Daily Cal: Bears Could Erase 48 Years of Futility

BY Stephen Chen
It may seem like a few harmless words, but to many Old Blues, uttering “Cal” and “Rose Bowl” in the same sentence this season has been nothing short of taboo.
When the No. 17 Bears take the field Saturday against No. 4 USC at the Los Angeles Coliseum, a half-century of frustration will come down to one game. “There’s a lot of people who have been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long, long time, as far as alumni are concerned,” coach Jeff Tedford said. “I know it means a lot to the fans and to the alumni, but it means a lot to our players as well.” Since the first official Cal football game was played in 1886—when players traveled to away games in Oakland on horses—the Bears have been to eight Rose Bowls, winning two.
But the last time the Cal won the “Grandaddy of Them All” was in 1938 against Alabama. The last time the Bears played in Pasadena on New Year’s was in the 1958 season against Iowa. Cal has been contenders for the Rose Bowl numerous times since 1958, but never has one game been the clincher as it is this season. Along the way, the Bears alumni have endured either mediocrity or heartbreaking losses, which probably explains the anxiety many are feeling heading into the game.
• In 1968, the Bears had only one loss going into the eighth week of the season, only to lose to USC and later Stanford to finish in fourth place.
• In 1975, the Bears finished the season tied atop the conference—then the Pac-8—standings, but a midseason loss to UCLA gave the Bruins the tiebreaker and ticket to the Rose Bowl, which they won 23-10, over the Buckeyes.
• In 1991, in the last year of the Bruce Snyder era, Cal won five consecutive games to start the season, setting up a showdown between the No. 7 Bears and No. 3 Washington. It came down to the final play, but the Huskies hung on to win 24-17.
Two years later, in 1993, Cal was once again 5-0 heading into a battle with Washington. The Bears built a 17-point halftime lead, only to see it all slip away as the Huskies came back to win 24-23.
• As many current students remember, in 2004, No. 7 Cal went to the Coliseum to take on No. 1 USC. Though the Bears had first-and-goal at the nine-yard line for a chance score the go-ahead touchdown in the waning seconds, Cal turned the ball over on downs to lose the game in heartbreaking fashion, 23-17. Saturday will be another chapter in the Bears’ quest to return to the Rose Bowl, and while the players said they have not been caught up with the history, the significance is not lost on them.
“All season, we didn’t just play for ourselves, we play for our fans, we play for our families,” linebacker Desmond Bishop said. “This is what we play for. We’re just going to go out, have some fun and get a victory.”