Boller’s Best Helps Defeat Washington

Kyle Boller waited his whole life to play such a great game. The way he saw it, the Washington Huskies just happened to be the team on the other side of the line.

Boller threw for 266 yards and a career-high five touchdowns as California defeated No. 12 Washington, 34-27, on Saturday, ending a 19-game losing streak in the series.

“I can honestly say this is the best game I’ve ever played, high school or college,” Boller said. “It was the best feeling to look up in the stands afterward. I saw my mom jumping up and down.”

The Golden Bears (4-2, 1-1 Pac-10) beat Washington (3-2, 0-1) for the first time since Nov. 9, 1976. They also ended a 17-game home-field winning streak by the Huskies.

“We can say, ‘It’s history. It’s over,’ ” Boller said. “People will remember 2002 as the year the Golden Bears came in here, played a good game and won.”

Boller completed 13 of 24 passes without an interception, outdueling Washington’s Cody Pickett, the nation’s No. 2 passer. Pickett completed 35 of 59 for 399 yards, but two of those passes were intercepted.

The Huskies rallied to beat California the last three years, and they seemed ready to do it again. Pickett’s one-yard touchdown run on an option play pulled Washington to within 34-24 with 4:03 remaining.

Greg Carothers recovered a fumble by Joe Igber on Cal’s ensuing series, and the Huskies reached the final margin on John Anderson’s fourth field goal of the day, a 37-yarder with 1:54 to play.

“That was scary, how similar this game was to what’s happened before,” Boller said.

Cal’s Geoff McArthur recovered the ensuing onside kick, and the Bears ran out the clock.

“I would have never dreamed in my wildest dreams that I would lose to Cal,” Washington guard Elliott Zajac said. “It was horrendous.”

Said Boller: “All that matters is we won. I could have thrown for eight yards or 800 yards. I don’t even know how many yards I had. It’s just awesome to see everybody so happy. We just performed.”