On Saturday, Stanford football fell to Cal in the 125th Big Game by a final score of 27-20. Cal freshman running back Jaydn Ott rushed for 97 yards and 1 touchdown on 18 attempts while Cal junior wide receiver Jeremiah Hunter had 5 receptions for 103 yards. Stanford sophomore safety turned running back Mitch Leigber rushed for 83 yards and 1 touchdown while tacking on 53 yards in the receiving game. Stanford junior kicker Joshua Karty went 2-2 on his field goals with a long of 61 yards. Cal improves to 4-7 overall and 2-6 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 3-8 overall and 1-8 in the Pac-12.
“Hurt for our seniors,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said after the game. “Wanted this one really bad for them. So many guys really gave their best effort. So many guys that were late week decisions. Could have easily just said you know, I’m not feeling great, so coach I can’t play. And they all tried. They all tried.
“Kendall Williamson was a Friday night, Saturday morning decision. He made it for a good chunk of the game and just couldn’t finish. Patrick Fields gutted it out last week. Did everything he could to come out there and play again today. Made it through most of the game. Couldn’t finish. Jacob Mangum-Farrar, kinda doubtful early in the week. Really really busted it to try to make it to the game. Was able to come in and help us out today. So many guys are so banged up and fought through it.
“They were medically cleared. Nobody was playing that shouldn’t have been playing. But the desire was there to get on the field. Bottom line for us is we had the lead. We knew it was going to be a back and forth game. We had the lead in the fourth quarter and we didn’t keep it. Turnovers have been one of the biggest issues for us all year and Ashton, such a great player, such a great athlete, had some great runs during the course of the game. I know that last fumble is hurting him. It’s really hurting him. Been saying it, Mitch Leigber just, every week he’s gotten better. Made some great plays today. One-handed catch, third down conversions, touchdown, blitz pickups, guy who’s playing safety a month ago, can’t say enough about him.
“We needed a couple more plays on the offensive side. Defense gave us a lot of opportunities. Got off the field, four interceptions, some big third down conversions, offensively when we didn’t go backwards, it’s been the story of the season, you know. Miss a block, hit a penalty, negative play, hard for us to come back from those when we get positive plays, end up in positive third down situations, okay, we move the ball, we get down the field.
“We talked all week about creating explosive plays and we’re able to create those hey, we score points. When we don’t, we don’t. So, one more week of preparation gonna try to send our seniors out on Senior Day with a win, it’s our sole focus this week is letting those guys walk off that field with a victory.”
After losing the coin toss, Stanford started with the ball. Stanford’s opening drive went well as they had a 6 play, 75 yard drive that was capped off by a rushing touchdown from Leigber. Leigber (12 yards) and Benjamin Yurosek (14 yards) had the top two receptions of the drive for the Cardinal. On the ground, Ashton Daniels had a 43 yard run. 7-0 Stanford lead with 12:08 to go in the 1st quarter.
Cal would respond on the next drive by putting points on the board as Dario Longetto nailed a 54 yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game with 10:00 to go in the 1st quarter. Mavin Anderson had a 16 yard reception for the Bears while Jaydn Ott had a 24 yard reception.
The next Stanford drive would result in points for as it was capped off by a 43 yard field goal from Karty. 10-3 Stanford lead with 3:47 to go in the 1st quarter. Mudia Rueben had a 9 yard reception during the drive while John Humphreys had a 15 yard reception of his own. On a 3rd and 16, Tanner McKee connected with Elijah Higgins on a 10 yard reception to set up the field goal.
The next Cal drive would result in points as well as an 8 play, 55 yard drive resulted in a 38 yard field goal from Longetto. 10-6 Stanford lead with 33 seconds to go in the 1st quarter. Ott had a 27 yard reception for the Bears while Hunter had a 21 yard reception. At the end of the quarter, it would be a 10-6 game.
