'It's an amazing feeling'

Charles C. Labenz Arizona Daily Wildcat UA kicker Mark McDonald is held up by his teammates while awaiting a handshake from quarterback Keith Smith following Saturday night's win over California. Arizona won in double overtime, 41-38, on McDonald's game-winning field goal.

And, the outcome was quite different.

The Arizona Wildcat football team avenged last year's quadruple-overtime loss to California Saturday night, defeating the Golden Bears with a sudden death field goal, 41-38, in front of 37,111 fans at Arizona Stadium.

Late in the fourth quarter, with Arizona ahead 31-28, Cal banged its way down the field, capped by a 20-yard pass from Justin Vedder to Dameane Douglas that put them on the Arizona four-yard line. After a goal-line stand by the Wildcats' defense, Cal kick er Tim Wolleck punched through a 22-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.

However, it was Arizona's kicker, sophomore Mark McDonald, that proved to be the game's hero.

After each team traded touchdowns in the first overtime, Cal came up short in the second overtime, with Wolleck missing a 40-yard field goal attempt wide left.

Enter McDonald, who had already missed field goals from 35 and 33 yards on the night. With a chance to win, freshman long snapper Nate Campell snapped the ball to freshman holder Chris Palic, and McDonald booted the ball 43 yards, directly between the upr ights, prompting fans to storm the field and the players to put an exuberant McDonald on their shoulders.

"It all worked out," McDonald said. "We put it through. We did what we practiced."

After the two missed field goals, McDonald had reason to be a little nervous going into overtime.

"There is in no doubt it," McDonald said. "Going into overtime, not that I wasn't confident, but it was one of the hardest games that I have been through, kicking-wise with a few misses."

The game saw plenty of a balanced Arizona offense, gaining 264 yards on the ground and 266 yards in the air for a total of 530 yards. This time, however, it was a familiar face back in a familiar place leading the attack.

Sophomore Keith Smith, the Wildcats' quarterback turned wide receiver, turned back into a quarterback and found a groove after giving starting quarterback Ortege Jenkins a breather.

"I didn't expect to play that much, not even close," Smith said. "It was, 'Keith, go in there and try to confuse them and do a few no-huddle things.' We started hitting some passes, people were making some plays, and I guess they figured that I was hot an d they didn't want to pull me."

Hot? No. Scorching? Yes. Jenkins was left to relax on the sidelines as Smith completed 17 of 27 passes for 171 yards and three touchdowns while rushing 11 times for 62 yards. Early in the game, Smith also received a pass, a 17-yard gain from Jenkins.

"Keith picked us up when we needed it," UA head coach Dick Tomey said. " Everyone knows he is a good quarterback. It was good to see Keith back in a position where he can make an impact."

Making the biggest impact on offense, however, was sophomore Dennis Northcutt. Northcutt grabbed 8 passes for 69 yards and two scores while taking a reverse 60 yards for his third touchdown despite starting the night fairly slow.

"I just had to stay focused," Northcutt said. "You just have to stay with it and everything will work out."

Sophomore running back Trung Canidate returned to action after being sidelined with a ankle injury for three games. He rushed 14 times for 98 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown run.

On the other side of the ball, Arizona's defense was led by sophomore linebacker Marcus Bell and freshman defensive tackle Anthony Thomas, who stepped in for an injured Joe Salavéa. Each player had two sacks, and Bell tied senior Rashee Johnson with a te am-high eight tackles.

"It was just a fabulous game," Tomey said. "We had a ton of heroes."