Huskies Get Drop on Cal in 30-3 Rout

California’s Deltha O’Neal was on the verge of breaking away when the ball slipped away.

Washington’s Derrell Daniels was there to recover O’Neal’s fumble, and the No. 10-ranked Huskies went on to score 23 consecutive points in the second half en route to a 30-3 victory over Cal Saturday in a Pacific 10 game at Berkeley.

Rashaan Shehee ran for 123 yards and two scores, including one following O’Neal’s freak fumble, as Washington, 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10, defeated Cal (2-3, 0-2) for the 15th consecutive time.

“They haven’t beaten us in a while and we’ve had their number,” Shehee said. “We don’t want to be the team that lets it down. We’re trying to keep the tradition going.”

Washington led only 7-3 when O’Neal fielded the kickoff to start the second half. He appeared ready to break into the clear near the right sideline when, without being hit, the ball popped out of his hands.

Daniels fell on it at the Cal 23 and, two plays later, Shehee sliced through the Cal defense on a 19-yard scoring run.

“That’s exactly what you’d like to do coming out of halftime,” Washington Coach Jim Lambright said. “The critical thing is momentum. To get that momentum coming out of the locker room is a shot.”

Cal Coach Tom Holmoe said O’Neal, who didn’t speak to reporters following the game, was switching the ball to his other hand as he geared up to outrun a Washington defender but it hit his shoulder pads and bounced away.

“After that, I just jumped on it,” Daniels said. “It’s like our coach’s philosophy. You’ve got to hustle and go after it.”

Washington then forced a Cal punt and Jerome Pathon’s 22-yard return gave the Huskies the ball at the Cal 37. Shehee, who had 24 carries, finished the drive with a seven-yard run.

Nick Lentz’s 32-yard field goal capped Washington’s 16-point third-quarter outburst.

Washington’s Brook Huard completed 14 of 26 passes for 189 yards and had touchdown pass plays of 43 yards to Cameron Cleeland and eight yards to Fred Coleman. The scoring pass to Coleman came with 1:24 remaining.

“Their line is big and mean,” Cal linebacker Albert Dorsey said. “Shehee is a great back and Huard is really good. We didn’t expect their first score [in the second half]. We didn’t expect Deltha to fumble. We should have picked it up a notch but we didn’t.”

Ignacio Brache’s 35-yard field goal in the final moments of the second quarter pulled Cal to 7-3 at halftime. Justin Vedder’s 22-yard pass to O’Neal on fourth and four moved the ball to the Washington 18 with 10 seconds left and Vedder threw incomplete into the end zone before Brache came on to put Cal on the board.

ARIZONA 28, NO. 16 STANFORD 22

Dennis Northcutt caught two touchdown passes from Ortege Jenkins as the Wildcats defeated the Cardinal at Tucson.

The loss left Washington and Washington State as the only Pac-10 teams without a loss. Stanford drops to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-10. Arizona is 3-3 and 1-2.

Both of Northcutt’s touchdowns came on 18-yard plays. His second touchdown, 5:20 into the third quarter, game Arizona a 28-19 lead.

The Cardinal threatened late in the game but had to settle for a 26-yard field goal with 2:08 left. Stanford held Arizona on downs and regained possession with 59 seconds left but could not get a drive going.