Locker leads Huskies to 42-10 rout of Cal in season's final game

Throwing with laser-precision and running away from just about everybody, this was the Jake Locker everyone had been waiting for. Now, the wait begins to find out if anyone will get to see him do it again at the college level. Locker was at his best in what could have been the final game of his Washington career Saturday, throwing for 248 yards and three touchdowns and running for 77 yards and two scores in a dominating 42-10 rout of No. 19 California in front of 62,334 at Husky Stadium. Locker, a projected top-10 pick should he declare for the NFL Draft, maintained his silence regarding his impending decision. He's insisted all season that any talk of the NFL would wait for the offseason. So, no, he didn't have an answer for anyone about an hour after the game ended, standing before a throng of media against a wall inside the Founder's Club. Locker has until Jan. 15 to make up his mind. "When I feel comfortable with a decision, we'll make it," Locker said. "From here, it's just finding out how we're going to make that decision." His performance Saturday is both encouraging to UW fans who are already picturing how dangerous the UW's offense could be next year with a senior Locker at quarterback and bittersweet knowing that it's possible they'll never get to see him again. If this truly was the junior's swan song, it was a finale for the ages. Locker has never looked crisper in his UW career, as he completed 19 of 23 passes, also carrying the ball 14 times against a California defense that looked as if it would have rather been just about anywhere else. Locker hit Jermaine Kearse -- his favorite target on a night when Kearse caught five passes for 135 yards in the first quarter alone - from 40 yards out on the UW's second play from scrimmage, setting the tone for an offensive display that was as close to perfect as the Huskies have come this season. Chris Polk ran for 94 yards and a touchdown, finishing the season with 1,113 yards, the seventh-best total in school history. And it was obvious early that the Bears had no answer for anything the Huskies wanted to do on either side of the ball. Locker ran 19 yards around the right side for a touchdown to give the UW a 14-3 lead with 10:50 left in the first half, then he led the Huskies 82 yards in 10 plays before punching it in on a 2-yard run to give his team a 21-3 lead at halftime. As chants of "One more year!" and "Don't go, Jake!" cascaded from the crowd, Locker again orchestrated a scoring drive to open the second half, sealing it with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Devin Aguilar to give the UW a whopping 28-3 lead and signal that the rout was officially on. Head coach Steve Sarkisian said he was chanting right along with everyone else. "You know, we've talked about this for what feels like three months now, and nothing is going to change tonight," Sarkisian said of Locker's stay-or-go dilemma. "Jake and I are going to meet on Monday, and we're going to start going through the information. There's no rush. He's got plenty of time, and we're going to do this thing the right way so that he feels great about what he decides to do." Cal seemed as if it didn't bother to show up. The Bears couldn't protect quarterback Kevin Riley, who the Huskies hassled for five sacks -- three of them by senior defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, who set a school record with his 31st. "They did a nice job of pressuring us," said Cal head coach Jeff Tedford. "Kevin had to pull it down a lot." Dominant in every way possible in its finale, Washington finishes year one of its rebuilding project with a 5-7 record, 4-5 in the Pac-10. That's the UW's biggest one-year turnaround since 1970, when the Huskies won six games after finishing 1-9 the year prior. Not a bad way to go out for a team that had already done more than expected. Especially for Locker, who may be done for good. "Like I said, there's going to be a lot of things that go into the decision," Locker said. "Obviously, the direction this football team's headed in and the players they have returning and the possibilities for this team is going to be something that's definitely weighed in the option." Reach Sports Editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

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