Stanford may have a decided edge in the all-time football series with the Cal Bears, but Big Game is not just about numbers. The Stanford Axe has been on display in the Arrillaga Sports Center for the past ten years, but Big Game is not just about a trophy. On Saturday afternoon the Cardinal and the Bears will take the field at Stanford Stadium with serious bowl implications on the line for both teams, but it turns out that Big Game is not even just about football.
Big Game is about memories. While Stanford's recent run of dominance in the series has sometimes made the annual game against Cal feel more Medium than Big, with some fans pointing towards USC or Notre Dame or even Oregon as the program's actual rival, Big Game carries a resonance and a history that dwarfs any other game on Stanford's schedule. As sports fans we've been trained to latch onto the numbers, as if they tell the story. When we look into the record books we note that Stanford has prevailed nine years in a row, bringing the all-time Cardinal advantage to 59-43-10 (or 60-42-10, if we're being honest).
But there's so much more to the history of the game than statistics. Big Game endures because of the people involved and the memories they pass down from one generation to the next, stories told in dorm rooms and reunions and tailgates, stories from the field, the locker room, the press box, and the stands. Sometimes, in fact, the stories are so good that they transcend the games and become talking points for years to come. The individual games might sometimes be boring, but the stories never are.
Toi Cook: Defensive Back, 1984-86
I actually have a couple incidents that I recall from the Big Game. The first was in 1984 my sophomore year. Prior to the game, in which Brad Muster rushed for 200+ yards, I guess [Cal head coach] Joe Kapp had stated in the paper that Cal was going to go after Toi Cook and Joe Cain. It was the ultimate in bulletin board material and it was actually an insult to both Joe and me. I was actually happy that Joe Kapp, rest in peace, didn't just mention me! That being said, Dick Manini, our defensive coordinator, brought this up the night before in the team meeting. He actually was PISSED and challenged Joe and me -- "what are you going to do about it??!!" Well I was pissed because I thought "well there is nothing I can really do about it right now so I don't understand the urgency to call us out but whatever!" The next day I had two INTs courtesy of Gale Gilbert and we won I think 27-10 and I remember saying "well how did THAT scheme of going after me work out for you Joe?" That was fun!
The second memory was the 1986 Big Game which we lost. I remember because this time I provided the bulletin board material but saying I just wanted to kick Cal's ass as a joke, but this went viral before there was viral! We lost. They still say that they were happy to have caught a touchdown on Toi Cook, which I thought was cool that they were soooo satisified with actually beating me. The best part was me and Hardy Nickerson getting into a fist fight after the game and my brother, Keyaan, who was 14 at the time, jumping onto the field and coming to help. Hardy Nickerson, who I respect and was a great football player, and I still laughed about it when we would see each other in the NFL.
Probably no game is more memorable for Stanford fans than the 1990 Big Game in Cal's Memorial Stadium. The teams had split the previous eleven games, 5-5-1, making this probably the most contentious stretch of games in the past several decades, and the animosity between the two fanbases was palpable that afternoon. I remember oranges raining down from the Cal student section during the Stanford band's halftime performance, but several LSJUMB members had come prepared with juicers. They caught the oranges and made orange juice during the show. Interestingly, they weren't the only ones to take advantage of things falling from the sky.
Bob Whitfield: Left Tackle, 1989-91
I remember dimes being launched at our heads during pregame warmup. The 1990 Big Game was played at Cal and those nasty Bear fans threw dimes at us. A dime when it hits your helmet does ring the ears for a second. Needless to say I picked up about a buck fifty in candy money and the win that day!
Any negativity from the objects hurled from the stands has long since been obscured by what happened in the closing moments of that game as the Cardinal exacted revenge for the The Play in 1982. Those of us who were there will never forget it.
