TUCSON, Ariz. – Anu Solomon threw for a school-record 520 yards, none bigger than the 47 he collected on his final pass of the game as he found Austin Hill in the back of the end zone as time expired to cap a 22-point rally and stun California on Saturday night at Arizona Stadium.

Down 28-6 at the half, UA outscored Cal by a margin of 43-17 in the second half, putting up a blistering 36 points in the fourth quarter alone en route to the 49-45 victory. The win moved Arizona to 4-0 on the season, and was UA's first Pac-12-opening win since 2010.

“Winning on a Hail Mary is so improbable,” Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “At first, you're exhilarated, and then you're thinking, 'How did that just happen?' I'm so happy for Austin Hill. I'm happy for Anu, who was off, but kept battling and executed the last play. I'm happy for the people who stayed and watched the game. It's a good day to be an Arizona Wildcat.”

Solomon finished the night 47-of-73 for 520 yards and five touchdowns through the air, and ran for a team-high 46 more yards to pace the Wildcats to 627 yards to total offense on the night. He broke Willie Tuitama's record of 510 passing yards set at Washington in 2007, while also breaking Matt Scott's records for completions and attempts in a game.

Cayleb Jones had 13 catches for 186 yards and three scores – all career highs – for Arizona, cracking the century mark for the third-consecutive game. Jones' 13 catches rank on second on Arizona's single-game chart, while his 186 yards represented the 12th-best single-game effort in program history.

Hill caught all eight of his receptions in the second half, finishing with 127 yards and two touchdowns.

“There's nothing like a Hail Mary to finish a game,” Hill said. “It means a lot to me that I was able to secure the catch, especially since the offense came back so strong and the defense was playing their butts off. I think this game showed that no matter how far behind we are, we have the maturity to pick ourselves up and learn from mistakes during the game so we can make big plays and come back to get the win.”

Nate Phillips also had eight grabs, accounting for 80 yards, and Trey Griffey and DaVonte' Neal both caught five passes as Solomon distributed his 47 completions between nine different receivers.

The Wildcats racked up 420 yards of total offense and 371 yards through the air after halftime, culminating in one of the most memorable plays in recent Arizona football history.

Scooby Wright III amassed career highs of 18 tackles and two sacks to lead a Wildcats' defense that yielded just 197 yards of total offense to Cal during the maniacal second-half rally. Tra'Mayne Bondurant had seven tackles, including 1.5 for loss, also coming up with a critical interception and recovering a crucial onside kick to fuel the rally.

Arizona's defense tallied 10 tackles for loss, including three sacks, broke up three passes and forced a fumble on the night.

The first quarter ended with Cal on top, 14-0, after the Golden Bears reached the end zone on their first two possessions of the game. UA got on the board with a field goal at the 10:39 mark of the second quarter, but Cal was able to answer with a touchdown on the ensuing drive to increase its lead to 21-3.

Casey Skowron added another field goal with 5:28 left in the half to make the score 21-6, but UA saw the Golden Bears answer with another touchdown at the 3:43 mark of the second quarter to push their advantage to the halftime score of 28-6.

“There wasn't any panic at halftime,” Rodriguez said. “We're in shape. I told the guys before the game that we were going to have to play for 60 minutes.”

Arizona found pay dirt at the 11:02 mark of the third quarter when Solomon hit Jones for a 41-yard scoring strike, bringing the score to 28-13. The touchdown capped an eight-play, 96-yard drive by the Wildcats.

A Cal field goal with 8:28 left in the third period stretched the margin to 31-13, and Skowron tacked on another field goal for UA with 14:46 left to play draw the Wildcats back within two scores at 31-16.

On Cal's ensuing possession, Bondurant came up with his first interception of the season on a tipped ball and returned it 24 yards to the Cal 17 yard line. Two plays later, Solomon found Hill for a nine-yard score to cut the deficit to 31-23 with 13:36 left to play.

The Golden Bears scored on their next drive to move out to a 38-23 lead with 10:56 left on the clock, but UA had an answer in the form of a 16-yard touchdown connection between Solomon and Jones with 8:09 remaining. The duo's second touchdown hookup of the night capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive and brought Arizona within eight at 38-30.

Cal was able to get back into the end zone on their next possession, increasing its lead to 45-30 with 5:21 to play, but Terris Jones-Grigsby punched in a six-yard run with 3:30 remaining to make the score 45-37 and once again bring Arizona within one score.

Bondurant made a huge play for the Wildcats on the ensuing onside kick, stepping in front of a Cal player to secure the ball. UA needed only four plays to reach the end zone, as Solomon connected with Jones yet again, this time from 15 yards out, to make the score 45-43.

Solomon looked for Jones on the two-point conversion attempt to tie the game, but the pass was deflected and fell incomplete.

After the Golden Bears recovered the next onside kick, Cal eventually missed wide left on a 47-yard field goal attempt with 52 seconds left, giving the ball back to UA with no timeouts.

After an offensive pass interference on the first play of the drive set UA back to its own 15 yard line, Solomon methodically worked UA down the field. He converted a fourth-down pass to Hill to set Arizona up on the Cal 47 yard line and spiked the ball with five seconds to play.

On the last snap of the game, the Wildcats finished the job, as Solomon launched a pass into the end zone and Hill battled to come down with it in the back corner for the game-winning score. When the dust settled after an official review, Arizona had won the game by a score of 49-45.

“We work on that one day a week, on Thursday,” he said. “This week, we did a little more. We put in two different kinds of Hail Marys, focusing particularly on where the ball needed to be thrown. I said five yards into the end zone. I think Anu threw it seven-and-a-half.”

After a bye week, Arizona will play its first Pac-12 road contest at Oregon on Thurs, Oct. 2. Slated for 7:30 p.m. MST, the game will be televised by ESPN and carried on the Arizona IMG Sports Radio Network.

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