10 MOST MEMORABLE BIG GAMES
#10 - Bowing Out in StyleCALIFORNIA 24 STANFORD 27 (November 20, 1976)
Jack Christiansen, who was canned as the Indians' head coach the day before the game, was carried onto the field by his players. His inspired Cardinals were matched against a 5-5 Cal team led by Joe Roth, playing his final game in Berkeley. Cal led 24-19 with 2:20 left and the ball on its own 2 yard line. Bears' RB Markey Crane fumbled a pitch from Roth, Stanford recovered, and scored with 1:31 remaining to win one last game for their soon to be ex-coach. Things only got better for the Furdies, since their next head man was a fella named Walsh.

CALIFORNIA 16 STANFORD 0 (November 29, 1941)
With a win, Stanford could clinch a share of the PCC championship. The Indians featured Frankie Albert, the greatest QB in school history to that point, and were defending national champions. Cal was a mediocre 3-5, but the Bears somehow shut down the vaunted Indian attack and led 9-0 in the 4th quarter. John Herrero blocked a Stanford punt deep in Indian territory, and Cal All-American tackle Bob Reinhard grabbed it and spun into the end zone for the game's final points. A stunned Stanford Stadium crowd could barely believe its eyes - mighty Stanford had been shut out, and the Axe was California's once again.
#8 - Twelve Seconds Over Berkeley
CALIFORNIA 25 STANFORD 27 (November 17, 1990)
The only time I've cried at a sporting event. Everything that could go wrong, did. Tuan Van Le was one thing, but this was a series of catastrophes - like a bad wreck on the highway. Stanford scored. Russell White somehow missed the onside kick. John Belli got a ticky-tack roughing penalty on Jason Palumbis on a simple throwaway pass. And then the field goal, and that song. That song. It's frankly too painful to write about, so let's move on.
#7 - Win One for the Zipper
CALIFORNIA 17 STANFORD 11 (November 22, 1986)
After a 50-18 blowout loss to UW, Coach Kapp offered to show a reporter his block and tackle. His descent from failed football coach to self-parody complete, Kapp was a dead man walking heading into the Big Game. The Bears were 1-9 and had been outscored 104-12 in their previous three games. Stanford was 7-2 and headed for the Gator Bowl, led by stars John Paye, Dave Wyman and bruising fullback Brad Muster. And of course, the 18.5-point underdog Bears won 17-11 in an ugly defensive struggle that sent Joe out a winner. Following the game Hardy Nickerson, who along with Majette Whiteside had terrorized Paye all afternoon long, climbed the tower and led the Cal band in a joyous celebration on the field.
#6 - The Duel

CALIFORNIA 21 STANFORD 21 (November 21, 1953)
Bobby Garrett. Paul Larson. The greatest matchup of quarterbacks in Big Game history. Cal's Larson led the NCAA in total offense that year, and Stanford's Garrett would be the #1 overall pick in the 1954 NFL Draft. Ironically, the two would shine on defense, each making a crucial interception of the other to stop scoring drives and preserve the 21-21 tie. The program from that day (right) is fairly typical of the era - demure but unabashedly sexual imagery used to sell a football game. Pity the poor Rock Hudson look-alike in the back. Who should he choose?
#5 - Mud Bowl
CALIFORNIA 24 STANFORD 21 (November 18, 1972)
Heavy rains had left Memorial Stadium a quagmire by kickoff, and the ensuing game was appropriate sloppy. The classic see-saw battle involved several lead changes and lots of turnovers. Cal QB Vince Ferragamo was picked off four times, but somehow kept the Bears in the game with clutch passes to WR Steve Sweeney. Stanford QB Mike Boryla drove the Cardinals to a go-ahead touchdown and a 21-18 lead with three minutes left to play. All looked lost for the Bears when Ferragamo threw his final interception of the day on the next possession, but inexplicably Boryla returned the favor, and Cal took possession with 1:13 to play. The Bears' sophomore QB seemed to relax under the mounting pressure, and calmly drove his team through the muck to the Stanford nine yard line with three seconds to play. On the game's last snap, he hit a mud-covered Sweeney in the back of the end zone for the score which secured the upset for the 3-8 Bears.
4 Comments:
The Play never gets old.
Go Bears.
Funny, first thing I thought was 'what a piss-poor job of time management by the stanfurd coaches to allow time left for a kickoff.'
"There will be no extra point." Something strangely poetic about that final statement--poetic, I guess, precisely because it is so prosaic after Starkey's cracking-voice stream of superlatives. And did you catch Harmon's quick taunt toward the Cal bench after his field goal? Payback's a bitch, isn't it Mark?
So, I do not really consider it may have effect.
Post a Comment
<< Home