On Saturday, Stanford football fell to Cal by a final score of 27-15. Cal redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza led the way for the Golden Bears going 24-36 for 294 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception while redshirt sophomore tight end Trond Grizzell had seven receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Cal sophomore running back Jaydn Ott also had a huge day with 166 yards and one touchdown on 36 carries.
Stanford sophomore quarterback Ashton Daniels went 18-35 for 188 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions while senior kicker Josh Karty went 3-3 on his field goals (44 yards, 50 yards, & 53 yards). Karty was named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week as a result. Cal improves to 5-6 overall and 3-5 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 3-8 overall and 2-7 in the Pac-12.
VIDEO: Stanford Postgame Press Conference | Cal
BOX SCORE: Cal at Stanford-Saturday, November 18th
“Yeah, didn't make enough plays,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said after the game. “All started with the run game. Been trying to get something going in the run game. They were able to really defend our run and be in two-high safeties, and when they can do that can be very soft in coverage and keep everything in front of them.
“It's difficult to create big plays. So it all starts with the run game. They beat us up front. We didn't make enough plays. We certainly had our opportunities.”
Cal got the ball to start the game. Early on in the drive, Mendoza connected with Grizzell for a 16 yard completion, giving them a first down to the Stanford 47 yard line. On 3rd and 10 from the Stanford 32 yard line, Mendoza connected with Taj Davis for an eight yard pick up. Cal would go for it on 4th and 2, but Justin Williams-Thomas was not able to pick up the first down, only rushing for one yard. Turnover on downs with 11:34 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford’s opening drive was a quick three and out. Bryce Farrell had a rush to the left for a gain of eight yards, but the Cardinal were unable to move the chains from there. Aidan Flintoft had a 47 yard punt as a result that was fair caught by Jeremiah Hunter at the Cal 22 yard line.
Cal and Stanford would then trade punts as neither team was able to score points on their next drives. With 7:35 to go in the 1st quarter, Cal had the ball on their own 12 yard line following a punt by Stanford. On 3rd and 5 from the Cal 17 yard line, Stanford linebacker Tristan Sinclair was called for roughing the passer, moving the chains for the Bears.
Mendoza then found Jack Endries for a 32 yard completion, giving the Bears the ball on Stanford 31 yard line. Mendoza then found Mavin Anderson for an 11 yard completion after which Ott rushed for 11 yards to get to the Stanford 9 yard line. On 1st and goal from the 9, Mendoza found Grizzell for a nine yard touchdown. 7-0 lead for the Bears following the extra point with 5:03 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford started the drive from their own 25 yard line after a touchback. The big play of the drive for Stanford was Daniels connecting with Sam Roush for a 31 yard completion before then finding Roush for a 19 yard completion. On 3rd and 10 from the Cal 16 yard line, Daniels rushed for 11 yards, but the play was called back due to a holding penalty on offensive lineman Simione Pale, who was in his first game back from a knee injury. The drive would end in Karty attempting a 44 yard field goal, which he drained. 7-3 lead for Cal with 22 seconds left in the 1st quarter.
Cal’s next possession would carry over into the 2nd quarter. After a few short yardage plays, Mendoza connected with Grizzell for a 54 yard touchdown, giving the Bears a 14-3 lead with 13:13 to go in the 2nd quarter. The Bears were in control.
Cal would not score the rest of the quarter, but Stanford would find a way to add three more points to their total following a 53 yard field goal by Karty to cap off a 10 play, 27 yard drive that ended with 54 seconds to go in the quarter. Cal would go on to punt their final drive of the half while Stanford responded by kneeling out the half. As a result, it would end up being a 14-6 lead for Cal at halftime.
Stanford and Cal would trade punts to start the 3rd quarter and in their second drive, Stanford ended up punting once more. As a result, Cal had the ball on their own 33 yard line with 11:15 to go in the quarter.
Ott went to work immediately with a 19 yard gain. After a few short yard plays, it was 4th and 1 for the Bears on the Stanford 27 yard line. The Bears went for it and converted thanks to Mendoza rushing up the middle to gain two yards. On the next play, Mendoza scrambled up the middle for a loss of two yards and had his world rocked by Sinclair. Sinclair would be called for targeting and upon replay review, the call was upheld which meant Sinclair would be ejected from the game.
“He's our rock, you know. Not just on defense, probably the whole team,” Taylor said of Sinclair getting ejected. “He's just our emotional leader. He cares so much. Does everything the right way. We can always count on him, so that was a big loss for sure.”
With the 15 yard flag, Cal now had the ball on the Stanford 12 yard line. From there, Ott would find the end zone on an 11 yard run, making it a 21-6 lead for Cal with 5:45 to go in the 3rd. The Bears had all the momentum now.
“Outstanding player. Tough, physical guy,” Taylor said of Ott. “Great agility. Really good. Mendoza, the quarterback, is really good. Played well beyond his years. Really good players on their offense. They do a great job with the scheme as well.”
On their next drive, Stanford quickly responded as Daniels rushed up the middle for 15 yards before then finding Farrell for a 19 yard reception. Then, Daniels found Tiger Bachmeier for a 41 yard touchdown pass up the middle. Stanford went for the two point conversion and did not get it. 21-12 Cal lead with 4:25 to go in the 3rd quarter.
“Yeah, we needed a play and ended up getting one-on-one coverage on the inside,” Taylor said of Bachmeier’s touchdown. “We didn't get that a lot, and Ash made a nice throw. He has a really good protection, and then I didn't see the end of the catch. Must have been a fantastic catch.
