The contest wasn't even as competitive as the 30-7 final would suggest, as Cal eagerly took the fight to Stanford while the Cardinal only battled for a short time before surrendering passively. And the post-game aftermath was a raucous blue-and-gold party, the likes of which have not been seen in Berkeley for a long time.
Who could have foreseen this scene last November? Cal was 1-10 and Stanford was 9-2. The closest Tom Holmoe ever got to the Axe was a figurative one that fell on his head after last season ended. Tyrone Willingham had wrapped up his seventh straight win against the Bears, which was even more frustrating considering that five of the games were decided by seven or fewer points. But close is only good enough in horseshoes and hand grenades, and there are no moral victories in the Big Game. In those dark times, it seemed like it would be eons before we would beat Stanford again.
Fast forward to 2002. Both teams' fortunes changed dramatically, with the Bears in the process of recording the second-best improvement in the program's history (from 1-10 to 7-5) while the Cardinal was skidding through the worst turnaround the Farm had ever seen (from 9-3 to 2-9). And still, there was reason to worry. We hadn't won the Big Game since 1994 and had lost when favored before (most notably when 2-8 Stanford kept 5-5 Cal out of a bowl game with a 10-3 upset in 1998). We had yielded 90 points and almost one thousand passing yards during the past two weeks, and though redshirt freshman quarterback Kyle Matter was inexperienced, he was a talented and highly touted prep. Stanford returned many key players from 2001 and they surely would be sky-high for the rivalry game to gain redemption for a bad season. All those fears were laid to rest early, however, as perhaps the most resilient group of seniors Cal has ever had simply would not let the Bears lose against the surprisingly uninspired Cardinal. Cal reeled off 30 unanswered points to close out the contest, and the margin could have been at least 10 points higher had Mark Jensen not suffered from uncharacteristic kicking woes. But those missed opportunities were barely an infinitesimal blip on the radar screen in the big picture, as after the first half, the outcome was never in doubt.
The game began somewhat ominously, and for a short while it appeared as though the Stanford jinx would continue. On Cal's first play from scrimmage from the 20, Boller went for it all and heaved the ball some 60 yards in the air to WR LaShaun Ward, who had gotten several steps behind the secondary. Ward dove for the ball around the SU 25 but couldn't come up with it; if he'd been a step faster or if the pass were thrown a yard shorter, Cal probably would have had a touchdown. On third and 9, Boller found Geoff McArthur open 20 yards downfield, but the Cal wide receiver dropped the ball, and the Bears were forced to punt. Cardinal return man Luke Powell returned Tyler Fredrickson's kick 13 yards to midfield, and shortly thereafter a 30-yard gain on a quick out/lateral-and-run from Matter to WR Ryan Wells gave Stanford a first down at the Cal 10. On third and goal, Matter lofted a fade pass to 6'7" WR Teyo Johnson, who caught the ball in the end zone over our tallest DB, 6'2" DB Nnamdi Asomugha. Fewer than five minutes into the game, Stanford had a 7-0 lead. After the touchdown, Johnson leapt into the stands and posed with his hands on his hips; he must have figured that this would be the first of many big plays for the Cardinal. As it turned out, it would be the last.
Johnson's act of hubris may have fired up the Bears, or perhaps they just needed to settle down from their initial Big Game jitters. Before Cal fans had time to begin fretting, the Bears answered swiftly and tied the game with a five-play, 71-yard TD drive that only took about two minutes. RB Joe Igber warmed up for a career day by knifing through the Cardinal defense for 22 yards on two carries, WR Jonathan Makonnen made a 13-yard reception, and WR LaShaun Ward closed the deal by making a nifty end-zone grab of a 31-yard strike from QB Kyle Boller.
The Bear defense then served notice that there would be no repeat of the performances against the Arizona schools in which ASU's Andrew Walter and UofA's Jason Johnson passed for a respective 477 and 492 yards. Nor would the defense allow big RB Kerry Carter a day like OSU's Steven Jackson, who ran wild for 239 rushing yards against us. In fact, after the opening touchdown drive, the defense pretty much prevented the Cardinal from doing anything, as Stanford could only muster two more first downs on its next seven first-half possessions. For the game, the Cardinal drive chart looked like one from recent Cal offenses: TD, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, interception, punt, interception, downs, punt, punt, fumble.
