most of the yards coming against the Wildcats second-string defense late in the game.

UA also sacked both Cal quarterbacks a combined eight times, a season high.

Cal scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to get within two touchdowns of UA. With 1:30 on the clock, and Cal facing fourth-and-three, Boller threw a pass to junior wide receiver Derek Swafford that went right through his hands, ending the Bears' hope of a miracle comeback.

The Golden Bears have now lost 11 straight games dating back to last season.

"We always think that we are going to win," Cal junior linebacker John Klotsche said. "Every week it hurts when we lose. We just need to move on."

Not all news was good Saturday, however.

Mackovic said starting right tackle Darren Safranek might have torn his ACL and will likely miss the rest of the season following surgery on his knee and an aching shoulder. Sophomore Brandon Phillips will replace Safranek for the remainder of the season.

Despite the fact that it was Golden Bear bobblehead giveaway day, the attendance of 26,222 people was the lowest at Memorial Stadium since 1989 - the first game after the Loma Prieta earthquake.