Nov 1, 2003
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By MEL REISNER
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. - Aaron Rodgers threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns,
and Adimchinobe Echemandu became the 10th California runner to have a
1,000-yard season in the Golden Bears' 51-23 victory over Arizona State on
Saturday.
Rodgers threw scoring strikes of 43 yards to Geoff McArthur, 5 to Burl Toler
and 8 to Vincent Strang.
Rodgers also went a third consecutive game without an interception, running
his string to 79, in a 17-for-22 performance.
Echemandu had a career-high 201 yards last week. This time, he gained 128
yards on 21 carries, scoring on runs of 3 and 2 yards, finishing with 1,009
yards for the season.
J.J. Arrington had a 24-yard scoring run and Tyler Fredrickson kicked three
field goals for the Bears (5-5, 3-2 Pac-10).
Geoff McArthur also hit a milestone in the Bears' biggest offensive showing
since humbling Arizona State 55-38 last year. He had four grabs for 160 yards,
reaching 1,037 yards for the season - fourth-best in school history.
Cal scored 30 unanswered points after Arizona State trimmed its deficit to
21-17 on a 2-yard run by Loren Wade with 9:32 left in the second quarter.
Andrew Walter, who ignored sprained ligaments in his right ankle to start
for the Sun Devils (4-5, 1-4), threw a 32-yard TD pass to Skyler Fulton before
the swelling and pain forced him out after three quarters.
Walter was 11-of 26 for 170 yards, but was intercepted twice.
Freshman Sam Keller threw an 11-yard pass to Jamaal Lewis for Arizona
State's final TD.
The Bears had a season-high 41 points in the first half, covering 240 yards
on 14 plays on their first three scoring drives.
The first took two plays - Rodgers' 37-yard pass to Toler, and the 43-yarder
to McArthur with 9:01 left in the first quarter.
Echemandu broke a 48-yard run to set up his 3-yard TD run with 3:22 left,
and the Bears took a 21-10 lead on Toler's 5-yard scoring grab 1:34 into the
second quarter.
McArthur had a 47-yard catch on that drive, with 10 yards to the 10 tacked
on by a facemask penalty on cornerback Josh Golden.
Arizona State, which never managed better than a 7-all tie in the game, got
back within four points on the scoring run by Wade, who had 107 yards for his
third straight 100-yard game.
But Arrington broke away for his TD, Rodgers passed to Strang for another
and Fredrickson had 29- and 33-yard field goals in the final 6:41.
Walter's ankle wasn't an issue on Arizona State's first drive - he handed
off eight straight times as the Sun Devils moved 47 yards to the Cal 11. And
his first pass was well-thrown, but Cal rover Donnie McCleskey wrestled it away
from Lewis in the end zone for an interception.
On the next drive, Walter was 6-of-9, finishing with the scoring toss to
Fulton to tie the game at 7 before Cal's firepower took over.
