Arizona safety Christian Young watches as fans rush the field following the Wildcats’ Nov. 6, 2021, homecoming win over Cal, snapping a 20-game losing streak.

 Ana Beltran, Arizona Daily Star 2021

This summer, each member of the Star’s sports team will assemble a list of the five most memorable Arizona games they’ve covered since joining the beat. This week, Michael Lev will reflect on five football and baseball games.

Lev’s No. 3:

Arizona ends school-record 20-game losing streak by defeating Cal

What went down: Despite multiple in-game injuries, Arizona ended its losing streak and notched Jedd Fisch’s first victory as UA coach by defeating Cal 10-3 on Nov. 6, 2021, at Arizona Stadium.

What we wrote at the time: In many ways, it was one of the ugliest football games in recent memory.

To the Arizona Wildcats, it was a thing of beauty.

Arizona ended its 20-game losing streak on a warm, strange Saturday afternoon at Arizona Stadium. The final score was 10-3. There were more missing and/or injured players than there were points scored.

UA running back Michael Wiley celebrates after he hits the end zone for the game’s only touchdown — a score that proved to be the winning touchdown, too — in Arizona’s Nov. 6, 2021 homecoming victory over Cal.

Cal came to Tucson without 24 players because of COVID protocols. The Golden Bears dressed 63 players, according to Pac-12 Networks. Among the missing: starting quarterback Chase Garbers, who leads the league in total yards per game.

Arizona, meanwhile, twice lost starting quarterback Will Plummer — its third-stringer a few weeks ago — and was down three offensive linemen for much of the game.

“That was as interesting of a game as you could ever imagine,” said Jedd Fisch, his UA polo soaked with Powerade after notching his first win at Arizona. “Hats off to our team. Hats off to them.

“We had one injury after another after another up front. ... Will Plummer was in and out of the locker room. (He) kept coming back, kept battling. There were times I didn’t think he was gonna be able to play the rest of the game. He was just so resilient and so tough. He did not back down.

“And then our defense. Can’t say enough about them. Don Brown, what he does with his defensive staff ... those guys just work and work and work. They deserve this one.”

Michael Wiley scored the winning touchdown with 2:17 remaining. The defense held. The Wildcats ended the game in victory formation. Students and fans flooded the field to join the team in celebration.

“The locker room was just insane,” veteran receiver Stanley Berryhill III said. “Water bottles flying everywhere. We have one broken light. What do you expect? It’s been ... what is it? Nineteen games? Twenty games? It’s over now.”

Arizona (1-8, 1-5 Pac-12) won for the first time since Oct. 5, 2019. Their losing streak had been the nation’s longest. Cal (3-6, 2-4) dropped its sixth in a row in the series.

“I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since there were two minutes left in the game and I knew we had it in the bag,” Berryhill said. “It’s a great feeling.”

— Michael Lev

Arizona quarterback Will Plummer is flanked by fans rushing the field following Arizona’s first win of the 2021 season — a victory that ended a team-record 20-game losing skid.

Player of the game: Plummer is an odd choice for this honor if you just look at his passing stats — 16 of 28 for 129 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. But you have to consider the circumstances. He played with an injured shoulder and a bloody hand. Because of injuries to others, Plummer was the only full-time scholarship quarterback available. He had a game-high 68 rushing yards. If you’ll excuse the pun, he “willed” the Wildcats to victory.

By the numbers: Although Cal was without Garbers, among others, Arizona put up defensive numbers that were worth commemorating. The Wildcats limited the Golden Bears to 122 yards of total offense, the first time they’d held an opponent under 200 since 2012 (South Carolina State, 154). Cal’s 28 rushing yards were the fewest by a UA foe since 2017 (UTEP, 17). Safety Jaxen Turner (team-high eight tackles) and defensive tackle Kyon Barrs (2.5 sacks) led the charge.

The aftermath: The Wildcats had three more games after their long-awaited breakthrough. They didn’t win any of them. But they lifted the dark cloud that had been hovering over the program.

Arizona won the opener the following season, started 3-2 and finished 5-7 — a four-win improvement over Fisch’s first year. He and his staff also landed a top-25 recruiting class for 2022, and they have continued to stockpile talent.

Plummer didn’t play in ’22 after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery. He then elected to retire from football.

Brown, the defensive coordinator, left after the 2021 season, taking the head-coaching job at UMass. He was replaced by Johnny Nansen.

Turner and Barrs entered the transfer portal after the ’22 season. Turner transferred to UNLV, Barrs to USC.

Only one player who was credited with a tackle in the Cal game, defensive back Treydan Stukes, is still with the program.

Fans rushed the field after Arizona secured its 10-3 homecoming game win over Cal on Nov. 6, 2021. The Wildcats had lost a staggering 20 consecutive games before taking down the Golden Bears in the ninth game of the program's Jedd Fisch era.

Personal reflections: So much weird stuff happened that day, from Cal missing multiple players because of COVID protocols to Arizona losing multiple offensive linemen during the game to Plummer going in and out of the locker room for repairs to his shoulder and hand.

Longtime starting center Josh McCauley had to move to left tackle. Part-time quarterback Jamarye Joiner had to play a handful of snaps despite a knee injury. Walk-on Luke Ashworth threw the only pass of his career. It was intercepted.

And you know what? None of it mattered in the end. Somehow, some way, the Wildcats had to get a win. They had to end the streak so everyone could move on and move forward. They found a way to get it done.

After enduring so many disheartening defeats — week after week after week — veterans such as Plummer, Wiley, Berryhill, Barrs and Turner finally got to celebrate. The postgame news conference was a mixture of joy and relief for all parties involved.

Yeah, that includes us media members. I can’t say I was rooting for Arizona to win. But I was glad the players and coaches — who work so damn hard year-round — got to walk out of Arizona Stadium happy for a change.

Finally, a few words about Plummer. He didn’t have a great career here, plagued by killer turnovers at inopportune times. But he’ll forever have a place in UA fans’ hearts for the way he battled against Cal and sacrificed his body for his team.

If Fisch can get every Wildcat to play with the same fighting spirit, he’ll achieve great things.

Hear what Arizona defensive end Jalen Harris and "Viper" Christian Young said following the Wildcats' 10-3 win over the Cal Golden Bears.

Arizona Wildcats quarterback Will Plummer and wide receiver Stanley Berryhill respond to the UA's 10-3 win over Cal on Saturday, snapping a 20-game losing streak.

After losing 20 straight games, the Arizona Wildcats left Saturday afternoon with a victory over the Cal Golden Bears, marking the first win of the Jedd Fisch era. The Star's Justin Spears and Michael Lev analyze the Wildcats' first triumph in over two years.

Cover 5: Relive the entire list of Michael Lev's most memorable games on the Arizona beat

This summer, each member of the Star’s sports team will count down five of the most memorable Arizona games they’ve covered since joining the beat. Here's Michael Lev's list.

Cover 5: Michael Lev's most memorable games on the Arizona beat (No. 4)
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Cover 5: Michael Lev's most memorable games on the Arizona beat (No. 4)

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This summer, each member of the Star’s sports team will count down the five most memorable Arizona games they’ve covered since joining the beat. This week's participant: Michael Lev. Here's No. 4 – Bobby Dalbec’s bulldog performance in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

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Contact sports reporter Michael Lev at mlev@tucson.com. On Twitter: @michaeljlev