California Bears Down for 38-0 Win

A vicious hit on one of their California teammates -- and the crowd’s reaction to it -- was enough to fire up the Bears in an otherwise sluggish performance Saturday against Arizona.

After seeing teammate Jonathan Makonnen flattened by a block from Arizona’s Marcus Smith on an interception return, Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes in the final 1 minute 38 seconds of the first half en route to a 38-0 victory over the Wildcats at Tucson.

“It kind of ticked us off,” Rodgers said. “They were cheering our guy getting injured, and they were really giving it to him on the sidelines -- pretty derogatory remarks.”

Rodgers threw for three first-half touchdowns, J.J. Arrington topped 100 rushing yards for the sixth consecutive game and Cal shut out an opponent for the first time in five years.

Geoff McArthur broke the Cal record for yards receiving in a career with his 11-yard scoring reception 11 seconds before halftime. McArthur caught six passes for 94 yards to give him 2,768 yards, breaking Bobby Shaw’s record of 2,731 set from 1994 to ’97.

McArthur, who predates Coach Jeff Tedford’s arrival and the Cal program’s turnaround, said he never would have imagined that he could accumulate such statistics.

“There was no way I could have been convinced that I’d be the all-time leading anything here,” he said.

Rodgers completed 20 of 27 passes for 235 yards but was intercepted twice -- both by Antoine Cason and both on deflections. They were only his third and fourth interceptions.

It was on Cason’s second interception return that Makonnen was leveled by Brooks. Tedford saw the hit coming and rushed to the field as the receiver lay on the ground.

“It was a tough hit. I saw it coming, and I wish I could have yelled loud enough to tell him to look out,” Tedford said.

Makonnen was taken to a hospital, where an MRI exam showed no internal injuries.

“Jonathan’s going to be fine,” Tedford said. “Our medical staff was a little worried about internal injuries so they took him for an MRI, and right now all signs say they’re negative.”

Arrington gained 135 yards in 24 carries, including a one-yard touchdown run.

The Golden Bears (5-1, 3-1 Pac-10) posted their first shutout since a 17-0 victory over UCLA on Oct. 16, 1999.

Cal had 489 yards, falling short of its average of 518 yards and 41.6 points a game.

“We stopped ourselves a lot today, which is discouraging,” Tedford said.

Arizona (1-6, 0-4) lost its sixth in a row.

“Obviously we got beat by a much better football team in all areas,” Coach Mike Stoops said. “We’re not a very consistent football team on either side of the ball. At times we show spurts, and we’re just not able to get a break. We fight and hang in there, then the dam kind of opens up.”

Oregon 16, Stanford 13 -- Terrence Whitehead ran for 131 yards and the go-ahead touchdown, and the Ducks had 10 sacks to hold off the Cardinal at Palo Alto.

Stanford (4-3, 2-2) had a chance to force overtime after getting the ball with 16 seconds left and completing two long passes, but Michael Sgroi’s 49-yard field-goal attempt fell short as the time expired.

Jared Siegel kicked three field goals for the Ducks (4-3, 3-1), including a 51-yarder, to become Oregon’s career leader in field goals with 46, surpassing Gregg McCallum’s 45 from 1988 to ’91.

Oregon’s Kellen Clemens completed 22 of 33 passes for 275 yards, including a 36-yard pass to Keith Allen on a fourth-and-three play to set up Whitehead’s two-yard scoring run with 10:39 left. Stanford was held to five yards rushing in the first half.

Oregon State 38, Washington State 19 -- Derek Anderson threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns as the Beavers pounded the Cougars at Corvallis, Ore.

Dwight Wright caught a touchdown and ran for another for Oregon State (3-4, 2-2), which cruised to a 24-3 lead at halftime.

Alex Brink, starting his first game in place of the injured Josh Swogger, completed 15 of 41 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars (3-4, 1-3). He was intercepted twice.