It was not a drive to win the game. There was little to no hope that Arizona could mount a comeback against No. 8 Oregon, down 17 with 10:36 left in the fourth quarter. Stranger things may have happened, but not too often.

Nevertheless, Jason Johnson, Bobby Wade and what was left of the first-string offense headed onto the field as the stands of Arizona Stadium bled, asked to mount a 71-yard drive that would do nothing more than make the score respectable.

They failed to do it, but that wasn't the point. The fact that Johnson and Wade were still playing this late in the game was the point.

The fact that Arizona made it a game, and even held a lead in the first quarter meant just about everyone who cared to opine on the probable outcome of the game was wrong. And that was the point.

"I can't say I'm pleased, but I think we did a pretty good job, considering everyone thought it was going to be a blowout like last year," said defensive end Joe Siofele, one of the few top defenders left standing for the Wildcats.

What makes a loss like Saturday's difficult for the Wildcats is that the outcome can't be blamed on a lack of desire or effort. In fact, this might have been the most inspired game Arizona has played since John Mackovic has been head coach. Never have the odds been so stacked against the team, with injuries to starting running back Clarence Farmer, starting middle linebacker Lance Briggs and starting cornerback Michael Jolivette, among many others.

"That's most of our preseason poster," said Johnson about the losses.

It's clichˇ, but true in this case: Johnson and Wade left it all on the field last night.

In the 4:12 from the start of the drive to the incomplete pass to Andrae Thurman in the end zone on fourth down, Johnson threw for 73 yards. Wade caught passes 11 and 12 to cap off perhaps the best performance of his splendid career. When the chips were down ÷ way down ÷ Arizona's best played like it was a drive to win the game.

"We're never going to stop fighting," Johnson said. "We thought we were going to win this game."

After both wins and losses, Wade is usually the first to call out both his teammates and himself when he believes the effort wasn't there. But Saturday night in the bowels of Arizona stadium, there was nothing to complain about, no lack of effort to criticize.

"The loss hurts, but at the same time, we can take a lot from this," Wade said. "I think we've got a great team. Once we peak, teams are going to open their eyes."

Wade was right about one thing ÷ people are going to open their eyes. Strange as it seems, this 17-point loss might be the turnaround point for this team. For the first 30 minutes, the Wildcats stared down the best team in the conference and didn't blink. And in the last 30 minutes, they were beat in spite of their effort.

It's easy to believe that with Briggs in the lineup, the defense doesn't allow 72 second-half rushing yards to Onterrio Smith.

It's easy to believe that with Jolivette out there anchoring the secondary, Jason Fife has considerably more difficulty throwing for 138 yards in the second half.

And it's easy to believe that with the experienced Clarence Farmer in the backfield, that drive might have been the one to put the Wildcats ahead.

Until any of those three are back in the lineup, however, the Wildcats will have to play with what they've got.

And right now, that's a lot of heart.