Led by McCaffrey’s school-record 389 all-purpose yards, Stanford beat archrival Cal 35-22 at Stanford Stadium, clinching the Pac-12 North title for the Cardinal. The Cardinal can clinch the Pac-12 North with a win, while the Golden Bears haven’t won since 2009.
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California is 8-3 ATS in its last 11 games against Stanford in November, but … With a win, the Bears can spoil their Bay Area-rivals’ postseason hopes and regain bragging rights the Cardinal have held for the last five years. Against Cal, he had 192 yards rushing, a 49-yard touchdown reception in which he broke two tackles and a 98-yard kickoff return for a score that was the biggest play of the game.
“They played very well defensively and (we) couldn’t punch it in, for whatever reason, ” Goff said.
The Heisman Trophy candidate has been the biggest reason why Stanford is in this position. A man dressed as Beetlejuice and a poorly constructed Stanford mascot lead a group of mourning students through campus to the White Memorial Fountain where Oski, the Cal mascot, is violently impaled.
“We jut couldn’t finish drives”, he said of three red-zone chances to led to field goals. The Beavers would overcome the Bears defense and score their first touchdown of the game just before the half ended pulling the score to 24-10 as Nick Mitchell hit Jordan Villamin on a 29-yard pass.
The Bears would get the ball first to start the third quarter. Cal leads the Pac-12 in red zone touchdown percentage (68.63 percent), so something will have to give.
This game had everything: Two top-flight teams in No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Auburn, the SEC West title and a SEC Championship berth on the line, Nick Saban versus Gus Malzahn, AJ McCarron versus Nick Marshall. You kind of mark this stuff off as you go along. Take Stanford coach David Shaw, for instance. Losing Ronnie Harris could be a problem for the secondary, but only if Jared Goff has time to work. Borrayo is ready for more of that, even with the likelihood that senior running back Daniel Lasco (ankle) will be at less than full strength.
If the name Brennan Scarlett sounds familiar, it’s because he played his first four years for the blue and gold.
Junior quarterback Jared Goff said he never doubted this day would come. We knew if we put those guys back there, they were going to have to block.
The loss lowers Cal’s record to 6-5 overall, and 3-5 in Pac-12 play.
“We’re trying to keep taking steps forward, (and) this is one of those steps”, Dykes said this week.
Mind you, I’m not saying they’re the two BEST teams, I’m saying if you’ve tracked the results of Cal and Stanford all season, they’re consistent-they both generally perform relatively consistently relative to talent and match-ups, if you add in Vernon Adams’ resuscitation of OR to explain Stanford’s loss last weekend. In their last meeting this season the two teams went to five sets, but the Utes couldn’t pull out the win on their home court and lost the match.
Cal actually ran for 179 yards against Stanford past year.
“If anybody has seen a running back, a football player better than Christian McCaffrey this year, tell me”. Can’t blame the Bears for focusing on McCaffrey, who had taken the ball on the previous four plays for a total of 30 yards. Scarlett had 2 1/2 sacks against OR last week. McCaffrey made the Bears pay by beating them with big plays.
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With less than two minutes on the clock and the 113th Big Game on the line in a battle of two top-25 teams, California linebacker Mike Mohamed etched his name in Big Game immortality.
