WILL SEBERGER/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona safety Lamon Means (19) upends UW running back Kenny James as Marcus Smith (55) looks on in the UA's 27-22 win Saturday.

The last time Arizona football beat Washington in Tucson, it was Homecoming 1992 ÷ and the Huskies came into the game ranked No. 1 in the nation.

The Wildcats went on to knock off the Huskies, 16-3 in front of a full Arizona Stadium, with fans celebrating on the field after the upset.

Though the stakes weren't as high, the scene was similar Saturday night after the Wildcats upset Washington 27-22 at Arizona Stadium.

UW came to Tucson unranked, but the Wildcats invoked a similar on-field celebration in front of a Homecoming crowd of 48,319.

"It's not just a ÎW,'" athletics director Jim Livengood said. "This is a big-time win."

Arizona snapped an eight-game losing streak and a three-year-long Pacific 10 Conference drought at home to earn its second win of the season and send the Tucson faithful into a frenzy.

JACOB KONST/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona running back Mike Bell (right) celebrates his second of three touchdown runs with tackle John Abramo in the Wildcats' Homecoming upset win.

More than a thousand Arizona fans rushed the field as time ticked off the clock, celebrating with Wildcat players at midfield before proceeding to the north end zone goal post, where they climbed on the poles and celebrated Mike Hankwitz's first win as a collegiate head coach.

"It feels so damn good to finally get one," sophomore safety Darrell Brooks said. "It's the best feeling in the world right now."

Hankwitz said he was most excited for his players to finally get another win after all the hard work the team has put into the season.

"This just reinforces what we've been telling them: If you keep working, things can change," Hankwitz said. "You have to keep working and keep fighting. We got it done, and that's the bottom line."

Sophomore running back Mike Bell supplied more than half of the Arizona offense, rushing for a career-high 222 yards, including touchdown runs of 69, 67 and 37 yards. This was the third straight week that the Phoenix native had gone over the century mark on the ground.

"I haven't felt like this in so long. It feels great," Bell said.

With the win, Arizona also snapped a four-game losing streak to the Huskies and held off a fourth-quarter charge by Washington that had become all too familiar to the Wildcats.

Three of the last four meetings between the two teams were taken by the Huskies after a fourth-quarter comeback. But Washington's comeback bid fell short Saturday night.

Washington had the ball in Arizona territory, trailing by five with under two minutes to go, but the Wildcats turned the Huskies away. On fourth down and 15, sophomore safety Lamon Means knocked down Washington quarterback Cody Pickett's final pass to preserve the Arizona win.

"We've been having tough games against (Washington) and no one ever gave up the whole game," Brooks said. "There was just the feeling the whole game that everyone wanted to win this."

Arizona's victory was also largely due to the pressure put on Washington quarterback Cody Pickett by the Wildcat defensive line. Arizona had four sacks, including two by sophomore Marcus Smith. Smith finished the game with eight tackles, including three for losses.

Senior safety Clay Hardt was the Wildcats' leading tackler with 14.

Things won't get any easier for the Wildcats next week when No. 2 USC comes to Tucson.

"(The win) is going to change us," Heavner said "It's going to get us going in the right direction."