The 2nd quarter was a pretty much a punt fest as both teams punted back and forth, making it a 10-6 lead for Stanford at halftime. However, there is one drive that deserves some attention. With 6:40 to go in the quarter, Cal started with the ball on their own 17 yard line. Hunter would get a 44 yard reception followed by a 19 yard gain by DeCarlos Brooks. After a 9 yard completion to J. Michael Sturdivant and a three yard gain by Jack Plummer, Plummer then connected with Hunter for an 11 yard completion. This set up 1st and goal from the 5 yard line.
On the next play, Plummer threw an interception that was picked off by Alaka’i Gilman in the end zone. Gilman’s knee was down and then he proceeded to step out of bounds outside of the end zone after completing the interception, clearly making the play dead. As Gilman was celebrating and running back to the Stanford sideline, he was tackled by Cal offensive lineman T.J. Session. The announcers along with Stanford players both were asking for a penalty and none never came. This kept the ball at the Stanford 20 yard line as opposed to the 35 yard line had a 15 yard flag been correctly called. 2:21 was left until halftime.
Note: I’ve written a separate article that explains why I think the officials should be disciplined for not throwing any flag and allowing Session to tackle Gilman without consequence at the end of the 2nd quarter. Many Cal fans have erupted in fury at me for this article. One fan even going so far as to saying to me: “Brother, I think you suck. Don’t message me again.” This was his response after I wished him well.
I think it’s sad that a fan who I’ve known for a long time would choose to burn a bridge with me over this, but it’s their life and they can live their life however they like. To quote Tiger Woods, “We all make decisions, but in the end, our decisions make us.”
READ: Officiating crew should be suspended after 125th Big Game for player safety
Ok, with that little detour out of the way, back to the game! McKee would complete a pass to Leigber for seven yards and then connect with Yurosek for 13 yards. Stanford would then get three more yards via Liegber getting to the 48 yard line. After a failure to get a first down on 3rd and 7, Stanford punted from the 48 yard line where it was fair caught at the Cal 12 yard line by Hunter.
Circling back quickly to the non-flag on the hit by Session, had a 15 yard flag been called as it should have, Stanford would have had the ball on the 33 yard line, which would have been well within Karty’s field goal range. However, they instead had to punt, keeping it a 10-6 game.
At halftime, it would be a 10-6 lead for Stanford. Things were going alright for the Cardinal, though they would have been feeling a bit better with a 13-6 lead.
The first Cal drive of the 3rd quarter did not go well as the only gain they got was a one yard rush by Ott. This resulted in Cal punting the ball to Stanford with 14:00 to go in the quarter. Stanford would start their drive on their own 29 yard line.
On 2nd and 10 following an incomplete pass, McKee would connect with Leigber on a 14 yard pass to the left side of the field, advancing him to their own 43 yard line after he was tackled out of bounds. Stanford would eventually get to the Cal 9 yard line as Yurosek had a pair of receptions for a combination of 20 yards. On 1st and goal from the 9, McKee connected with Higgins on a 9 yard touchdown pass. This made it a 17-6 lead for Stanford with 8:31 to go in the quarter.
Stanford would remain in front 17-6 all the way into the 4th quarter. At the start of the quarter, it was 3rd and 1 from the Stanford 17 yard line and after Stanford was unable to convert on 3rd down, this set up a punt on 4th and 1. After the 52 yard punt from Ryan Sanborn, Jeremiah Hunter had a nice 22 yard return for Cal to the Stanford 47 yard line. 14:05 to go in the 4th. Ott would then get things rolling for the Bears with a 6 yard gain to the Stanford 41 yard line. Plummer would then connect with Sturdivant on a 10 yard completion. It would eventually be 1st and 10 from the Stanford 16 yard line before Ott had a rush out of a shotgun for 14 yards. From there, Plummer found Monroe Young for a one yard touchdown. It was now a 17-12 game. Rather than going for the extra point, Cal went for the 2-point conversion and failed. This kept it 17-12 with 11:18 to go.
