This was billed as the Big Game that finally would prove there is parity in Bay Area college football. That Cal and Stanford are evenly matched. That there no longer is one dominant program. Well, it turns out that wasn't true. Not at all.
"We don't belong on the same field as those guys," said Cal linebacker Worrell Williams. "We have way more athletes. We're better than those guys. When we play our game, they can't compete with us. "And we showed it today." Yes, they did. Saturday, the Bears slapped down Stanford's aspirations in a Big Game performance that was far more dominant than the 37-16 score. Though Stanford outplayed Cal for much of the first half, the Bears exerted their superiority with a 20-point third quarter that told the Cardinal who still is the boss of Bay Area football. The loss knocked Stanford out of a bowl berth — something the Cardinal hasn't had since 2001 — which made it even sweeter for Cal. "Not at our expense," Williams said. "Not on our field." "We know they've waited a long time," Cal quarterback Kevin Riley said. "It's sweet to not only get the Axe back but to have them keep on waiting." While Stanford's season is over, Cal's is not. It has one more regular-season game in two weeks, against hapless, winless Washington. And then Cal will go to a bowl game for the sixth consecutive year. The Bears' dreams of the Rose Bowl remain unrequited. The top-25 ranking has vanished. But Cal still is among the elite of the Pacific-10 Conference while Stanford still is aspiring to get near there. After the beating, Jim Harbaugh, the Crown Prince of Stanford Football, spoke — bravely? foolishly? — of getting to a bowl next year. Not just any bowl game, but a BCS bowl. Harbaugh recently has been rewarded with a three-year contract extension on the basis of his first two seasons at Stanford. He has given the Cardinal a face, an attitude and some buzz. And in his debut season, he scored huge upsets of USC and Cal.
But though the Cardinal improved by one win this season, its only signature victory came in the opener in August against Oregon State. For most of the season, Stanford — owners of the coveted Axe until Saturday — hacked itself to pieces.
Harbaugh seemed appropriately subdued by the time he wandered into the Cal club room to congratulate Jeff Tedford. In the sea of overjoyed blue-and-gold-clad students who flooded the field at Memorial Stadium, the coaches hadn't found each other for the traditional handshake. "There were too many deal-breakers," Harbaugh said when asked if there was a turning point in the game. "There are a dozen things I can think of right now."
But when he shook Tedford's hand, he mentioned only one thing: "trickery." Tedford's hook-and-lateral, which he put in the game plan Thursday and was practiced only three times, produced the second of Cal's three touchdowns in the third quarter. It added to the highlight-reel day of Jahvid Best, who rushed for 201 yards and two touchdowns and caught three passes for 35 yards. On Saturday, all around the Cal campus were stacks of bogus Stanford-produced newspapers with the banner headline "Jahvid Best Out With Ankle Injury." The Old Blues who came upon the fraudulent publications while wandering from tailgate to tailgate were understandably panicked. Because Best makes the Bears go. Stanford's Toby Gerhart got most of the pregame publicity because USC had such a tough time with him last week. But just as Cal outclassed Stanford, Best proved he was the superior back Saturday. "Jahvid has the X-factor called speed," Williams said. "He's 10 times faster and he hits the hole at 100 miles an hour." Best ran for 60 yards on the second play of the game. But that drive produced only a field goal. Stanford outgained Cal in the first half, but both teams derailed in the red zone. Riley threw an interception. Gerhart fumbled. And in the final seconds of the first half, Cal's defense stuffed Gerhart on two plays from the 1-yard line.
"That created a lot of momentum," Tedford said. Cal's defensive momentum carried through halftime. On the first play of the second half, Tavita Pritchard threw a pass that Cal intercepted and returned to Stanford's 28. Cal scored a touchdown six plays later and the rout was on. "I guess they've been playing better," Riley said grudgingly of Stanford. "But we thought we were the better team and we wanted to show we were the better team." Mission accomplished. In a big way.
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