Nominate your Cal football game of the decade
What's the best four hours of Pac-12 After Dark you spent with the Bears in the 10s?
So, the decade ended a year ago, but most of us are ready to expunge the year of 2020 out of our minds, so let’s reset and start thinking of the best of the 2010s!
With not a lot of season to reflect on, and a lot of Bears trapped in their homes for the foreseeable future, we’ll be spending a large ton of our offseason figuring out our best Cal memories of the 2010s!
We want to hear from you! What are the football games that enter your mind as the best of the decade for our Golden Bears?
Nominate one great Cal game you care about in the comments and explain why. Later this offseason, we’ll release our top 10 list, post-by-post, and include your submissions!
Here are a few games from my shortlist.
2010: Cal 20, Washington State 13. With Cal trying to stumble their way into a bowl, the Brock Mansion party yacht spun into full gear to guide Cal to an upset win against the powerhouse Washington State Cougars. The Bears would go onto a successful bowl campaign, and Jeff Tedford received an additional five-year contract extension.
2011: Cal 30, Washington State 7. Facing adverse conditions (a half-empty baseball stadium, a lovely wet drizzle that drenched whoever was left, and the artist formerly known as the Lobster), the Bears finally put an end to the menace that was Paul Wulff.
2013: Cal 37, Portland State 30. The mighty Portland State Vikings (who would finish a sturdy campaign of 6-6) jumped out to a 20-10 lead, but a young enterprising talent named Jared Goff launched 51 passes to bring Cal back. The Bears improved to 1-1 on the season and the sky was the limit from there.
2015: Cal 54, Oregon State 24. Jared Goff beat Oregon State so badly in this game, the Beavers forfeited their next five years of games, so Cal hasn’t lost to Oregon State since.
2016: Cal 36, UCLA 10. Sonny Dykes won his first game against a Cal rival and never looked back.
2019: Cal 33, Washington State 20. In a huge shocker, the Bears shut down the Air Raid yet again. Mike Leach quickly righted the ship, realized the error of his eccentric ways, and foundedd a think tank dedicated to fact-based policy.
You might have some disagreements with this list, and that’s okay!
Is this where I chime in with the Cheez-It Bowl? Most entertaining Cal loss since Cal @ USC 2004.
This is easy. 2019 Big Game. Our first victory of the decade (in our last opportunity) against Furd. Not only did we reclaim the Axe, but the game was thriller with the Bears coming from behind to win. Cal also had the twin pleasures of clinching a bowl berth and eliminating the Lobsterbacks from bowl contention.