Meanwhile, the Cal offense benefited from poor special-teams play by Stanford. Eric Johnson shanked a 17-yard punt on his first kick, enabling the Bears to take over at the SU 34. A diving catch by FB Chris Manderino gained 17 yards and a 9-yard Igber stutter-step run gave Cal a first and goal at the 5. The drive stalled, partially due to a failed quarterback draw that lost four yards, and the Bears soon faced third down at the 8. Boller completed a pass to short Igber, who was pushed out of bounds at the 1. Cal elected to eschew the short field goal and go for fourth down, but Boller dropped the ball on a play-action fake, and while he recovered his own fumble at the 3, it was irrelevant since we had lost the ball on downs.
Stanford was backed up deep in its own territory, though, and after three conservative runs, the Cardinal soon punted. Jemeel Powell returned the modest 35-yard punt 10 yards to the SU 36, and Cal had great field position once again. Boller threw a long pass to WR Jonathan Makonnen, who was streaking down the sideline, and although Makonnen couldn't catch up with the ball, he drew a 15-yard pass-interference penalty. Boller then found one of his favorite targets, TE Tom Swoboda, who made a great over-the-shoulder catch for a gain of 16 to give Cal another first and goal at the 5. The offense stalled once more, and this time the Bears settled for a 23-yard Jensen field goal and a 10-7 lead shortly before the first quarter ended. Strangely, that was the only time Cal scored on its five trips into the red zone in a game the Bears won by 23.
We like to think (hope) that the fourth quarter is ours, but the Bears actually seized control of this game in the second quarter and were never seriously in jeopardy thereafter. Cal dominated the period mostly by riding Igber's diminutive shoulders (and, it was later revealed, painfully bruised ribs). Entering the game, the senior RB needed 96 rushing yards to surpass 1,000 for the season and got 104 in Q2 alone, including 42 (along with 10 receiving) on our 80-yard scoring drive to open the period. His 28-yard scamper, on which he made several cuts that left hapless Stanford defenders flailing at air, reminded us why he was called "The Barry Sanders of Hawaii" when he was recruited. Igber did get some help from his friends, as Boller accounted for the final 34 yards on a 12-yard scramble and a perfect 22-yard strike to Ward on a post pattern. Jensen's string of 72 consecutive extra points ended when he missed wide right, but we still took a 16-7 lead.
The Cardinal offense fizzled on another three and out, and the coaches' lack of confidence in Matter was clearly displayed when they called a "give-up" draw to RB Kenneth Tolon on third and 11; he lost another 5 yards to boot. From the Cal 36, Igber ran for 5 and 15 yards before a Stanford DB flat-out mugged Ward on a long pass play, with the resulting 15-yard penalty giving Cal a first down at the SU 29. The drive died there, as DB Leigh Torrance intercepted an underthrown pass and returned the ball 25 yards to the SU 27. Boller was scrambling away from pressure and trying to hit Ward in the end zone but he didn't get enough on the throw.
Stanford went three and out yet again, and after Powell returned a lousy 30-yard punt 11 yards to the Cal 49, the Bears were back in business. On third and 1 from the SU 42, the Cal offensive line opened up a tremendous hole for Igber up the middle, and once he crossed the line of scrimmage, he was gone. There was one white shirt in the area but the defender didn't come close to catching the sprinting Igber, and Cal's lead burgeoned to 23-7 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining in Q2.
It speaks volumes about the game that perhaps Stanford's second-best play of the day (besides the lone TD) was a 55-yard Johnson punt on which the Bears were flagged for two illegal blocks, thereby relegating us to the 4. The ensuing sequence was also very telling about which coach was playing to win rather than to avoid losing; when backed up inside the 5, Teevens ordered three safe conservative runs while Tedford aggressively threw caution to the wind. Even though neither call worked, the difference in attitude was stark. On first down, Boller ran a play-action fake and from his end zone, heaved a bomb downfield. Ward was a good five yards ahead of the coverage, but the ball was about five more yards beyond his grasp. Shortly thereafter, we punted, and when Luke Powell returned the kick to the Cal 28, the Cardinal had a great chance to get back into the game. However, Matter's first-down pass was directly to freshman DB Donnie McCleskey, who caught the ball while falling backward at the 23. The Bears made a mild threat to score, getting near midfield before a Fredrickson punt ended the half.
