Vedder, Shaw Finish Off Sooners

Bobby Shaw barely had a step on cornerback Corey T. Ivy. It was just enough of an opening for the decisive score.

Justin Vedder threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Shaw with 2:37 remaining and California, which blew a 21-point second-half lead, pulled out a 40-36 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday.

“He’s a great receiver and he made a great play,” said Oklahoma Coach John Blake.

It was the first win for Cal (2-0) in three meetings with the Sooners (1-2).

Shaw, who caught two of Vedder’s three touchdown passes, was running in tandem with Ivy on a flag pattern, and Vedder lofted a pass to him in the left corner of the end zone for the score.

“He put it right there,” Shaw said. “He couldn’t have put it in a better spot.”

The completion capped a seven-play, 49-yard drive.

“Before we went on the field for that last drive, I just said, ‘This is our game. Let’s go win it,’ ” Vedder said.

Added Shaw: “We came out confident. [Vedder] was great. He was nice and calm. He just went out there and was efficient and got the job done.”

Ignacio Brache’s subsequent extra-point attempt was blocked and Ivy returned it 93 yards to score two points for the Sooners. Oklahoma had one final possession after the kickoff but defensive tackle Brandon Whiting sacked Justin Fuente on a fourth-down play and Cal ran out the remaining 67 seconds.

“We ended up waiting too late to make things happen,” said Oklahoma quarterback Eric Moore, who went out in the third quarter because of a groin injury. “If we could play the whole game like we played in the second half, there’s no telling what would have happened.”

Vedder finished 24 of 39 for 253 yards, with two interceptions. Shaw had 11 receptions for 158 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 11 passes last week.

Tarik Smith led Cal rushers with 85 yards in 20 carries.

DeMond Parker, who had 239 yards rushing for Oklahoma in last week’s victory over Syracuse, was held to 81 yards in 19 attempts. He gained only 27 yards after a 54-yard first-quarter touchdown run.

Cal went ahead, 34-13 when Deltha O’Neal returned the second-half kickoff 53 yards to set up Smith’s 10-yard touchdown run. But Oklahoma scored three consecutive touchdowns, pulling into a 34-34 tie on Germaine Fazande’s three-yard run with 13:38 remaining.

Fuente had completions of 26 and 20 yards to Stephen Alexander to help set up the tying score.

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NEXT FOR USC

WHO: California

WHERE: at California

WHEN: Saturday, 4 p.m.

TV: Channel 7

RADIO: KLSX-FM (97.1)