Glyn Milburn: Running Back, 1990-92
The animosity between Cal and us goes back to the 1890s. My first experience with this rivalry was in the 93rd edition of the Big Game, where we, at a 4-6 record, would play only for pride as opposed to a bowl berth. Cal had already been assured of a bowl game and was clearly overconfident. A few of our older players whispered about attempts from Cal students to deface Stanford landmarks during the week, all in an effort to distract our focus on what would be our final game of the season. Our practice week was focused, and Coach Dennis Green assured us that we were prepared to play our best football of the season. As we walked into the visitor's locker room at the old Cal Memorial Stadium that Saturday afternoon, I remember seeing the faces of many of my teammates (most of whom would be playing their last football game in their career) and how a win would be a fitting end to their Stanford career. I remember we walked onto the field in an untraditional manner…instead of running onto the field through the tunnel, we walked through the crowd down the stairs and onto the field. In a way, this act showed our fans and supporters that we were not intimidated and were prepared to "walk through" the opposition and end our season on a high note. I don't remember much about the game except for us facing a two-score deficit at halftime and battling back to make it a one-score game with less than a minute to go. We drove the ball down deep into their territory, where Jason hits Ed for a touchdown in the right corner of the end zone to put us within one point of a tie game. However, this was the Big Game, and we would not play for the tie. We failed to complete another Jason Palumbis pass to Ed McCaffrey when all of a sudden, their fans stream onto the field believing they had won. Once the officials cleared the field, there were still 12 seconds left to perform what became the legendary "Revenge of The Play" from 1982. Onside kick, defensive penalty, and a last-second John Hopkins field goal. Game over. After that game, the locker room was euphoric...our coaches and teammates, knowing that we had the talent and mental toughness to compete well over the next few years. This game, in all of its craziness, continued our dominance over Cal for quite a while.
Lisa McCaffrey, '91
We were down late in the fourth and it looked like we virtually had no chance. Our section was down and defeated. I looked around and thought, “I have to do something?” So I did what every good fan should do and I stood up and chanted, “Don’t give up the ship! Don’t give up the ship!” I was in the section with the band and they chimed in along with everyone else. I like to think our section alone turned that game around. We ended up winning, miraculously. Not lying, for the next few weeks people would approach me on campus and identify me as the "don’t give up the ship" girl. Ask Ed. He witnessed it. That’s kind of my claim to fame.
I actually did ask Ed about the 1990 game a few years ago, so I can confirm that Lisa's story is true.
Ed McCaffrey: Wide Receiver, 1986-1990
There are a lot of games, you remember some of them, you don’t remember all of them. But that game is one that is totally ingrained in my memory. I just remember it was a tough game back and forth. The whole game was pretty mundane for me personally, and then all the sudden I was able to score a touchdown at the end and I’m thinking, what an incredible way to finish this game. But it was so loud after I caught the ball, it was so loud. And things are happening so fast and the coaches are just waving the players back on the field. You don’t really even think. You just run back in the huddle and get lined up. I do remember that play. We ran a sprint right option, or a Q8, which was the famous Dwight Clark play, do you remember that?
So we had that play called going out to the right, and I thought, oh my gosh, I’m going to totally score just like Dwight Clark did against Dallas. It’ll be perfect! So I run the route, and I’m open. I feel like I’m open. I’m running along the back of the end zone, and the pass is thrown, and the DB cuts under it and picks it off. So it went from what I thought was going to be a replay of the Dwight Clark catch to us seemingly losing the game on the failed two-point conversion and then their crowd rushing the field and I’m sitting on the bench for what seemed like forever. And then — a couple of penalties and an onside kick and we win. And the one thing I remember, Lisa, my wife was in the stands, and the Stanford sideline was completely silent. I mean, everyone was in disbelief. No one was saying a word, and during this long pause in the game created by their fans rushing the field, Lisa stands up and just screams, “Don’t give up the ship!”
...for the rest of the year, all the people sitting around her, people who looked back at her like she was crazy because the odds of us winning at that point were minuscule, but for the rest of the year as we walked through campus, every other day someone would yell out “Don’t give up the ship!” back to her, which was a constant reminder of that game, which was kind of funny. But it’s almost unbelievable what had to happen for us to end up winning, but I do remember how happy we all were that things happened the way they did.