Whatever fighting spirit remained in Stanford departed shortly after the third quarter began. Powell fielded a punt at the 16, sidestepped the gunner, and broke up the middle with nothing but green grass ahead. By the time Jemeel reached the Cal 35 or so, it was obvious that he was gone. The punter Johnson was back on coverage, but he took a bad angle and/or was too slow and had no real shot at Powell. The electrifying 84-yard punt-return TD was the last score of the game at the 11:58 mark of the third quarter. Powell now owns three of the top six punt returns in Cal history; his 84-yard TD ranks fifth, just behind his 90-yard TD against Michigan State in September and ahead of his 83-yard TD against USC in 2000.
The rest of the game involved little more than Cal failing to add on more points despite several golden opportunities:
* Following a Matter interception, which was tipped before being caught by Paul Ugenti, the Bears took over at the SU 25. A Boller bullet to Makonnen on a crossing pattern over the middle gave Cal a first and goal at the 7, and an Igber run took us to the 5. On second down, we tried what I'm guessing was the tackle-eligible play that we ran for a touchdown to tackle Mark Wilson against WSU; the toss went awry, though, and we were fortunate when Wilson alertly covered the lateral at the SU 16. Boller's third-down pass into the end zone hit the Stanford defender in the back of the helmet and fell incomplete; the Cardinal DB celebrated wildly afterward, though clearly he had no idea where the ball was and literally/unwittingly used his head. Jensen's subsequent 33-yard field-goal attempt sailed wide right.
* Igber reeled off another great run, breaking several tackles and carrying the ball 55 yards to the SU 19 before a defender with an angle hauled him down. On second down, Boller fired a pass to Ward in the end zone, but he juggled the ball and didn't gain full control until after he had fallen out of bounds. On third down, Boller tossed a quick swing pass behind Igber; the ball fell to the ground with three Cardinals in the area, but Igber was the only one who went after it and again, we were lucky to have recovered a wayward lateral. Once again, Jensen missed the field-goal attempt, this time wide left from 39 yards away.
* In the fourth quarter, the Bears wound down the clock on a series of Igber and Manderino rushes that eventually took us to the SU 20. But Jensen subsequently had his 37-yard field-goal attempt blocked.
* On Stanford's last drive, Powell cut in front of a wide receiver and almost picked off a Matter pass before it fluttered to the ground. If Jemeel had gotten a handle on it, he would have had an interception-return touchdown of about 35 yards.
But those incidents were trivial, as it was obvious that Stanford had given up. There was no urgency to the Cardinal offense, which mixed in a lot of running plays despite the large deficit; they seemed content to get the game over with as soon as possible. Their only notable moments from the second half were: 1) up-man David Bergeron calling for a fair catch at the 15 on a kickoff even though there were no blue shirts near him; and 2) the plays where Matter and Teyo Johnson got hurt - Johnson was helped off the field with a sprained knee while Matter seemed OK. Stanford moved within field-goal range only once in the second half, but turned the ball over on downs instead.
