Failed twopoint try was the difference.
If Justin Wilcox hadn’t already instilled a win-or-nothing mentality in his team, Cal’s first-year head coach pounded home that message Saturday night.
After the Bears pulled within an extra point of forcing triple overtime against Arizona, Wilcox directed the offense to go for a potential game-winning two-point conversion.
On this night, however, that mentality resulted in nothing as Colin Schooler broke up a pass intended for Jordan Duncan in the back of the end zone to clinch the Wildcats’ 45-44, double-overtime victory in front of 37,525 fans at Memorial Stadium.
“I’d do it again,” Wilcox said. “You can dispute it, but I would do it again.”
In the first two overtimes, Arizona (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) needed only three plays to score two touchdowns — one a 25-yard scamper on Zach Green’s simple inside zone run, and the other a 22-yard touchdown pass from Khalil Tate to Bryce Wolma on a busted play.
“I felt like (going for two) was the best chance for us to win the game, based on what was happening,” Wilcox said. “We had a good play and had been doing good things offensively. … I just felt like that was our best chance to win.”
On its final play, Cal (4-4, 1-2) had a freshman linebacker in oneon-one coverage against a talented receiver, which seemed like a mismatch. But Schooler, who had a game-high 15 tackles, didn’t bite on the pump-and-go play and made the stop.
“We took it kind of personally how they thought that they could go for two when they didn’t need to,” Schooler said. “Luckily, they didn’t get it.”
The failed two-point conversion was the latest in a line of memorable finishes between the teams that have had 11 of 33 meetings decided by three or fewer points, but it probably should have never gotten that close.
The Bears’ defense, which came into the game leading the nation in takeaways, forced only one turnover and made Arizona punt only three times. Arizona averaged 7.5 yards per carry in racking up 345 rushing yards.
Tate, making the second start of his career, ran 17 times for 137 yards and a touchdown and added 10of-15 passing for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Arizona had scoring plays of 30, 76, 56, 25 and 22 yards.
Tate’s “a really good player, really fast and really explosive,” said inside linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk, who had a team-high 14 tackles. “We missed a couple plays on him, and he made us pay for it.”
Cal, which has come from behind in three of its wins, rallied back from down 28-14 in regulation’s final 18 minutes and from down 31-28 in the final two minutes. The Bears almost went for the victory right then, but they settled for a tying, 52-yard field goal by Matt Anderson.
Given a second chance to go for the victory, Cal tried to seize the opportunity with the two-point conversion call.
“I’m a player, and I’ll let (Wilcox) make that decision, but I do like it,” said running back Vic Enwere, who pounded in a fourthand-goal run from the 1-yard line to make it 45-44. “It shows that he has confidence in us. As a player, you can respect that. When a guy can look you in the eye and say, ‘I believe in you,’ that means a lot.
“I appreciate that.”
“I felt like (going for two) was the best chance for us to win the game, based on what was happening. We had a good play and had been doing good things offensively. … I just felt like that was our best chance to win.” Justin Wilcox, Cal head coach