CAL HAS WON PAST FOUR GAMES AGAINST STANFORD
By Darren Sabedra
Erik Robertson hasn't forgotten the victory celebration in 2002. After seven long seasons, Cal had beaten Stanford. It finally had the Axe. For the Bears, it was euphoria. Robertson -- then a wide-eyed freshman, now a starting guard -- noticed his team's senior center, Ryan Jones. He was overcome with emotion. ``He was taking pictures with the Axe in our Big Game room and had tears in his eyes,'' Robertson said. ``He just told me to keep on with the tradition. I've taken that on my shoulders, or at least tried to.'' Robertson and the rest of the Bears' seniors have done more than try. They have never lost to Stanford. On the flip side, the Cardinal's seniors have never experienced a Big Game victory. They haven't come close. Cal has routed Stanford the past four seasons, winning by an average of more than three touchdowns per game. ``I just have this image of Cal players lying on our 50-yard line, on our `S,' '' linebacker Michael Okwo said. ``That's not a good feeling at all. In many respects, football is just a game. But it's more than a game come Big Game week.'' The 109th Big Game will mark the end of a tumultuous season for Stanford (1-10, 1-7 Pacific-10), which barring a major upset will finish with 11 losses for the first time. But a victory Saturday would be something to cherish for a senior class that has not only failed to beat Cal, but also has never experienced a winning season.
``Especially with a season like this, it would mean a lot to the seniors and a lot to the fans and the program if we could end on a good note,'' senior defensive back Brandon Harrison said. ``I still believe and I know the team still believes that we're capable of winning.'' But is the Cardinal capable of beating a Jeff Tedford-coached Cal team? Since Tedford took over after the program had gone 1-10 in 2001, the Bears have had five consecutive winning seasons and reached four consecutive bowl games. Cal's fifth-year seniors were Tedford's first recruits, and they don't want to disappoint their coach with a loss on Senior Day. ``It's really important because I take extra pride in being Coach Tedford's first class,'' Robertson said. Fullback Byron Storer, another member of Tedford's first group, called winning the Big Game ``the best feeling in the world.'' ``Big Game is something we look forward to all the time,'' Storer said. ``You feel a sense of accomplishment, and it's exciting.'' Is it really an accomplishment for an 8-3 Cal team on its way to the Holiday Bowl to beat a 1-10 Stanford team that has been outscored 351-110 this season? ``Stanford is a very underrated team,'' Storer said. ``Plus, we've sputtered a little bit these last two games. It means a lot to us to get back in that win column.'' Cal's losses to USC and Arizona derailed its goal of playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1958 season. ``It's been tough,'' senior linebacker Desmond Bishop said. ``There is no certain amount of time that will heal the pain. But we have to look forward and look at the task at hand -- which is beating Stanford.'' Okwo, the Cardinal's senior linebacker, recalled his first Big Game in 2003. ``On the walk to the stadium, there was some pretty insane stuff going on,'' Okwo said. ``They were jeering us -- Cal fans. Stanford fans were cheering us on, a really hot rivalry.'' For four years, it has been a one-sided rivalry, and the odds strongly suggest things won't change Saturday -- regardless of how badly the Cardinal seniors want to bring the Axe back to Stanford. ``The losses in the last two games are motivation enough to go out and play as hard as possible and win,'' Robertson said. ``But that's not even half of it. There is just so much more that revolves around the Big Game and the tradition.'' Spoken like a player who has won a few of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment