Arizona fans celebrate on the field after the Wildcats snapped their 20-game losing streak with a 10-3 win over Cal on Saturday.

 Ana Beltran photos, Arizona Daily Star

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.

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.”

Arizona safety Jaxen Turner makes a tackle against Cal’s Justin Richard Baker during Saturday’s game.

After a scoreless first half, the teams traded field goals in the third quarter. Tyler Loop’s 29-yarder for Arizona was set up by a 21-yard Plummer scramble. He bloodied his right hand on the play and had to go to the locker room to have it stitched up.

Cal answered on the next drive. A 30-yard pass from backup quarterback Ryan Glover to Kekoa Crawford advanced the ball into UA territory. An unsportsmanlike-conduct foul on Kyon Barrs — who had a game-high 2.5 sacks — led to Nick Lopez’s 34-yard field goal, which tied the score at 3-3 with 2:09 left in the third. It was the first field goal of Lopez’s career.

The game remained tied deep into the fourth quarter. After stopping Cal following back-to-back 15-yard sideline penalties that had moved the ball from the Bears’ 1 to their 31, the Wildcats made their move.

It began with a 25-yard punt return by Berryhill, who on the previous possession had dropped a third-down pass — his first drop of the season. Berryhill then gained 9 yards on a jet sweep. Plummer connected with Dorian Singer for 19 yards. Wiley finished the drive with a 10-yard run up the middle.

Arizona’s defense then stopped Cal on four consecutive plays. On fourth-and-12, Jalen Harris chased Glover out of the pocket. Treydan Stukes knocked down Glover’s pass down the right sideline.

“Everybody was just like, ‘We gotta make a stop,’ “ Harris said. “You want to be the one to make the play. You have to have that type of mentality, like ... they’re not gonna beat me, I’m not gonna miss a tackle.”

Cal was without seven starters and placekicker Dario Longhetto. Arizona has its own problems. Plummer took a hard hit on the first play of the second quarter, landing on his right shoulder. He had to leave the game briefly, forcing Jamarye Joiner onto the field.

Joiner was considered doubtful for Saturday’s game after injuring his knee last week at USC. But with Jordan McCloud and Gunner Cruz out for the season because of injuries, Fisch had little choice but to turn to Joiner, who played with a brace on his right leg.

After Joiner took two snaps, walk-on Luke Ashworth entered the game on third-and-6 at the Cal 23-yard line. Ashworth dropped to pass, but the ball was tipped by Cameron Goode and intercepted by Nate Rutchena, one of Cal’s subs at inside linebacker.

That was the second tipped-ball interception of the first half. Arizona’s opening drive ended in similar fashion, as Marqez Bimage deflected a Plummer pass, which was picked off by Evan Tattersall — the Bears’ other replacement at inside linebacker.

Kenny Hebert pressures Cal quarterback Ryan Glover in the end zone during Saturday’s game.

Plummer came back into the game and didn’t have much of a chance behind a depleted offensive line. Already without starting left guard Donovan Laie, the Wildcats lost left tackle Jordan Morgan on the play that resulted in the second interception. Soon after, backup guard Matthew Stefanski Jr. went down.

Josh McCauley, the Wildcats’ longtime starting center, had to play left tackle. Freshman JT Hand slid in at left guard. Josh Baker, who started at left guard, moved to center.

In the third quarter, things got worse: Starting right guard Josh Donovan, who had just returned from a three-game absence, had to exit. That forced second-year freshman Leif Magnuson into the game. Donovan returned in the fourth quarter.

Although he appeared to sprain his throwing shoulder and bloodied his hand, Plummer never thought about it shutting it down.

“That never crossed my mind,” said Plummer, who passed for 129 yards and rushed for 68. “I just had to go get some things fixed up real quick and get a little medicine. I wanted to be out there with the guys. I wanted to get that win.”

Fisch and the players who spoke to the media afterward were happy — yet also relieved. The losing streak had been a burden some of them carried for over two years.

“This has been hard,” Fisch said. “It’s been a monkey on the back. You can’t avoid it, even if you want to. As much as we talk about one game, each game is a championship opportunity, for them just to be done with that ... they sung ‘Bear Down’ about as loud as possible.

“These guys know that, ‘Hey, that’s behind us.’ Now let’s go out and see how many more we can get.”

Extra points

Defensive linemen Paris Shand and Barrs played after being considered game-time decisions entering Saturday. Barrs had missed the previous two games because of a lower-leg injury. Defensive end Mo Diallo dressed but did not play.

Stukes started at cornerback in place of Isaiah Rutherford, who dressed but did not play. Isaiah Mays served as the nickel back. Cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace got banged up in the second half and was replaced by Malik Hausman.

Tight end Bryce Wolma returned after missing the USC game.

Three true freshmen made their first career starts for the Wildcats: tailback Stevie Rocker Jr. and receivers Anthony Simpson and Singer.

Punter Kyle Ostendorp averaged 50.1 yards per attempt and placed four of seven inside the 20-yard line with only one touchback. Arizona had a plus-9 differential in average starting field position.

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Contact sports reporter Michael Lev at 573-4148 or mlev@tucson.com. On Twitter @michaeljlev