Jon Weisman, '89: Stanford Daily, 1985-89
I was Stanford class of '89, but my brother Greg was class of '85 and in the stands when the Play happened. I took the injustice deep to heart. For a high school speech tournament, I delivered a stirring exposé of the malfeasance to a baffled and bewildered trio of judges. When I joined The Stanford Daily sports department during freshman orientation, I was almost immediately schooled in the brilliant history of the fake issue of the Daily Californian that rewrote history the way it should have been in the first place.
Not for nothing, during my four years as an undergraduate, Big Game satisfaction was fleeting. Stanford won at home in '85 and '87, but had a stirring 1986 season marred by a loss in Berkeley, and then needed a last-second blocked field goal during my senior year in 1988 just so we could salvage a tie. We celebrated retaining the Axe, but I graduated from Stanford and then the 1980s without any sense that the ghosts of the Play would ever be exorcised.
Then came 1990. I was still young and fancy-free, and made the trip up north from Los Angeles to meet friends for Big Game at Cal. It was a good game, most of which I seem to remember for oranges being slingshot from the stands at the Stanford band, but as the clock wound down, the Cardinal was in trouble. If you're reading this website, you don't need me to detail what happened at the end, the remarkable nine points in 12 seconds to secure the victory. What I want to communicate here is the emotion and exhilaration of being in the stands in the end zone, gasping for air and sanity as Stanford scored that touchdown to close the gap, as the failed two-point conversion attempt engendered a penalty against the Bears for their fans prematurely charging the field, as the onside kick was recovered, as Cal committed a roughing-the-passing penalty to put the Cardinal in field-goal range, and as John Hopkins kicked that football right at us, through the goalposts and into our hearts, setting off a mad, screaming, body-shaking celebration. It is and will always remain the only time I've charged the field at a football game, and why? Because we were free. We were free from the tyranny of the Play. Go ahead and show replays of Kevin Moen crashing into the band all you want. It's fun. It captures our rivalry. And best of all, the Play doesn't hurt anymore.
Scott Reiss, '93 (Current radio voice of Stanford football and basketball)
There is no singular play that will ever surpass - well, The Play - in Big Game lore. But I would argue the sequence of events at the conclusion of the 1990 game is second to none.
Consider: Stanford, already assured of a losing season, was a substantial underdog against Copper Bowl-bound Cal. The Bears led 25-18 late in the game, when Jason Palumbis hit Ed McCaffrey (aka, Christian's dad. Yes, he played football too) for a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining. Cardinal coach Dennis Green rolled the dice and went for the two-point conversion and the win. It failed. The Cal fans rushed the field. Bedlam in Berkeley. I watched helplessly from the Stanford section behind the end zone where said conversion failed (I was a sophomore at the time), as the Berkeley Bears and their fans celebrated the thrill of victory - all the while, not realizing the game was not actually over. In fact, it took 10 minutes and multiple announcements from the PA announcer ("Please clear the field! The game is not over!") to restore order.
The fan fiasco not only (ultimately) cost the Cal fans their dignity, it cost them 15 yards. A delay-of-game penalty moved the Stanford kickoff to midfield. The Cardinal recovered the onside kick at the Cal 37 with nine seconds remaining. Time for one more play and then a miracle field goal attempt. And on that one play - an incomplete pass -- Cal roughed the passer Palumbis, which resulted in 15 more precious yards to the Bear 22. Five seconds left. Just enough time for John Hopkins to still the game-winning, 39-yard field goal to propel Stanford to a 27-25 victory.
It was our turn to rush the field. I spent my first-ever night in Berkeley dancing on enemy turf, armed with a college memory that would last a lifetime. It remains the most incredible finish to a football game I have ever witnessed in person.
There had always been heat to the rivalry, but the 1991 game brought relevance, as both teams had improved significantly. Like the Cardinal, the Bears were ranked -- and still rankled from their heartbreaking loss the year before. They ran their mouths before and during the game, led by a quarterback whose attitude was as big as his arm. Probably the signature moment from the game came early on when All-America left tackle Bob Whitfield sustained a mild injury. Cal players heckled him as he lay on the ground receiving treatment from the trainers, and Big Bob responded by flipping them off. It was that type of game.
