BERKELEY, Calif. – Colin Schooler broke up a pass on a two-point conversion attempt as the Arizona Wildcats held off Cal 45-44 in double overtime Saturday night at California Memorial Stadium.
Cal’s Vic Enwere scored from the 1-yard line to bring the Golden Bears within a point. Cal coach Justin Wilcox then decided to go for the win. But Schooler knocked away Ross Bowers’ pass intended for Jordan Duncan in the back of the end zone.
Arizona won its third in a row to improve to 5-2, 3-1 in the Pac-12. Cal fell to 4-4, 1-4.
Khalil Tate’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Wolma on the second play of the second overtime gave Arizona a 45-38 lead.
Overtime started with Cal in possession of the ball. Kanawai Noa’s 13-yard touchdown reception gave the Golden Bears a 38-31 lead. It was Cal’s 13th third-down conversion in 18 attempts.
Arizona answered on the next play from scrimmage. Zach Green raced 25 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 38-38.
Arizona hosts Washington State next Saturday.
FOURTH-QUARTER UPDATE:
BERKELEY, Calif. – Arizona and Cal are headed to overtime.
Matt Anderson’s 52-yard field with 1:41 remaining tied the score at 31-31 with 1:41 remaining.
Arizona led 28-21 entering the fourth quarter. Cal tied the score with 10:36 remaining on Patrick Laird’s 18-yard touchdown run.
The Wildcats responded with a field-goal drive. The key play was a 25-yard pass from Khalil Tate to Shawn Poindexter on third and-8. Josh Pollack’s 36-yarder made it 31-28 with 5:07 remaining.
Cal got the ball back and advanced to the Arizona 35, where the Wildcats finally got a third-down stop. Anderson then drilled the field goal, the longest of his career.
THIRD-QUARTER UPDATE
BERKELEY, Calif. – The Arizona Wildcats lead Cal 28-21 through three quarters of their game Saturday night at California Memorial Stadium.
UA quarterback Khalil Tate has run for a touchdown and passed for one. Golden Bears QB Ross Bowers has matched him score for score.
Trailing 21-7 at halftime, Cal opened the second half with a 79-yard touchdown drive. Bowers finished it with an 8-yard play-action pass to Malik McMorris.
Tate responded on the next possession with a 56-yard TD pass to Shun Brown. It was the longest touchdown pass of Tate’s career.
Cal answered with another touchdown. This time Bowers ran the ball in from 4 yards to complete a 56-yard march.
Tate has rushed for 128 yards on 12 carries. He has completed 5 of 6 passes for 91 yards.
Zach Green – playing in place of the ejected J.J. Taylor and the injured Nick Wilson – has carried 13 times for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Bowers has completed 22 of 34 passes for 227 yards.
Cal has converted 11 of 14 third downs.
HALFTIME UPDATE:
BERKELEY, Calif. – Despite losing three key contributors to ejections or injury, the Arizona Wildcats lead Cal 21-7 at halftime of their game Saturday night at California Memorial Stadium.
UA quarterback Khalil Tate has 123 rushing yards, including a 76-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
Arizona safety Troy Young and tailback J.J. Taylor were ejected for targeting fouls in the first quarter. The Wildcats also lost tailback Nick Wilson to an undisclosed injury.
Arizona led 14-7 after the first quarter. Taylor and Young’s replacements helped the Wildcats expand the lead.
Zach Green’s 13-yard touchdown run gave Arizona a 21-7 advantage 3:40 into the second quarter. Cal then marched 75 yards on 15 plays, but the drive ended with an interception in the end zone by safety Jarrius Wallace, the first of his career. Kylan Wilborn got pressure on Golden Bears quarterback Ross Bowers, forcing the errant pass.
Arizona drove into field-goal range, but Josh Pollack missed a 43-yarder as the half expired.
Tate has attempted only four passes, completing three for 25 yards. Green has 52 yards on eight carries.
Cal has run 40 plays to Arizona’s 30, but the Wildcats have a 274-190 advantage in total yards.
FIRST-QUARTER UPDATE:
BERKELEY, Calif. – Khalil Tate’s 76-yard touchdown ran gave the Arizona Wildcats a 14-7 lead over Cal through one quarter of their game Saturday night at California Memorial Stadium.
Tate broke a 7-7 tie with his third 70-plus-yard touchdown run in as many games.
Arizona has lost two players to targeting fouls. Freshman safety Troy Young was ejected for a late helmet hit on the first play of Cal’s second possession. Then tailback J.J. Taylor was booted for a block on a Tate scramble late in the quarter.
After Arizona went three-and-out on the opening possession, Cal put together an 11-play, 66-yard scoring drive. Patrick Laird capped it with a 7-yard touchdown run on the “State of Liberty” play. Quarterback Ross Bowers faked a pass and held the ball behind his back for Laird, who faced little resistance on his way to the end zone.
Arizona caught a break on its next drive. The officials initially ruled that Bryce Wolma fumbled at the end of a 19-yard reception. Replay overturned the call. Four plays later, Taylor rushed for a 30-yard touchdown to tie the score at 7-7.
PREGAME UPDATE:
Arizona enters this contest leading the Pac-12 in scoring (42.8 points per game) and 25 offensive plays of at least 30 yards.
However, one of the biggest strengths for the Cats this season comes from the defensive side of the ball with a young core that has shown promise for the future especially with linebackers Kylan Wilborn and Tony Fields.
Wilborn sacked UCLA's Josh Rosen four times last week, a career high and the most in a game since Joe Salave'a in 1997.
Cal has a pass-first offense with quarterback Ross Bowers who went 21-of-38 passing for 259 yards in the upset win over No. 8 Washington State so the Arizona linebackers will have to pressure him as well as the defensive backs staying active.
Kickoff in Berkeley is set for 5 p.m. and will be televised on Pac-12 Networks and the radio broadcast will be on Sports Radio 1290 am.
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