Oct. 7, 2000

Box Score

TEMPE, Ariz. - Cal continued a trend of being unable to take advantage of early offensive opportunities and watched Arizona State capitalize on several long passing plays to emerge with a 30-10 rout of California.

The Golden Bears had over 200 yards of total offense in the first half, but could manage only a single field goal. ASU couldn't run the football, accounting for only 59 yards on the ground in the first three quarters, but still had a commanding 30-3 lead thanks largely to nine passing plays of 25 yards or longer, including TD passes of 50, 68 and 50 yards.

Cal threatened on the opening possession as the Bears used a 20-yard run and a 30-yard pass reception on a screen by Joe Igber to move to the ASU 22-yard-line. But a third down sack resulting in a fumble ended the threat as Terrell Suggs recovered the loose ball at the ASU 31-yard-line.

Cal missed a good opportunity with just over six minutes to go in the first quarter when the Bears tried a fake punt and Nick Harris had a wide open Dewey Hale in the right flat. However, Harris overthrew the ball slightly and Hale had to leap to make the catch and fell down with the ball just two yards short of the first down at the Cal 49-yard-line, with no Sun Devil around him.

Two plays later, ASU capitalized on the good field position when quarterback Griffin Goodman hit tight end Todd Heap, who had gotten behind Cal safety Bert Watts, for a 50-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked and ASU had a 6-0 lead with 6:08 left in the opening stanza.

Cal continued to have problems handling the football when Igber fumbled the ball with just under four minutes to go in the first quarter and linebacker Adam Archuleta recovered the ball at the Cal 37. Two plays later, Davaren Hightower returned the favor and Bert Watts fell on the ball at Cal's 40-yard line.

A 20-yard pass to Keala Keanaaina and an 11-yard scramble by Boller aided a drive that stalled at the ASU 10-yard-line. Mark Jensen then came on to hit a 27-yard field goal with just 0:11 left in the first period.

Cal appeared to have ASU's next drive stopped, but a holding penalty on a third down incomplete pass kept the Sun Devils alive and Mike Berth culminated an 11-play drive with a 35-yard field goal to make it 9-3 with 11:26 left in the half.

ASU began to put the game away with a long drive in the final three minutes of the first half. Taking over at their own 8-yard-line with 2:05 remaining in the half, the Sun Devils hit on a 34-yard pass to tailback Davaren Hightower. Two plays later, Goodman connected on a post pattern to Shaun McDonald, who had a couple steps on Harold Pearson, and he went untouched 68 yards for a TD and a 16-3 lead with 1:30 left before intermission.

The halftime stats showed Cal with more first downs (8-5) and 208 yards of total offense, but just a lone field goal on the scoreboard. Goodman had only five completions for ASU, but hit the big play with 200 passing yards.

Cal stopped ASU's first drive of the second half when LaShaun Ward picked off a deep post pattern and returned the ball 14 yards to the Cal 24-yard-line.

However, the next time, ASU went back to the big play when McDonald beat Ward for a 54-yard reception to the Cal 9-yard-line. Two plays later, Tom Pace went over the right side for a 7-yard TD run and the Sun Devils had a commanding 23-3 lead with 8:36 left in the third quarter.

The big plays weren't over as Goodman struck on another long pass, this one for a 50-yard TD to Donnie O'Neal and a 30-3 lead with 2:21 left in the third quarter.

Cal finally showed some explosiveness when Joe Igber broke loose for an 80 yard run to the Sun Devil 1-yard line early in the fourth period. He was 15 yards in the clear, but ran out of gas and stumbled before he got to the goal line when ASU defenders closed in. In a season full of frustration, the next play summed things up succinctly when Ryan Stanger fumbled and ASU recovered.

Cal had another chance when John Klotsche blocked an ASU punt and Cal recovered at the Sun Devil 17-yard-line. Three plays later, the Bears finally got into the end zone when Joseph Echema dove over from the 1-yard-line to make it 30-10.

Igber ended the game with 181 yards on 15 carries, just missing his career high of 182 set against Washington last season. It was the 16th-best rushing day in school history.