After a 35-22 win over the California Golden Bears on Saturday in Stanford Stadium, the No. 11-ranked Cardinal punched their ticket to the Pac-12 Championship Game on December 5 in Santa Clara, California.
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The pressure of playing for bowl eligibility is gone for the Bears (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12), who got over the hump last weekend with a 54-24 rout of Oregon State. Dykes has the Bears bowl-eligible for the first time since 2011, though he still is searching for a marquee conference win.
Although its playoff hopes were likely dashed with Saturday’s 38-36 loss to Oregon, Stanford can still clinch the Pac-12 North and a spot in the conference championship game with another victory over its rival.
Goff didn’t disappoint anyone in the sellout crowd – 37 completions, 386 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions – but Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey matched him yard for yard.
Stanford’s sixth consecutive victory over Cal came courtesy of big plays – three touchdowns of at least 48 yards – and timely defense.
In that way, Brennan Scarlett’s story becomes one not of defection, but of determination and perseverance – overcoming a rash of injuries and the notorious Stanford admissions process – which is something that, rivalry aside, has to be respected and commended. Five laterals later – and with Kevin Moen running through Stanford band members who made their way onto the field believing the game was over, the Golden Bears won 25-20.
Stanford players will have no trouble getting up for the Big Game no matter how down they were following the loss to Oregon.
As the Cougs get set to host Colorado (7:45 p.m. PT/8:45 p.m. MT, ESPN2), you should know that Mike Leach is a Coach of the Year semifinalist by the Maxwell Football Club.
“I’m just going to talk about our players”, Cal coach Sonny Dykes said.
“They played very well defensively and (we) couldn’t punch it in, for whatever reason, ” Goff said.
“We’ll certainly find out Saturday”, Dykes said.
For Jared Goff and Cal, I think this could be an expanded version of the 6-point loss to USC-stay close for a few quarters, then just get squeezed and squeezed and probably end up with a two-TD loss (because Stanford is better than USC and this is in Palo Alto, not Berkeley).
The Cardinal needed McCaffrey’s big plays to survive. The two Bay Area institutions are quite familiar with one another both on and off the field, which adds a little more spice to the rivalry.
California quarterback Jared Goff passes the ball during the second…
“The transition has been tough”, Shaw said.
There’s nothing at stake for Stanford except its quest for a berth in the College Football Playoff and Christian McCaffrey’s drive for the Heisman Trophy.
Washington: Cal -1 at UW (-4 on a neutral), Stanford -14.5 at home (-11.5 on a neutral) … Stanford must establish its tight ends early and make use of misdirection.
“It’d mean a lot to the freshmen, and to the older guys, the upperclassmen on this team who have been through so much”, McClure said. Star running back Devontae Booker is out for the remainder of the regular season after having knee surgery Thursday. “It’s not like there’s a great effort to get guys back on the same page”. Flutie scrambled around the pocket to avoid oncoming defenders and hurled a pass from into the endzone, where wide receiver Gerard Phelan corralled the catch to win the game. He might be Cal’s best option against Stanford’s strong, physical defensive front.
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Stanford football’s class of 2016 will go down as the 13th senior class in school history to have never lost the Stanford Axe. He tied his season high with five tackles and led the team with 2.5 sacks against Oregon.