Vaughn Bryant: Defensive Back, 1990-93
My fondest memory is the 1990 Big Game, but I’m sure someone will cover that one. Second favorite is ‘91. Brian Treggs was a senior receiver for Cal, very outspoken. The week of the game he was talking trash. He guaranteed a California victory. He said it loud and clear, loud enough for every Stanford player to hear. And just in case any of them were hard of hearing, he added a personal twist to the prediction. “I will live in Palo Alto if we lose to Stanford,” he announced. “I will not come back to Berkeley.” Needless to say he didn’t move to Palo Alto and didn’t even impact the game. I covered him the whole game and he maybe had 3 catches. I only remember one catch but I’m sure you can find the stats. Just to rub it in, my teammate and the other cornerback Darrien Gordon stopped Treggs as we left the field. Gordon kiddingly told Treggs that he could stay at his place from now, seeing that the Golden Bear needed a new residence.
For all the taunting the Bears were doing, they found no results on the field. Treggs might not have moved to Palo Alto, but the Axe would remain in Stanford hands for thirteen out of fifteen years from 1987 to 2001 including seven straight years, the longest streak in the series at that point.
R.J. Abeytia, '98 (Stanford Football Insider at The Bootleg)
Despite strong competition and many choices from the last nine seasons, I'd have to go with my first trip to Strawberry Canyon in 1996. One of my favorite Stanford teams ever had turned its season around, but Cal was the 'it' team in the game because of Head Coach Steve Mariucci, who'd gotten Cal off to a fast start. I'm pretty sure Casey Moore had a huge touchdown run and Stanford took the Golden Bears out to the woodshed in a 42-21 victory that was never really in doubt. There was sweet satisfaction after walking up fraternity row in Berkeley and getting wildly heckled, and then hours later walking out with nary a peep from anyone in blue and gold.
Ramona Shelburne, '01 (Senior Writer, ESPN)
My first Big Game was 1997. I was a freshman and new to all the rivalry stuff. Fortunately the game was at Stanford that year and we won. But then something weird happened. The Cal fans stormed the field. We won, but they came down out of the stands onto our field and they tore down our goalpost. I was in the student section and we were about to run into the field to celebrate. But as soon as we saw the Cal fans run on to the field, we all turned around and went back up into the stands. We didn’t want to get into any fights with them; or get into any trouble. It was the most Stanford thing ever.
Kevin Miller: Punter/Kicker, 1995-98
Big Game was always special. There were other "bigger" games that had more vitriol or more weight from a standings perspective. But Big Game always had a certain gravitas that you didn't find in other games. I always felt part of a tradition that went further than the final score. Playing in and winning four straight Big Games will always be special to me. Personally outscoring Cal 4-3 in an otherwise forgettable Big Game (1998, my last) is also a special memory and always makes for a fun talking point with Cal friends. Another special memory from that game came after when I went to touch/slap the Axe. I get close to it, give it a slap, and suddenly I am helping support it. We go a little further and suddenly I am carrying the entire thing. I then discover how heavy and unwieldy the thing is. But you can't ask for help, this is the Axe! So, half elated and half terrified I am going to drop the thing, I haul it up the stairs and in to Cal's crappy 15' x 15' locker room where everyone cheers when it comes in. I have no clue who took it from me, but the memory has always stayed with me.
If we're being honest, there were many years when Big Game served as a de facto bowl game for the Cardinal, and seven or eight wins was considered a successful season. Younger fans have been spoiled by all the recent success, but those of us from older generations will admit that whenever we spoke of the Rose Bowl, we did so jokingly. Seeing the Cardinal in Pasadena in January would be as likely as a snowstorm in Los Angeles -- but then the 1999 Big Game changed everything.
