The Beat Goes On for the Huskies, 46-7 : Washington: Cal becomes the latest Pac-10 victim as Rose Bowl berth is all but clinched.

The road to the Rose Bowl got shorter for Washington yesterday as the sixth-ranked Huskies wiped out the California Golden Bears, 46-7, before 71,427 fans at Husky Stadium.

The victory puts Washington two games ahead of the pack in the Pacific 10 Conference and virtually clinches the school’s first Rose Bowl appearance in nine years. The Huskies would have to lose two of their three remaining regular-season games for another Pac-10 team to have a shot at the Rose Bowl berth.

USC would need Washington to lose all three to have any hope of a fourth consecutive Rose Bowl appearance. UCLA must hope for a victory against Washington in two weeks and another Husky loss to have any shot.

The way the Huskies, 7-1 overall and 5-0 in the Pac-10, are playing, that may be too much to ask for.

Washington took 24-0 halftime lead and didn’t stop there, piling up 597 yards in total offense against Bears, the team’s highest total in 20 years. The Huskies have averaged 41.8 points a game in their five conference victories.

“They say you can’t do it week in and week out, but we did it again,” Washington Coach Don James said.

James, in his usual subdued fashion, refused to contemplate his team’s firm control of the Rose Bowl race.

“We’re not even talking about the control of anything. We’re just talking about Arizona (next week’s opponent),” James said.

Husky tailback Greg Lewis rushed for a personal-record 205 yards, caught two passes for 90 yards and scored two touchdowns.

The stadium announcer sounded like a broken record announcing Lewis’ broken records. The 5-11 210-pound senior set four school marks, including most consecutive games over 100 yards (eight) and single-season rushing yards (1,126).

However, Lewis continues to direct attention to his team’s effort.

“It wasn’t like I was sitting there with a little pen and pad totaling up my numbers,” Lewis said. “The offensive line was doing a great job. As an offense we’re putting up some big numbers. Overall it was a great day for the team.”

Lewis put up his big numbers against Cal despite playing only one down in the fourth quarter. After going over 200 yards, Lewis came out, but not before allowing himself a little celebration.

“I’m not a great emotional guy all the time,” Lewis said. “But today the emotion running through the team carried over and got me excited.”

Lewis downplayed any talk of the Heisman Trophy, but James wasn’t so shy.

“I would love to see him get it,” James said. “Greg doesn’t talk about the Heisman himself. He’s more intent on the team goal. He’s had the eight 100-yard games and the 200-yard game today. He should start attracting some attention.”

Lewis helped shatter Rose Bowl dreams for Cal (5-3, 3-2), which peaked last week in the Bears’ 38-31 victory over UCLA. Perhaps no play described Cal’s day better than Washington’s two-point conversion in the third quarter. With the Huskies up, 37-7, California blocked Washington’s point-after attempt, only to have Husky quarterback Mark Brunell chase down the loose ball and throw a strike to fullback Darius Turner for two points.

“They’re certainly the best we’ve faced this year,” said Cal Coach Bruce Snyder, whose team lost to Miami, 52-24, earlier in the season. “They soundly beat us. They have the best speed we’ve seen, and the best running, including the quarterback. They’re playing with a tremendous amount of motivation and direction.

“I thought highly of them going in, and I knew we were going to have to have some good plays to beat them. I knew we would have to over-achieve. I didn’t even imagine this.”

Lewis led the way all day for Washington, but he had plenty of help from Brunell. The Husky quarterback completed 10 of 18 passes for 181 yards, rushed seven times for 87 yards and caught his first career touchdown pass from Beno Bryant.

Brunell couldn’t help reflecting on his team’s position.

“We’re two up on everyone,” Brunell said. “You couldn’t be in a better position. But we still don’t want to talk about the Rose Bowl yet.”