After a 19 yard kickoff return from Jason Thompson, Stanford had the ball on their own 28 yard line. After a pair of five yard rushes from Leigber, it was 1st and 10 for Stanford on their own 38 yard line. The next play was a disaster for the Cardinal as Ashton Daniels fumbled on a rushing attempt that was forced by Daniel Scott and recovered by Jeremiah Earby. Earby would then fumble as Daniels forced the ball out of his hands. Jackson Sirmon then recovered the ball at the Stanford 37 yard line and took it back to the house for a touchdown. This made it an 18-17 game before Cal converted the 2-point conversion. 20-17 Cal lead with 9:54 to go.
“Up until that point Ashton had converted, I think two first downs on third down and had one of the explosive runs early in the first half to get us down there for the first touchdown,” Shaw said of why they gave Daniels the ball. “That’s why. We don’t have a lot of options right now if you’ve seen what our team’s gone through and Ashton’s been a really big part of our running game and trying to balance back and forth between for the most part he and Mitch and it’s a tough, tough duty for a freshman quarterback. But he’s shown so much promise and up until that point, had really played well.”
At this point, Cal had all the momentum. It was a sold out crowd and California Memorial Stadium was rocking. After looking rather lifeless at the end of the 3rd, Cal had a real spring in their step.
Stanford’s next drive would result in a punt 48 yard punt fair caught by Hunter at the Cal 27. Cal wouldn’t do much better as Plummer would throw a really bad interception to Omari Porter that was caught in the end zone for a touchback with 6:46 to go. Stanford appeared to have some life, but Stanford would fail to generate any points as Sanborn punted on 4th and 7 from the Stanford 37 yard line to the Cal 17.
Cal’s next drive ended in a 56 yard punt to the Stanford 14 yard line with 3:20 to go. On 3rd and 10 from the Stanford 28 yard line, McKee would throw an interception that was picked off by Scott at the Stanford 49 yard line and returned for 40 yards to the 9 yard line.
Over the next three plays, Ott rushed for 9 yards to find the end zone, making it a 27-17 lead with 58 seconds to go. Stanford would score on the final drive as Karty drained a 61 yard field goal, the longest field goal made in Big Game history. 27-20 would be the final score.
For Cal, this is a really emotional win. It’s their first Big Game victory in Berkeley since 2008 and so their fans naturally erupted in jubilation afterwards, rushing the field in pure joy and craziness. This rivalry means a lot to both programs and given that Stanford has dominated the rivalry over the last 10-15 years, winning The Axe seems to matter a bit more to Cal right now. This was also an historic weekend for Cal, it was the 40th anniversary of “The Play”, it was Joe Starkey’s final time being on the call in Big Game, and there was an unveiling of a statute to commemorate that play.
I also want to offer my sincere condolences to the family, friends, and teammates of Dwight Garner, who passed away on Friday after a battle with prostate cancer. Garner was a central player for Cal in “The Play.” He’s the one whose knee may or may not have been down on that third lateral. Cal of course insists his knee wasn’t down, Stanford of course insists his knee was down, and even after his passing, I think it’s important that the debate continues on forever. He will forever be immortalized in Big Game lore.
In light of Garner’s passing and it being the 40th anniversary of The Play, in many ways, it is quite fitting that Cal would win their first Big Game in Berkeley since 2008 in his honor. It’s certainly sad that he wasn’t able to be at the game this weekend, but it’s comforting to know that he was honored by his teammates the day that he passed on.
For Stanford, this loss really stings. It caps off a disappointing season plagued by injuries and an inability to figure out any sort of consistency in any phase of the game. Offense, defense, and special teams have all had their issues. If there’s been one consistent bright spot for Stanford this season, it has been the kicking of Joshua Karty. He’s been incredible all season and looks to be a real weapon for them next season. Stanford did not deserve to win this game and when you consider the fact that they’ve had such a bad season and it being the 40th anniversary of “The Play” in Berkeley, perhaps the Big Game gods just decided it was fitting for Cal to win.
Up next for Stanford will be a home game against BYU on Saturday, November 26th to close out the season. That will kick off at 8:00 PM PT on FS1 and KNBR 1050 radio.
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