Arizona Rushes by Washington

A troubled Arizona football season turned terrific for one unbelievable evening.

Mike Bell rushed for 222 yards, including touchdown runs of 67, 69 and 37 yards, and the Wildcats ended a string of 13 home losses in the Pacific 10 Conference by stunning Washington, 27-22, Saturday.

“It was a big relief,” Bell said. “Nobody thought we were going to win any games in the Pac-10. We proved them wrong. We proved we could play together as a team with all the turmoil going on.”

Bell, who became the undisputed No. 1 back when Clarence Farmer was kicked off the team a week ago, topped 100 yards for the third consecutive game.

It was the Wildcats’ first home conference victory since beating Washington State, 53-47, in triple-overtime on Oct. 13, 2000. Bell’s touchdown runs of 69 and 37 yards came in a span of 2:50 in the fourth quarter to put Arizona ahead, 27-16, with 4:38 remaining.

Cody Pickett, who completed 31 of 51 for 351 yards and two scores, completed a 41-yard pass to Isaiah Stanback to set up a four-yard touchdown pass to Corey Williams to cut the lead to 27-22 with 3:49 left. The two-point conversion try failed when Patrick Howard stopped Pickett two yards shy of the end zone.

The Huskies (5-5, 3-3) had been 16 1/2-point favorites.

“It was a terrible way for a Husky team to play,” Washington Coach Keith Gilbertson said.

Arizona (2-8, 1-6) stopped a school-record losing streak of eight games. Fans stormed the field after the game.