Sports Network: Ayoob leads Cal to rout of Huskies

Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Junior quarterback Joe Ayoob threw for four touchdowns in the first half, three of them going to wideout Robert Jordan, as the 16th-ranked California Golden Bears defeated the Washington Huskies, 56-17, at Husky Stadium.  Ayoob completed 17-of-27 passes for 271 yards for Cal (2-0, 1-0 Pac-10), which overcame an early 7-0 deficit to surge past Washington (0-2, 0-1).  The Golden Bears are now 4-0 under head coach Jeff Tedford versus the Huskies, reversing a 19-game losing streak against Washington that lasted from 1977-2001.  Isaiah Stanback connected on 22-of-39 passes for 301 yards and two scores, but was picked off once and sacked four times for the Huskies. Junior wide receiver Sonny Shackelford caught six passes for 124 yards and a score.

Marcus O'Keith scored a pair of second-half touchdowns for the Huskies, finishing with 103 yards on just six carries for an average of 17.2 yards per touch.  Jordan set career highs in receptions (11), yards (192) and touchdowns (3) for Cal, which racked up 557 total yards on offense.  The defense also got into the act, with junior cornerback Daymeion Hughes intercepting a Stanback pass attempt and rumbling 41 yards for the touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to put Cal up 49-17.

The game got off to a rocky start for the Golden Bears. Darin Harris intercepted Ayoob's pass attempt on the first play from scrimmage, and the Washington offense needed just one play and 10 seconds to capitalize. Stanback connected with Shackelford for a 56-yard touchdown completion, putting the Huskies up 7-0.  Ayoob found Jordan in the end zone on consecutive possessions midway through the first half, however, to give the Golden Bears a 14-7 lead and control of the game. The two first connected from nine yards out with 2:16 left in the first quarter and then again early in the second from 24 yards out. The two scores each finished 80-yard drives.

Evan Knudson split the uprights from 46 yards out to draw Washington within 14-10, but Stanback and Jordan would hook up yet again, this time on a 58-yard touchdown strike with 2:50 remaining in the half. Ayoob notched his fourth TD pass of the half when he completed a 14-yard attempt to David Gray, giving Cal a 28-10 halftime lead.  Stanback hit Craig Chambers with a 39-yard scoring strike early in the third, but O'Keith finished off a 12-play, 76-yard Cal march with a five-yard TD run later in the quarter to make it 35-17.  O'Keith then culminated a six-play, 96-yard drive with a 71-yard TD scamper.

GAME NOTES

This was Cal's earliest Pac-10 game on its schedule since Sept. 4, 1993, when it beat UCLA 27-25 in Pasadena...Cal running back Marshawn Lynch broke his left pinkie on the first offensive play of the second half.