On Saturday in Berkeley, Stanford football fell to Cal in the 127th Big Game by a final score of 24-21. Cal redshirt sophomore quarterback Fernando Mendoza led the way for the Golden Bears, going 25-36 for 299 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions while junior wide receiver Jonathan Brady had five receptions for 64 yards and two touchdowns.
Stanford true freshman wide receiver Emmett Mosley V was the top performer for the Cardinal on offense with six receptions for 63 yards and one touchdown while junior safety Scotty Edwards had 10 total tackles (6 solo) for the Cardinal on defense. Cal improves to 6-5 overall and 2-5 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the ACC.
VIDEO: Stanford Football Postgame Press Conference: Cal
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Cal-Saturday, November 23rd
“Obviously, got a strong start and was able to get a lead and then obviously came up a play short,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said after the game. “So, really proud of our guys and how hard they work, but we came up short as a coaching staff, as players, and that’s painful because you’re so close. So those ones hurt sometimes even more, but our guys will respond, they’ll come back. I know they will.”
Cal won the coin toss to start the game and deferred, giving Stanford the ball first. Stanford’s opening drive was a success as Stanford quarterback Justin Lamson had a one yard touchdown run to cap off a 12 play, 75 yard drive. The biggest plays of the drive for Stanford were a seven yard run by running back Micah Ford and a seven yard reception by Elic Ayomanor. Stanford would lead 7-0 with 7:49 to go in the 1st quarter.
Cal would pick up a first down on their opening drive, but then it stalled as a six yard rush by Mendoza set up a 4th and 5 for Cal. The Bears decided to punt. Stanford wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier returned Lachlan Wilson’s punt 35 yards to the Stanford 46 yard line with 5:22 to go in the 1st quarter.
Stanford would once again march down the field and find the end zone as Lamson got his second touchdown of the game by rushing up the middle from two yards out to make it a 14-0 lead for Stanford after the extra point. There was 1:25 to go in the 1st quarter. That capped off an eight play, 54 yard drive. The big play of the drive was an 18 yard completion from Ashton Daniels to Emmett Mosley.
Cal defensive back Nohl Williams would return the kickoff 32 yard to the Cal 40 yard line. Cal would have a quick three and out, punting the ball back to Stanford to end the 1st quarter. Up 14-0 to start the 2nd quarter with the ball on their own 20 yard line after a touchback, Stanford had an opportunity to go up three scores, but they were not able to do so as they only moved the chains for a first down once thanks to a nine yard run by Daniels followed by a four yard run by Ford. Aidan Flintoft would have a 42 yard punt for Stanford to the Cal 18 yard line that was fair caught with 12:58 to go in the 2nd quarter.
As I mentioned in my preview, one issue for Stanford all season long has been giving up at least one 40+ yard run per game and that once again happened on the next drive as Mendoza had a 50 yard run for Cal to the Stanford 32 yard line on the opening play of the drive. On 3rd and 4 from the Stanford 16 yard line a bit later on in the drive, Mendoza would connect with Cal wide receiver Trond Grizzell for a touchdown, making it a 14-7 game with 11:04 to go in the 2nd quarter.
Neither team would score the rest of the half, keeping it a 14-7 lead for Stanford at halftime. However, there was some action on both sides. Stanford linebacker Tristan Sinclair got a key sack to force a turnover on downs and both teams attempted field goals but wasn’t able to convert. Stanford kicker Emmet Kenney missed a 53 yard field goal while Cal kicker Ryan Coe missed a 50 yard field goal.
Cal would get the ball to start the second half, but it was a quick three and out for them on their first drive as Cal running back Jaydn Ott had two rushes for a total of zero yards. One for one yard and another for minus one yard. Mendoza was unable to convert on 3rd down as he threw an incomplete pass, forcing the Bears to punt.
Stanford would start their next drive on their own 48 yard line after Tiger Bachmeier fair caught the punt as well as a five yard illegal motion penalty against Cal. 13:38 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Stanford would find the end zone on their next drive as a two yard touchdown pass from Micah Ford to Emmett Mosely capped off an 11 play, 52 yard drive. Ford became the first non-quarterback for Stanford to throw two touchdown passes in a single season since former Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey in 2015. The biggest play of the drive was a 13 yard reception by Elic Ayomanor. It was now a 21-7 lead for Stanford with 6:33 to go in the 3rd quarter.
“We practiced it,” Taylor said of Ford’s touchdown pass. “And so it was a call that I was gonna use on fourth and one or two that we had ready. And we just did a great, Micah did a nice job and Emmett made a fantastic catch…We’ve had it. We usually run it once a year. We didn’t save it or anything. It just felt like it was an opportunity to use it.”
Stanford would force a fumble on the next kickoff and recover as linebacker Sam Mattingly forced the fumble and wide receiver Jayson Raines recovered it. Stanford now had the ball on the Cal 20 with 6:26 to go in the 3rd quarter. Stanford’s offense was not able to move the chains on the drive, forcing them to attempt a short field goal. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, holder Connor Weselman fumbled the snap and attempted to throw the ball to tight end Sam Roush but wasn’t able to turn lemons into lemonade. Instead it was a turnover on downs, giving Cal the ball back on their own 18 yard line with 5:30 to go in the 3rd quarter.
Cal would take advantage of that turnover by putting points on the board as a 46 yard field goal by Ryan Coe capped off a 12 play, 54 yard drive. It was now a 21-10 lead for Stanford with 46 seconds to go in the 3rd quarter. The biggest play of the drive for Cal was a 21 yard pass from Fernando Mendoza to tight end Jack Endries. Stanford defensive lineman Zach Buckey had a huge sack for a loss of nine yards, helping to ensure that the Bears had to settle for the field goal instead of continuing their march towards the end zone.
Stanford would get the ball at their own 25 yard line after a touch back and a two yard rush by Ford would be the final play of the quarter. 21-10 lead for Stanford entering the 4th quarter.
Stanford’s offense would not be able to do much on their next drive as Flintoft had to punt on a 4th and 7 from the Stanford 28 yard line. Flintoft’s punt would be 51 yards to the Cal 21 yard line and returned for eight yards by wide receiver Mikey Matthews to the Cal 29 yard line.
Cal would find the end zone on the next drive as Fernando Mendoza would connect with Jonathan Brady for a 30 yard touchdown, to cap off an 11 play, 71 yard drive. Cal wide receiver Nyziah Hunter had a 16 yard reception on the drive to help set it up. That made it a 21-17 game with 10:09 to go.
Stanford’s next drive would ultimately end in a punt despite Ayomanor having a 19 yard reception in the drive. Flintoft’s 43 yard punt would be downed at the Cal 2 yard line with 7:45 to go. Cal had 98 yards to go if they wanted to take the lead.
The first play of the drive would be a pass interference call against Stanford, moving the ball to the Cal 17 yard line. Grizzell would soon have a nine yard reception to set up a 2nd and 1 from the Cal 26 after which Cal converted the 1st down as Ott rushed for two yards.
On 1st and 5 from the Cal 35 yard line a bit later on in the drive, Mendoza would get sacked by Stanford defensive lineman Tobin Phillips for a loss of seven yards. Cal would continue to move the chains after that sack as Matthews had a nice 10 yard reception while Hunter had a huge 36 yard reception.
Stanford linebacker Gaethan Bernadel would sack Mendoza for a loss of five yards to the Stanford 26 yard line, but that would be the last gasp for air the Cardinal would have as Mendoza would find Brady for a four yard reception and then a 22 yard touchdown reception, making it a 22-21 lead for the Bears with only 2:40 to go in the game. Cal would go for the two point conversion and successful convert as Ott broke the plane. It was now a 24-21 lead for the Bears.
Stanford would not find success on their final drive as Ashton Daniels was sacked by Cal outside linebackers Cheikhsaliou Fall and David Reese for a loss of five yards on the first play of the drive. That would ultimately set up a 4th and 15 of which Stanford would fail to convert. That resulted in a turnover on downs and from there, Cal was able to knee it out, winning Big Game by a final score of 24-21.
“We didn’t do a good job of protecting him or creating a lot of space or movement in the run game,” Taylor said of Daniels’ second half struggles. “So that was the primary reason. Ashton played fine, yeah.”
First of all, this was a nice win for Cal. They become bowl eligible and retain the Stanford Axe for a fourth straight season. After years and years of not being able to beat Stanford, the shoe is finally on the other foot as they now have a nice Big Game winning streak of their own. The most defining moment of the game for Cal was the 98 yard drive led by Mendoza. I’m sure that will be a drive that Cal fans will talk about for a long time. Mendoza had a fantastic game and has become one of the best Big Game performers in recent Cal history.
“They played a little tighter man coverage and then they started getting a different front,” Taylor said of adjustments that Cal made. “You know, that was a little bit more aggressive. But just trying to squeeze the passing lanes and obviously not be as soft in zone, you know. They usually mix it up. So that was the biggest difference, especially down the stretch.”
As for Stanford, this one stings in that they had a fourth quarter lead and were not able to finish the job. They had plenty of opportunities to win and just couldn’t get across the finish line. The most defining moment for the Stanford side was definitely Connor Weselman’s botched hold on the field goal that could have put Stanford up 24-10. I’m sure he wishes he could have that snap back. Special teams are crucial and when you give away points in that fashion, that hurts.
“Yeah he [Kenney] doesn’t miss many,” Taylor said of their field goal woes. “He just pulled it a little bit left. Again, he makes the majority of those and then we just didn’t execute on the one that we didn’t get off the ground.”
Of course, what really should hurt Stanford the most is that 98 yard drive. There were some spirited sacks by the Cardinal front seven on that drive, but their young and inexperienced secondary got worn down in the end.
“You gain stuff from experiences for sure,” Taylor said of his young secondary. “You know these guys, were trial by fire. They’ve had to play this year, young guys that are competing their butt off and they may be a little more seasoning would have been in their best interest, but they knew they had to step up because of injuries and I’m really proud of how they played and their mental focus and toughness and going from high school to a power four game is a big deal. It’s a big jump and I’m really proud of the effort and preparation that they gave to it.”
The only silver lining for Stanford is they were not favored to win this game and they performed much better than expected. The betting odds were Cal by 15.5 points and I had Cal winning by seven. Nobody had Stanford winning this one and I think if you had told people at the beginning of the game that Stanford would have led 21-7 and not given up the lead until late in the 4th quarter, they would have said Stanford put up a good fight. Which they did.
“I’m proud of how our guys played,” Taylor said. “We just came up a play short. You know, we had an opportunity. We were, to get a stop there at the end, but we did a lot of really good things. It’s just, you know, not enough. Quite enough to win the game.”
Up next for Stanford is road game at rival San Jose State on Friday, November 29th. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM PT on CBS.
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