Todd Husak: Quarterback, 1996-99
We were coming off a big performance against ASU where we learned that UW had lost to UCLA, which put us back in the driver’s seat for the conference, and we ended up hanging 54 points on the Sun Devils. Cal had been struggling on offense and was down to their third quarterback, so we knew a good showing from the offense would get us to where we wanted to be. A touchdown to Dave Davis, one from Brian Allen, and a 94 yard run from fullback Casey Moore sealed it as we won 31-13, secured the sweep of UCLA, USC, and Cal, and then celebrated with everyone in the locker room. It was such a special group of guys who overcame being under-recruited (Troy Walters and I were both two-star recruits coming out of high school) and underrated (picked to finish ninth or tenth in the conference) by working together and achieving our potential. The hugs on the sideline and in the locker room and the appreciation for the guys and what we were able to accomplish will always be one of the best memories of my life.
Stanford Steve Coughlin: Tight End, 1996-99
My best Big Game memory is never losing to them and getting 4-0 vs. Kal on our ‘99 Pac 10 championship rings.
Tank Williams: Defensive Back, 1999-2001
The one memory that stands out the most is my interception in the 1999 Big Game. We were up 31-13 with a little under 2 minutes left in the game, but that put the final nail in the coffin. I had a bunch of family members in the stands, and I can recall my aunts telling me that my mom was scared to celebrate a Rose Bowl berth before the game was over. After my interception, one of my mom's sisters told her, "Well, if you can't smell roses now; you're not going to smell them!" We started off the season with a blowout loss to Texas and finished it with an interception to send us to the Rose Bowl. Those moments were poetic justice for me personally, and that play specifically, changed the trajectory of my college career and set me on the path for the NFL.
Soon after that miraculous Rose Bowl berth, however, the program took a dip, with Cal winning Big Game five years in a row, matching their longest streak in the series. Needless to say, the seniors entered the '07 desperate for a win and a chance to hoist the Axe.
Evan Moore: Wide Receiver, 2003-07
My favorite Big Game memory is, without question, my senior year in 2007 when we beat Cal for the first time in 5 years. It was the only Big Game win that our '07 class was able to experience, and it was incredible. Carrying that Axe around the field for the first time in the new Stanford Stadium was something that we will never forget. It was a special night in Palo Alto, and it was a special moment for the entire '07 class that had yet to experience that win.
From our 2019 perspective, sitting as we do atop a nine-game winning streak, that five-game losing streak is difficult to imagine. In fact, most fans will tell you that the last defeat, a narrow loss during Andrew Luck's first season as a starter, is still difficult to think about, and not just because it cost Stanford the Axe; it cost even more than that.
David Lombardi, '10: KZSU play-by-play
I’ve actually only been to one Big Game that came down to the wire, 2009. That was actually the last time that Stanford lost. I was a senior at the time and the play-by-play broadcaster for KZSU, Stanford’s student radio station. So the fact that Andrew Luck threw a game-ending interception at crunch time when Toby Gerhart would’ve rumbled in with his fifth (and potentially Heisman-sealing) touchdown of the night actually made it my least favorite Big Game memory at the time.
That being said, I’ve come to appreciate the tension and drama of that game in the years since. The current rivalry just doesn’t have it anymore. Ever since Luck and Stanford avenged the 2009 loss with a 2010 beatdown of Cal on the road, we’ve seen empty seats and mostly boring games. You really do have to go back to 2009 to find the most recent Big Game moment layered with true rivalry meaning.
As for specifics: I still remember my co-broadcaster Christian Jennings throwing his headset against the press box window when Luck threw that pick. You can hear the crash on the recording. Yes, it was painful for us Stanford students at the time. But that was because the stakes were high, and they haven’t been high in the Big Game for quite some time now.
Michael Thomas: Safety, 2008-11
2010 Big Game, my junior year. We are at Cal and there’s a lot of noise talking before the game. I just remember thinking “WE BOUT TO SMACK THESE BOYS!” From the very first play we imposed our will. Big play after big play. Physical runs, by even our QB, and big hits!!! Right before half, I’m guarding their top wide receiver, Keenan Allen, in the slot. I see the ball coming on a crossing route, and I pick it off. Our whole squad mobbed me, and we went on to one of the biggest Big Game routs in history. It’s our Axe!!! Go Stanford!!!
Troy Clardy, '97 (Pac-12 Network Play-by-Play Announcer and host of the TreeCast podcast)
In 2010, I was living in Pittsburgh and traveling with Pitt football. The morning of Big Game, I was in Tampa, where the Panthers were playing South Florida at noon Eastern time. Meanwhile, Stanford-Cal was set to kick off at 3:30 pm Eastern, while we were scheduled to be boarding the buses to head to the airport after the game. That meant there would be no way I’d be able to watch Big Game in real time. Fortunately, before leaving for Florida, I had set my DVR. Upon landing in Pittsburgh, I didn’t turn on my phone (no pesky spoiler texts from friends!), drove home as quickly as I could, and fired up my recording of the game. Two hours later (fast-forwarding through commercials, of course!), I sat in my living room, slack-jawed. And giddy. 48-14. Andrew Luck stiff-arming the taste out of Sean Cattouse’s mouth. Stanford grabbing The Axe back with a hot-buttered beatdown of the Bears that was perhaps as close to a perfect game as the Cardinal have ever played. I turned my phone back on and it was full of texts confirming that what I had just seen was real. And I may or may not have danced like Peter, Michael Bolton, and Samir after they knocked the crap out of that printer in “Office Space.” I saw it late, but it was worth the wait!
Sam Fisher, '14 (C0-Author of Rags to Roses: The Rise of Stanford Football)
My favorite Big Game memory came when I was a freshman in 2010. I remember taking a bus with my dorm (shoutout to Twain) for my first trip to Berkeley, wandering around the hostile frat row, before heading in feeling confident we would take back the Axe. After an ugly start to the game, Andrew Luck delivered his famous hit on Cal safety Sean Cattouse, and the Card started to wear down the Bears. I'll never forget leading our section in call-respond chants of "We'll have the Axe, in X more minutes" as the minutes wound down. Then, as the minutes ticked lower, Memorial Stadium security guards began a feeble attempt to "barricade" the Stanford student section, leading to chants of "You can't stop us." When the clock hit zero, we stormed the field, and danced with the band in celebration of taking back the Axe while Richard Sherman and Michael Thomas took turns directing the band with the bandleader's baton. I can't imagine a better first Big Game experience!
That 2010 game did more than just recover the Axe, it jump started the Golden Age of Stanford Football and began the current nine-year Big Game winning streak. As the Cardinal rose to national prominence, the matchups with Cal may have become less competitive, but they were no less memorable.
Wayne Lyons: Defensive Back, 2011-14
Big Game... man where do I start...from the opening pep rally to get the school engaged, to the videos being played about the games in the past and the huge rivalry around town to keep the energy high! Going into my favorite Big Game moment I have to think about so much. I would recall my best moments in Big Game history being inside Cal's Memorial Stadium, and we were securing the win to head back to Palo Alto to celebrate a big win, and I was graced with my first college interception when guarding Kennan Allen going into the end zone. I wish I could have kept my balance and stayed in bounds to take it back 99 yards for a pick six, but I was happy about taking a Cal football souvenir back to Palo Alto along with the Axe and lifelong bragging rights. That picture of the interception was used in a newspaper article that I now have, and also I now have a super dope profile picture and email photo to showcase the college highlight that I cherish. Go Card for life and beat the Bears... we want the Axe!!!
Luke Kaumatule: Tight End/Defensive End, 2013-16
My favorite big game memory would have to be in my sophomore season at home. Being able to be apart of a special game where Ty Montgomery set a school record for the most touchdowns in a half. Just being a part of that team and in that game I knew that we were doing something special. The team played great, Ty did amazing, and everything just played right. Also as a former Stanford football player I am proud to say that while I was at Stanford we never lost the Axe!
