No Big Deal, Cal Blows Out Michigan State

California is 3-0 for the first time in six years and has beaten a top-15 team for the first time in 28 years. Yet the Golden Bears and first-year Coach Jeff Tedford aren’t all that impressed with themselves.

Cal quarterback Kyle Boller accounted for four touchdowns--two throwing, one running and one receiving--as the Golden Bears humbled 15th-ranked Michigan State, 46-22, Saturday at East Lansing, Mich.

The last time the Bears beat such a highly ranked team was Oct. 5, 1974, when they defeated No. 14 Illinois. Cal is 3-0 for the first time since 1996, which was Coach Steve Mariucci’s only season before leaving for the San Francisco 49ers.

Despite tripling last year’s win total, the Golden Bears were businesslike after first silencing, then emptying, Spartan Stadium.

“I don’t think we need to be surprised or giddy about winning,” said Tedford, who was the offensive coordinator at Oregon the last four years before taking over for Tom Holmoe, who was fired.

The Spartans (2-1) fell behind for the second consecutive week, but unlike their victory over Rice, they couldn’t mount a comeback.

“The guys weren’t ready to play. We never even showed up,” Michigan State Coach Bobby Williams said. “It’s very frustrating. I’m mostly disappointed in myself. I’ll take the hit. Put it all on me.”

The Bears stunned Williams’ team by scoring 18 second-quarter points and taking a 25-0 lead at halftime. The scores came on a punt return, a safety, a trick play and three field goals.

Michigan State opened the second half with two touchdowns, but Cal responded with three consecutive touchdowns to wrap up the win.

Boller was 19 of 33 for 232 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from receiver LaShaun Ward in the second quarter and scored the first of Cal’s three second-half touchdowns on a two-yard run.

Receiver Charles Rogers might have been the only Michigan State player who didn’t have an awful game.

Rogers caught nine passes for 166 yards and a touchdown. He has caught at least one touchdown pass in his last 11 regular-season games--one short of the NCAA record held by Marshall’s Randy Moss, Michigan’s Desmond Howard and Pacific’s Aaron Turner.

No. 13 Oregon 58, Idaho 21--Onterrio Smith ran for three touchdowns and Jason Fife threw two touchdown passes to lead the Ducks (3-0) at Eugene, Ore.

The Ducks got off to a slow start, gaining only 36 yards of offense in the first quarter, but took command before halftime.

Smith finished with 104 yards rushing in 18 carries and Fife completed 10 of 22 passes for 232 yards without an interception.

Idaho is 0-3.

Oregon State 47, Nevada Las Vegas 17--Derek Anderson matched a school record with five touchdown passes as the Beavers (3-0) won at Corvallis, Ore.

Anderson, a sophomore in his first season as the Beavers’ starter, completed 20 of 26 passes for 356 yards. His five touchdown passes tied the mark set by Erik Wilhelm against Akron in 1987.

Stanford 63, San Jose State 26--Teyo Johnson caught two touchdown passes and J.R. Lemon ran for three scores as Stanford dominated in Coach Buddy Teevens’ home debut at Stanford. Kenneth Tolon ran for two touchdowns to help the Cardinal (1-1) roll to its highest-scoring game in nearly 21 years.

Kyle Matter, filling in again for Chris Lewis, passed for 123 yards and ran for a score while leading Stanford to five straight touchdowns in the second half. Last week, Matter played while Lewis was suspended; this week, he took over when Lewis was injured late in the first half.

Arizona State 39, San Diego State 28--Andrew Walter threw four touchdown passes and the Sun Devils (3-1) won at San Diego. Adam Hall passed for 516 yards and three touchdowns for the Aztecs (0-3).

Shaun McDonald had catches of 72, 33, 29 and 16 yards to match the Arizona State record for touchdown receptions in a game that he shares with John Allen.

Arizona 23, Utah 17--Jason Johnson threw for 416 yards and two touchdown passes, and Sean Keel kicked three field goals to help the Wildcats (2-0) win at Tucson.

Utah (2-1) moved from its 28 to the Arizona three in the final minutes and appeared to have scored a touchdown when Josh Lyman made a diving catch of Lance Rice’s 12-yard pass in the back of the end zone, but the referee ruled he came down out of bounds.

On fourth and one from the three, Rice pitched to J.R. Peroulis, who was tackled by Clay Hardt for a two-yard loss with 28 seconds to play to preserve the victory.