“He has an option on that to take the middle of the field or break it across, and he took it and was a great throw. Really good protection on that play.”
“Yeah, they were in the coverage that we were expecting,” Daniels added. “Tiger had his guy beat right down the middle and I knew that all I had to do is just give him a chance.
“He's an outstanding, outstanding receiver and he's extremely young. Extremely impressive that he's going to go out there and make catches like that, and that's built trust and confidence in our relationship, you know, knowing that he can do that and that he's a reliable guy that I can give a chance to and he's going to go make a play. It's extremely comforting for me, for the whole offense, the coaching staff and all that good stuff.”
Cal would punt away their next drive to Stanford on a three and out. Stanford linebackers Lance Keneley and Gaethan Bernadel both got half a sack on Mendoza to back the Bears up on the drive. This gave Stanford the ball back on their own 41 yard line with 2:49 to go in the quarter.
Daniels would have a seven yard run and then a 14 yard run on Stanford’s next drive, which ultimately led to a 50 yard kick by Karty on 4th and 4. Karty nailed the field goal, making it 21-15 with 46 seconds to go. The Cardinal were now down by six points.
“He's amazing. He really is,” Taylor said of Karty. “He's so consistent. On the first field goal I looked at him like, hey, can you make this. He gave me a nod and comes out and drills it. He's unbelievable. His professionalism, preparation, he'll visualize things for an hour. He has a routine he sticks in to. He'll kick in the NFL for 18 years. He's unbelievable.”
Cal would open up their next drive on the 25 yard line following a touchback. Mendoza immediately went to work by finding Grizzell for a 16 yard completion. After Ott rushed for no yards on the next play, that ended the quarter. 21-15 Cal lead with one quarter to go.
To open up the quarter, Mendoza found Hunter for a 15 yard completion. Ott then had a nine yard gain. From there, Cal would pick up short yard gains to keep moving the chains, culminating in Mendoza finding Hunter for an eight yard touchdown on 3rd and 8. Cal went for the two point conversion and failed. This made it a 27-15 lead for Cal with 10:19 to go.
From there, neither team would score. Stanford had one more possession but wasn’t able to move the chains after going for it on 4th and 10 from the Cal 35 yard line. Cal would then knee it out on their final possession, though Ott did have a chance to score one more touchdown.
With the field wide open and the end zone in sight, Ott instead went down in what Cal calls “church mode.” That gave them the ability to kneel out the game from there as Stanford was out of timeouts and Cal had a fresh set of downs. While he could have padded his stats more, Ott put the team first in an act that was very unselfish. 27-15 was the final score. Cal retained The Stanford Axe for a third straight year.
After the game, Cal fans rushed the field in celebration while Stanford players headed to the locker room. Cal was celebrating like crazy for a full hour plus before finally having their postgame press conference. After recently going through a nine year spell without winning Big Game, it’s clear that Cal cherishes every time they win this one. That’s not to say it doesn’t matter to Stanford. It matters a great deal to them, too. It’s just that when you are deprived of something you want for a long stretch of time, you tend to cherish it more. Winning this game never gets old for Cal and it likely never will.
On top of retaining the Axe, Cal also still has a chance at bowl eligibility. If they beat UCLA on Saturday, they’ll be eligible for a bowl, something they didn’t think was possible just a few weeks back.
As for Stanford, this loss stings. They came in believing they could win and if you look back on the game, they had their chances. The problem was Cal was just the better team. Ott ran his heart out, Grizzell had some clutch receptions, and then Mendoza was the better quarterback out there. He showed a lot of toughness and grit. Especially to come back into the game after taking a violent hit from Sinclair.
“Yeah, I think you can kind of guess what it is,” Daniels said of the mood inside the locker room. “That's a huge game for us. We couldn't come through. We fell up short plenty of times. Extremely frustrating. Everyone is upset. At the same time, we know we have to flush it and move on for next week.”
The one thing Stanford can take comfort in is the fact that they overachieved relative to expectations this season. Nobody thought they would win a league game this season and they won two. They also were competitive in a couple other games as well. Had they defeated Arizona, Washington, and Sacramento State (all games they had a real shot at winning) they would be 6-5 and bowl eligible. So, the future is bright. But they’re going to have to go through these growing pains and take these lumps like all rebuilding programs do.
“Yeah, it sucks. You know, we weren't bowl eligible coming into this game, so the Cal rivalry that we have is really, you know, kind of a season-defining moment today,” Karty said. “A lot of us in the locker room -- most of us actually -- we haven't beaten Cal in their time here. I luckily have back in 2020 in the COVID year.
“But this rivalry means a lot to our team, to our fan base. You know, it's one of those things where you can have an average season, but if you beat Cal a lot of people will be a lot happier than if you didn't.
“It really stings for us. It would have been, you know, really, really nice to have a win in the Big Game for Coach Taylor in his first season here. Unfortunately didn't go our way today.”
Touching quickly on Troy Taylor, given that he is a Cal alum, it was interesting for him to coach against his alma mater in his first Big Game. However, he made it clear that once the game started, he was just focusing on getting the win for his team. All that other stuff was blocked out.
“Yeah, when you first walk out on the field and see a school you've been affiliated with for a long time it's a little strange,” Taylor admitted. “Once the game starts it's kind of all faceless opposition to me. Just numbers and what they're doing defensively and all these things. It wasn't too strange.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Notre Dame on Saturday, November 25th. That will kick off at 4:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and KNBR 1050 AM Radio.
Note: Stanford linebacker Tristan Sinclair won his appeal against his targeting call and will be available to play the entire game against Notre Dame. I’ll write a separate article on that and will link to that here once it gets published.
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