Do-Hyoung Park, '16: Stanford Daily Sports Editor
The more removed I get from the Good Old Days, the easier it is for me to stomach the idea that I bore witness to one of the most truly absurd four-year stretches of Stanford football in the history of the program. Sure, I was told war stories of the Walt Harris days and read about losing to UC Davis, but that was hard to actually internalize when top-15 matchups on The Farm became the norm and a season without a Rose Bowl felt like an anomaly.
I now realize the folly of my ways. But this season makes those memories of that absurd apex of Stanford football all the more sweet. And at no point did that absurdity punch harder than in the 2013 Big Game, when the best Stanford team of my time on campus met a Cal program embroiled in a state of purgatory for which "Rock Bottom" would be much too kind. The boxscore says "Stanford 63, California 13" -- and glancing through that stat sheet brings back such a fun, chaotic cacophony of memories. Forget, for a second, the absurdity of a David Shaw offense (without Christian McCaffrey) scoring 63 points. It's not just that Ty Montgomery had four touchdowns by the 14:30 mark of the second quarter -- and a fifth by halftime -- or that Evan "Literally Evan Crower" Crower threw a touchdown pass in garbage time. The moment of peak absurdity that stands out above all? Tyler Gaffney lined up in the Wildcat formation and ran -- untouched! -- for a 58-yard touchdown in the third quarter, marking the only time in the history of David Shaw football that a Wildcat run has gained anything other than exactly one yard. That's how I knew that the football gods had decided to smile upon Stanford with a perverse sense of humor that day at Stanford Stadium, and I loved it so much.
Barry J. Sanders: Running Back, 2012-15
The first one would be Kevin Hogan’s performance in the 2012 Big Game. You may need to fact check it but I believe that was his first career start which in hind sight was the resurgence we needed to make our PAC 12 championship and Rose Bowl run. Ty Montgomery’s 5 TD performance in the 2013 big game was awesome to witness. And being one of the lead blockers on Christian’s kickoff return for TD in 2015 was a special moment.
Terrence Alexander: Cornerback, 2014-17
First of all, what is there not to love about the Big Game rivalry? It’s a week long full of sophisticated loathing between Stanford’s greats and its fans against those Kal bears. 2015-2016, which was the Rose Bowl and best season I’ve had at Stanford, was a great year, but the Big Game that year was amazing. I played against Jared Goff and earned player of the game, and that alone could’ve made it a memorable day. Although, I was outshined by my boy CMac. It was one of the greatest performances I can remember, my defensive player of the game couldn’t compare to his Heisman performance. This game gave our team the confidence we needed to spring ourselves into the PAC-12 Championship and later Rose Bowl Champs! #BeatKal
Alexa Philippou, '15: Stanford Daily Sports Editor
Out of all the Big Games I experienced, I will never forget the 2015 Big Game. The Stanford Daily does an annual joint sports issue with The Daily Cal that comes out right before the game, complete with extensive football coverage from both publications leading up to the main event. That year, I was the sports editor of the Daily, so while I was extraordinarily overwhelmed with managing the entire production, I still wanted to be involved in the coverage. I was intrigued by and ended up writing about the 2015 Stanford team’s connections to the 1990 Cardinal squad. For one, Glyn Milburn’s performance during the 1990 Big Game set Stanford’s single-game record for all-purpose yards (379) — a record that (eventual Heisman runner-up) Christian McCaffrey had already come close to breaking earlier in the season, and actually ended up surpassing in the 2015 game with 389 all-purpose yards. In the 1990 Big Game, Christian’s dad, Ed McCaffrey, scored the touchdown that would make it a one-score game. Not to mention that David Shaw, Denny Green, Brian Billick, Cory Booker, and John Lynch were all part of that year’s Stanford team/coaching staff. For my article, one of at least half a dozen pieces my amazing Daily staff produced for the special issue, I got to ask Shaw at availability before game about what he remembered from that eventful matchup back in his days as a Stanford student. So as I sat in the press box covering the 2015 game itself, watching Christian do his thing and Stanford take home the Axe once again, I couldn’t help but think of the parallels, and differences, between 1990 and 2015, the past and the present, how the fight for the Axe has been a constant through it all — and how I, as a student journalist, was able to make my small contribution to the record of this storied rivalry.
