TUCSON, Ariz. -- California Coach Sonny Dykes shrugged and apologized, and said his team would learn from what had just happened.
After Arizona scored 36 points in the fourth quarter and won on a last-second Hail Mary, there wasn't much else he could do.
Anu Solomon hit Austin Hill on a 47-yard Hail Mary on the game's final play and Arizona scored 19 points in the final 3:30 to send the stunned Bears to a 49-45 loss Saturday night.
"We're sorry we didn't find a way to win the ball game," Dykes said. "But I told them it won't ever happen again."
The Wildcats had pulled a head-shaker like this once before, scoring twice in the final 46 seconds to beat Nevada 49-48 in the 2012 New Mexico Bowl.
TEXAS A&M
Offense on a roll
DALLAS -- Kenny Hill and sixth-ranked Texas A&M have started with the highest-scoring four-game stretch in school history.
The Aggies are 4-0 for the first time since 2006, winning each game by at least 24 points.
Now, the Aggies get a chance to really prove themselves, knowing there are still plenty of people not convinced by what Texas A&M has done already in the season after Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel left early for the NFL.
"Everybody's talking about how we haven't played anybody yet, so now we're going to start playing some SEC teams and we'll get to show how good we are," Hill said after the Aggies' 58-6 victory at overmatched SMU on Saturday. "We're just going to keep playing the way we have been and prove to everybody that we can play."
Texas A&M returns to North Texas on Saturday, playing Arkansas (3-1) about 25 miles west in Arlington, Texas, at the Dallas Cowboys' NFL stadium where the national championship game for the first four-team College Football Playoff will be played in January.
"We'll know a lot more about us next week," Coach Kevin Sumlin said. "We'll see next week. Big-time atmosphere."
After the Razorbacks, Texas A&M plays consecutive Saturdays against No. 14 Mississippi State, No. 10 Ole Miss and No. 3 Alabama -- all SEC West teams still undefeated.
ALABAMA
Saban: Need consistentcy
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama's numbers were a mish-mash of the awfully pretty and pretty awful: four turnovers, 11 penalties, 645 yards -- and one more victory.
The third-ranked Crimson Tide retained its perfect record with Saturday's 42-21 victory over Florida but the performance was anything but pristine. Even Coach Nick Saban didn't seem all that perturbed by the miscues, particularly since Alabama has an open date to iron things out before visiting No. 10 Mississippi.
"We've had far too many of those this year, and we've got to get it corrected," Saban said. "But there's also been a tremendous amount of production offensively. We need to clean those negative plays up -- the penalties, missed assignments, turnovers, which I think are all correctable -- and be more consistent in our ability to execute. I think that's a lot easier to do when you eliminate negative plays."
He said many of the 11 penalties for 80 yards resulted from lack of discipline but that this hasn't been characteristic of the Tide (4-0, 1-0 SEC).
The Gators (2-1, 1-1) cashed in on three of the turnovers with touchdowns for their only points, one on a fumble recovery and the other two on drives totaling 47 yards. Even while Alabama was drubbing Florida on the stat sheet, the game was tied 21-21 early in the third quarter.
RUTGERS
Running back tears ACL
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rutgers running back Paul James will miss the rest of the season after he tore a knee ligament during the Scarlet Knights' victory against Navy.
James was the team's leading rusher and had 96 yards and a touchdown on seven carries against Navy on Saturday before taking a helmet to his knee. Coach Kyle Flood announced Sunday that James tore the ACL in his right knee on the hit.
"Really what it means is that we have one less guy in the rotation," Flood said. "It's somebody who's created a lot of big plays in the running game and did it again yesterday."
Rutgers beat Navy 31-24. Justin Goodwin ran for 104 yards for Rutgers and Desmon Peoples added 82 yards.
"Paul's not going to be an easy guy to replace. He's a very good football player," Flood said. "But we've got good players in that room. It's one of the deeper rooms on our football team and now Justin Goodwin, Desmon Peoples and our two freshmen [Josh Hicks and Robert Martin] are going to have a chance to carry the ball."
It's the second consecutive season James will be lost for some time to an injury. He broke his fibula against Arkansas last season, missed the next four games and took even longer to return to his early season form.
Sports on 09/22/2014