All that remained was the wild post-game celebration, which was delayed several times - first by Johnson's injury, then by Matter's injury, and then by two Stanford timeouts. With about 50 seconds left, the students began filtering onto the field despite the frantic efforts of stadium security. A sea of blue and gold slowly washed over the sidelines all the way to the edge of the field, thereby obscuring the players and coaches. When DE Tom Canada stripped the ball away from backup QB Ryan Eklund and recovered it with 11 seconds left, all hell broke loose, as thousands of fans, oblivious to the fact that there was time remaining, stormed the field. The officials waved off the remaining seconds, for there was no way to clear the field for the Bears to kneel once, nor was there any point. By the time the clock read 0:00 and the cannon sounded, the student section was already half empty and rapidly draining its contents onto the field. Security rang the goalposts, but the mob would not be denied; several fights broke out between the guards and fans until the crowd's sheer numbers won out, and down went the North goalpost. Not long thereafter, down went the South goalpost. Somewhere in there, Boller was crowd surfing, wildly waving a towel while being carried around the field by the fans. From my spot on the field, I didn't get close to the Axe, and only caught a glimpse of it on the video board; even if I had known where it was, there was no way to move toward it in the throng of humanity. It was anarchy, Berkeley-style! We lingered for a long time, soaking in the atmosphere, which unfortunately was made sweeter by the time gap between Big Game celebrations. The day was fantastic and later made perfect when we went to LaVal's and watched the Cal basketball team come from behind to knock off New Mexico. On a stop for a brew at the Bear's Lair (when did that place get renovated, anyway?), we saw a piece of one of the goalposts resting comfortably near the entrance. Other friends reported seeing an entire goalpost propped against Sproul Hall. A piece of the goalpost would have made a nice souvenir, but I had forgotten to bring my chainsaw!
The player of the game was clearly Joe Igber, who carried 26 times for a Big Game-record 226 rushing yards (beating Lou Valli's 209 for Stanford in 1956 and Tyrone Edwards' 205 for Cal in 1994). That total represents the fifth-highest rushing total in school history. Igber's output also catapulted him over the 1,000-yard mark, as he became the first Cal tailback to hit quadruple digits since Lindsey Chapman in 1993. Only Chuck Muncie and Russell White have rushed for more yards in a season than Igber's 1,130 (Muncie had 1,460 in 1975 and White had 1,177 in 1991) while Igber's career total of 3,124 trails only White's 3,367. Not only is Igber a heck of a player, he also seems like a very modest, unassuming guy, and I will definitely miss him.
Igber's heroics aside, though, the entire senior class deserves kudos. Boller passed for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Ward hauled in both touchdown passes. Scott Tercero and Ryan Jones led an offensive line that paved the way for 219 rushing yards and allowed only two sacks. Powell had the backbreaking punt-return touchdown. Canada had three sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Tully Banta-Cain added another sack, and his season total of 13 is tied for second behind Andre Carter's 13.5 in 2000. Ugenti had an interception. Bert Watts led the team with six tackles. Asomugha held Johnson in check after the first drive, limiting him to 4 catches for 44 yards. Only Jensen had an off day with three unsuccessful field goals and a missed extra point, and luckily it didn't matter.
And so we bid farewell to our 24 seniors. Though they didn't have much success as measured by our aggregate W-L record during their tenure, they not only gained a final measure of redemption but also set the program in a positive direction. Their accomplishments included achieving our first winning season since 1993, breaking Washington's 25-year stranglehold on the series, finishing 3-1 against UCLA (which would be impressive for any Cal class), and in the fitting finale, taking the Axe back from Stanford. I was especially impressed with Boller, and not so much for the way he played, though he did have a fine senior season. He entered Cal as one of the most highly touted recruits in school history and suffered through two head coaches, three offensive coordinators, poor pass protection, bad receivers, etc. with nary a public complaint or threat to transfer. My lasting memories of his four years will not be the rocket arm, touchdowns, or passing records; they'll be images of him diving headfirst to try to gain an extra yard in games where we were hopelessly behind. Boller personified the slogan, "The Bear will not quit, the Bear will not die," even though he also was part of the unofficial third line, "The Bear will not win," far too often. Thankfully, Boller had one last moment of glory, and the shot of him getting a ride from the exuberant crowd is a classic. As nice as it would have been for Cal to be able to go to a bowl game this year, this really was not a bad way for the seniors to depart: having smoked your archrival, on your turf, in front of a sellout crowd, as ecstatic as can be.
If you have any comments, questions, suggestions for future improvements regarding these game reports, or any other feedback, please drop me a note at AlvinDHom@aol.com. Otherwise, start counting the days until kickoff against Southern Mississippi on August 30, 2003! Go Bears!
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