Cal Football: Should Golden Bears Fear Arizona With its 20-Game Losing Streak?

Is Cal about to take on the most dangerous team in history riding a 20-game losing streak?

Well, that’s one way to look at the Bears’ trek to Tucson next Saturday to face winless Arizona.

Cal is suddenly red-hot, at least by Pac-12 standards. With their 39-25 win over Oregon State on Saturday night, the Bears (3-5, 2-3) have won two in a row, which ties for the second-longest current streak in the conference.

*** Senior safety Elijah Hicks talks in the video above about the Bears' hunger to keep winning. "We are not satisfied," he says, "and we are not done."

Then there’s Arizona, which hasn’t beaten anyone since a 35-30 victory over Colorado back on Oct. 5, 2019, more than two calendar years ago.

The Wildcats (0-8, 0-5) have lost 20 straight since then, the longest streak of futility in conference history. They join UNLV as the only winless teams in FBS.

Even the truly sad Oregon State teams of four decades ago interrupted their losing once in a while. From 1979 through ’82, the Beavers went 3-40-1. But they never lost 20 in a row.

In fact, the second-longest losing streak ever assembled by a current member of the Pac-12 are a pair of 15-game droughts by OSU years later — in 1990-91 and 1995-96.

Arizona has zoomed past that grim standard. The ledger this season includes a 21-19 loss to Northern Arizona, an FCS-level team which hadn't beaten the Cats since 1932.

And there’s this: The Wildcats own a five-game win streak over Cal, although the teams haven’t met since 2018. The Bears’ most recent win over Arizona was way back in 2009 and there have been some gut-wrenching outcomes since then.

Cal’s attention this week will be focused on this Arizona team, which is showing signs it’s growing tired of the losing. In the wake of a 34-0 defeat to Colorado, the Cats built a 13-0 halftime lead over Washington before losing 21-16, then rallied from a 35-14 halftime hole to lose 41-34 at USC on Saturday.

Just as Cal coach Justin Wilcox acknowledged his team is improving, apparently so are the Wildcats.

"This was another great example of being there, but not over the hump," Arizona first-year coach Jedd Fisch said. "It's too bad we didn't put the first half of Washington and the second half of USC together. We need to continue to battle, and I think we're taking steps."

Arizona had been shut out 48-0 in the fourth quarter of four previous Pac-12 games but outscored the Trojans 13-3 over the final 15 minutes to get close.

"I think we all saw that there was absolutely no flinch, no letdown, no anything,” Fisch said. "I’m proud of the way these guys battled, and I hope this second half is the start of something really special.”

There is a lot at stake for Cal, which needs three wins in its final four games to secure bowl eligibility. That once seemed impossible, but given the state of the Pac-12 perhaps that’s no longer the case.

Here’s what Cal’s final three opponents have done:

— vs. USC (4-4, 3-3): The Trojans, who fired coach Clay Helton after a 42-28 home loss to Stanford, have not won two in a row all season and claims over wins over San Jose State, Washington State, Colorado and Arizona.

— at Stanford (3-5, 2-4): The Cardinal was headed in the right direction after an overtime win vs. Oregon, still the Ducks’ only defeat. But Stanford has lost three in a row to fall into last place in the Pac-12 North.

— at UCLA (5-4, 3-3): The Bruins were 5-2 after a win at Washington but have dropped their past two games, including a 44-24 loss at Utah on Saturday. Notable in that game was the performance of Ethan Garbers — younger brother of Cal’s Chase Garbers — who played in place of injured starter Dorian Thompson-Robinson and passed for 265 yards and two touchdowns.

In the meantime, Cal must keep its eye on the ball. Arizona and its 20-game losing streak may look like a relaxing trip to the desert but the Wildcats won’t lose forever.

Cover photo of Cal safety Elijah Hicks celebrating an interception by Kelley L. Cox, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo