In the 2016 edition of Big Game the Stanford Cardinal rolled into Berkeley looking for their 7th straight win over the California Golden Bears. The Bears had 6 losses coming into Big Game and were battling for bowl eligibility and desperately needed a win.
After winning the toss Cal elected to defer and go on defense first. It would become evident that Cal would be willing to trade field position for keeping the ball out of Christian McCaffrey’s hands. Stanford’s opening drive to start the game but it only went for 6 plays before DeVante Wilson sacked Keller Chryst to end the drive. When the Bears took over, Davis Webb hit a slanting Chad Hansen who found a hole in the Stanford secondary and sprinted 70 yards for the touchdown.
Despite the early torching the Cardinal did not lose their resolve. Stanford lined back up on offense now trailing but with great field position. On the first play Chryst dropped back and found Greb Taboada for 29 yards taking Stanford all the way to Cal’s 16. On the second play of the drive Chryst lined up in the shotgun, took the snap, faked the hand off to McCaffrey who ran to the left, most of the Cal defenders bit and pursued McCaffrey. While the defense was chasing McCaffrey, Chryst had the ball and was running the other way, easily scampering into the end zone to tie the game at 7.
Both teams would exchange two punts and the game would be tied at 7 at the end of the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter Cal was once again knocking on the door. The Bears used elite speed coupled with poor tackling and penalties from Stanford to keep the chains moving. Cal running back Tre Watson would take advantage of that poor tackling to power his way into the end zone from 7 yards out. The Bears would go back on top 14-7.
Stanford would go back to work grinding the ball on the ground with McCaffrey and Bryce Love. The drive was highlighted by a huge 31-yard run by McCaffrey taking Stanford into the red zone. After a couple more runs Chryst would hit Dalton Shultz for the touchdown. Conrad Ukropina would tie the game up again with an extra point.
After punts from both teams and a missed field goal by the Bears, Stanford had the ball with 1:59 left to in the half and a tie ball game. It wasn’t a particularly great drive but it was enough to get them close enough for a Conrad Ukropina field goal to end the half. The Cardinal would head into the break with a 17-14 lead.
Second half:
The Cardinal defense would force another punt and the Bears would once again have their quarterback Davis Webb punt. Webb does not necessarily have the greatest leg but keeping Webb and the Cal offense on the field on fourth down forces the Stanford defense to stay on the field. More importantly it keeps Christian McCaffrey off the field in punt return situations. Webb was having a great afternoon pinning the Cardinal deep inside their own territory.
Stanford would start at their own 8 and McCaffrey would run for 2 yards bringing up 2nd and 8 from their own ten. Stanford once again lined up the ogre package and once again would hand the ball off to McCaffrey but on this attempted he finally found a crease and took the ball 90 yards to the house for a touchdown. Stanford would lead 24-14 with most of the second half remaining.
Cal would respond with a field goal to get things back to a 1-score game. Once again though, and tell me if you’ve heard this one before, Stanford would go back to work on the ground with McCaffrey, Love, and Chryst. The big 3 on the ground were grinding the Bears’ defense into dust. The Cardinal would burn 5:11 off the clock on a grinding 12-play drive that went for 61 yards and a touchdown. Stanford had a 31-17 lead. At this point in the game McCaffrey had already rushed 24 times for a whopping 263 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Again, this was still in the 3rd quarter. McCaffrey also had the record for most rushing yards in Big Game history.
Give Cal a ton of credit here, despite trailing by 2 touchdowns Webb led his team 75 yards down the field for another touchdown drive capped off once again by Tre Watson. Stanford would run one more play from the line of scrimmage before the 3rd quarter drew to a close. Stanford had a 7 point lead and the ball with 15 minutes left in the game.
Stanford would start the 4th quarter with a bang when Keller Chryst hit JJ Arcega-Whiteside for a 59 yard pass that put the Cardinal on the Cal 7. A couple of plays later McCaffrey would leap across the goal line for his third touchdown of the game. Stanford went back up by 2 scores leading 38-24 with 12:30 left in the game.
Both teams would again exchange punts and Stanford took possession of the ball at their own 40 with 7:14 left in regulation. Stanford once again drove the ball down the field with an assist from a pass interference call. Keller Chryst would cap off the drive with a 30 yard touchdown to Trenton Irwin. It was Irwin’s first reception of the game and his first touchdown of the season.
Stanford was up 21 with just over 4 minutes left to play and the Cal fans were headed for the exits.
Cal would go on to score another touchdown in less than a minute making it 45-31 with 3 minutes left. The Bears would fail to connect on the onside kick. The Cardinal would have the ball in Cal territory with a two touchdown lead with less than 3 minutes left.
Cal did have time outs left but opted not to use them. Stanford would run out the clock and take home the Axe with a 45-31 Victory.
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Comments
Ya we are a 7-5 team playing an easy schedule
After a slow start, we asserted ourselves but can’t help but come away with the view that this is a 7-5 team lucky to get 9-3. At the end of the year, we will have won against 7!! under .500 teams. We have a grand total of 1 good win against SC and 3 bad losses to teams with inflated records themselves.
By layman on 11.19.16 7:29pm
Not quite that bad
Oregon was a decent team by the time we played them, we just played a lot better. This was a poor 4-3 team that has looked pretty good the last four games, more because of the offensive line changes than the QB change, I think.
By vk on 11.19.16 7:42pm
I think you're being way too harsh
According to the Sagarin ratings they’d played 5th toughest schedule in the country through last week. They had two truly dreadful games against the Washington schools but they might have beaten Colorado if McCaffrey were 100%. But they’ve beaten all the teams they were supposed to beat and a 10 win season would not be a fluke in my opinion.
By Bored25 on 11.19.16 8:54pm
Have to consider
We also beat K-State, which might possibly end the regular season with a winning record. Granted, that’s only one extra good win, but we took advantage of a down year in the PAC except for the top teams. Perhaps that’s why it feels like a 7-5 season.
Still, we beat the teams that we needed to beat and won the games against our important rivals. Championships and Rose Bowls are great but a possible 10-3 "down" season with wins over USC, ND, and Kal is plenty to keep this Card fan warm through the winter.
By reportcard on 11.19.16 9:37pm
It's been a strange season
Actually, I think this team has played beneath its potential most of the season and could have been a contender in the Pac 12. The conference is not great this year; and we had the individual pieces to make a run at the title, but they just never fit together at the right time (except maybe against Oregon, which was probably the best balanced Cardinal performance of the year). On the whole, if we finish the regular season at 9-3 and win the bowl game for a final 10-3 record, I would consider that a fair reflection of the team and its overall performance during the year. We were lucky to face USC when we did, because with Darnold at the helm, they are a completely different team. But I really feel we should have beaten Colorado; and the performance at home against WSU was just unacceptable. The Cougars played lights out that game, and we couldn’t get anything going. The only result I don’t question was the beat down in Seattle: we had no chance to make a game of that one, and the more talented team rightfully won. So on balance, a three-loss season (if we take care of business in the final two games) would be a fair reflection of this team’s talent and performance.
I continue to be amazed at the love other conferences are getting. Ohio State almost crapped the bed against a weak Michigan State team, and all the pundits still have them in the top four. Clemson has needed several really lucky breaks during their season (for example, the missed NC State FG that would have given the Wolfpack a victory on the last play of the game) and then lost to an average Pitt team, but they have remained steadfastly in the top four. Wisconsin is still considered in the mix, even though they have two losses. Same for Penn State. But the Huskies, with one loss to a streaking USC team, are still on the outside looking in. And Colorado, which has only two losses (one to Michigan and one to that same hot USC team) isn’t even in the discussion.
If we close the season with two wins, we should be a top twenty, maybe top fifteen team. Unfortunately, we will be the 5th ranked Pac 12 team this year (behind UW, Colorado, WSU and USC). If we are lucky, UW wins out and gets a spot in the CFP. That would open up the Rose Bowl for either USC or Colorado. Depending on the Apple Cup result, WSU might end of in the Alamo, with Colorado or USC in the Holiday Bowl. And what does that mean for us? Back to the Foster Farms Bowl with a date against a middling Big Ten opponent. I don’t think our conference will get an at-large New Year’s Six Bowl. And if UW doesn’t make the CFP, then we are likely headed to the Sun Bowl. Oregon made the Alamo Bowl with a 9-3 record last year. Our 9-3 (because of our three conference losses) won’t get us such a lofty post-season bowl bid. If we end up in the Foster Farms Bowl, our opponent might be Iowa or Minnesota.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 11.20.16 3:55am
Sun Bowl might prefer Utah
Have to figure there would be more fans coming from there. If we don’t get a team in the CFP—and both Washington State and Colorado are capable of beating Washington—that could push us down to Las Vegas Bowl.
By vk on 11.20.16 8:29am
Yes, all possible
For a 9-3 team, the Las Vegas Bowl would be a humbler. With an 8-5 record (5-4 in the Pac 12) in 2014, we at least got the Foster Farms Bowl. The problem this year is that there is such a split within the Pac 12 (six very good teams and six pretty lousy teams); and we are the bottom of the top. If Utah loses to Colorado, they go to 8-4 (5-4 in the Pac-12), which might put us ahead of them. But according to the rules, they would be within one game of Stanford (at 6-3), allowing the Alamo, Holiday and Foster Farms to pick as they wished. My understanding is that the Sun, Las Vegas and Cactus have to pick according to rank in the conference, so unless Utah beats Colorado, the Sun would have to take Stanford over Utah.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 11.20.16 9:30am
Good grief, how many times did Stanford win nine regular season games between 1951 until 1992?
The answer is ZERO.
I’m so tired of hearing fans spoiled on success. There are way too many. I speak of those who buy a ticket for USC, but find it beneath them to fill a seat for Colorado. Or Oregon State. And I’m sure Rice. It’s appalling to see fans desert a team in the middle of the greatest decade ever.
You only play who’s on your (murderous) schedule. I’d have to look it up, but not since the ‘50s had Stanford faced USC, UCLA and Washington in consecutive weeks. Adding to the historical anomaly, the UCLA game took a huge physical toll: Look how long it took for McCaffrey, Meeks, Fanaika and Marx to all be on the field together.
And yet these guys are 8-3, with 10 wins in sight.
How lucky are we: What didn’t happen here for over 40 years is now a REBUILDING year.
By OrangeMark on 11.22.16 4:18pm
I am not stating I hate 9-win seasons but just pointing out what the advanced stats say
We are ranked 42nd in S&P this year despite a 8-3 record when we were 16th in 2014 despite a 7-5 record. I pointed out an eye test that we are a 7-5 team if we played a schedule as demanding as yesteryears. At the end of the season we would have beaten 2 above .500 teams!
Infact I look back and think the 2014 down season was really unlucky not to win @ND or USC and ending up 9-3. The defense that year was one of the finest from front to back. As a fan I appreciate the wins but as a football fan, I point out what I see.
By layman on 11.22.16 6:58pm
Correction: Stanford as visiting team called tails, won the toss, and elected to receive. Heard it live on radio.
By thunder_chik on 11.19.16 7:48pm
Beating the Weenies never gets old
I despise everything about them. If we beat them 21 years in a row I would love it
By CardLA on 11.20.16 12:19pm
Rankings just came out
AP and Coaches’ polls both exclude Stanford again this week. The Cardinal come in at 26 in the AP and at 27 in the USA Today poll. Utah makes both polls (21 and 20) at 8-3. I don’t understand the thinking here: Utah has lost to Oregon, Washington and Cal (all north teams, two unranked with losing records) and has only one quality win (USC in Darnold’s first start). Stanford has lost to two top 10 teams (UW and Colorado) and a top 25 team (Wazzu) with a victory over USC. What is the logic here? Our non-conference schedule has been much tougher (Notre Dame, K State), as well. The computers must love us, because we were ranked last week in the CFP poll.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 11.20.16 12:25pm
I'm feeling good about next year
Keller is looking more comfortable in the pocket. The OL is looking more coordinated.
As for this year, 9-3 is deceiving, we are about 7-5, 8-4, but the conference is weak. So what. I don’t care that much about where we bowl, because at this point it’s all about 17.
By Brendan Ross on 11.20.16 1:06pm
Well
I still care about 2016. It’s all about legacy at this point: Stanford is currently the #2 team in the nation for the current decade (behind Alabama). We need to finish this season off in proper fashion to uphold that excellent ranking. And regarding 2017, our prospects will hinge greatly on whether McCaffrey decides to return. I have a suspicion he will bolt for the NFL. The mid-season injury this year must have given him some pause. His draft stock is certainly high at the moment, and jeopardizing that with an additional season would be risky. If Solomon Thomas also leaves, that’s two big pieces gone for the next year. If they both decide to return, we could be back in title contention.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 11.20.16 1:29pm
Honestly
With the career expectancy of a running back, McCaffrey just about has to leave. I cringed when he carried three straight times up the middle yesterday and got hit hard the last time.
By vk on 11.20.16 2:56pm
Agree
Running back is a short-lived position.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 11.20.16 3:14pm
I think McCaffrey will leave
Bryce Love is very good, however. I think with an improved QB and line play, they will be fine on offense even without McCaffrey.
If Solomon Thomas leaves, there will be problems, I think.
By Brendan Ross on 11.21.16 5:58am