Jordan Watkins: Defensive End, 2014-16
My favorite memory would have to be leading the C-House chant at the rally before the 2016 game. It was awesome to see not only the support from students, but also to hear how loud it was in Memorial Auditorium. One of the cooler things I got to do. Getting a TFL in that game wasn’t so bad, either.
Conrad Ukropina: Kicker, 2013-16
The 2016 game at Cal was pouring rain - the game was pretty close, and I kicked a 42 yard field goal right before halftime to give us the lead. That wasn’t my most memorable kick though - my final PAT of the game actually broke the consecutive made PAT record at Stanford, and I had no idea until after the game, when my parents showed me a soaking-wet sign they had made and held up the entire game.... thank God I didn’t miss the kick! Also, Christian broke off a huge run to start the second half, which was when I knew we would win for sure. Always fun watching him run for TDs, then getting to kick the PAT with the crowd still roaring.
Harrison Phillips: Defensive Tackle, 2014-17
My favorite but game memory was my senior year. After a fun week of big game activities, we kept the axe for the seems like 15th time in a row. Carrying that axe around the field was an epic feeling, and very tiring. It's a lot heavier than it looks.
Frank Buncom, IV: Defensive Back, 2015-18
My favorite Big Game memory was from the 2018 game last year. We were only up by one score early in the fourth quarter and Cal was putting together a good drive. They broke the huddle in a run-heavy personnel and tried to catch us off-guard and throw it deep. The quarterback threw a terribly inaccurate ball that was uncatchable for everyone— so we thought. Paulson took off sprinting, laid out, and made an unbelievable one-handed diving interception. It was ridiculous! I always felt like we had control of the game but that moment made me realize that they still couldn’t play with us just yet.
Bobby Okereke: Linebacker, 2015-18
My favorite Big Game memory was last year’s big game (2018). I finished the game with my career high in tackles, and it was a great feeling after the game being able to run around with the Axe and then take a picture with all the fifth years, holding up five fingers (signifying that in 5 years we had never lost to cal).
So what's my favorite memory? Saturday's Big Game will be the 33rd since I walked on campus as a freshman in the fall of 1987, but even with so many games to choose from, the choice is simple.
In the closing minutes of the 1990 Big Game, as things were looking bleak for the Cardinal, I met the flagging spirits of my friends with an equal amount of optimism. "We're going to win this game," I announced, "and then I'm going to buy dinner for anyone who wants to come." It seemed an empty boast at the time, but soon enough John Hopkins was splitting the uprights and I was dancing on the Memorial Stadium turf. I stayed down on the field long enough to find the Axe and run my fingers along the blade, but then I returned to the stands to reconnect with my friends. The first one I found was Jack, and somehow we came up with an idea.
There are two poles at the bottom of the stands in back of the end zone, flag poles used to hoist the net behind the goal posts during field goal attempts. Jack proposed a race to the top of the poles, and since I was twenty years old, it seemed like a fine idea. After shimmying up ten or fifteen feet, I looked across and saw that Jack was beating me. Hoping to catch up, I started using the rope attached to my pole to climb faster, and it worked -- for about thirty seconds. The rope snapped, and I landed hard.
A trip to the emergency room later that night would reveal a fractured elbow, but first I had a dinner to buy. About twenty of us ended up at Chinese restaurant somewhere in Berkeley, and we spent the next hour or so laughing and sharing stories about the game. We probably laughed hardest, or at least I did, when the check came and I offered my credit card, only to find that the restaurant was cash only and my wallet was cash empty. Instead of paying for everyone, everyone paid for me.
But the time spent in that restaurant wasn't about football. The people at the table that night were my best friends in the world at the time, and many of them still are -- even Jack. Perhaps one year we'll all gather together for Big Game, perhaps the Cardinal will produce another stirring victory, and perhaps I'll finally get a chance to buy everyone dinner.
