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.
For pure fun? I'd add Texas 2016 to the list. Multiple late scores, bizarro fumble-not-recovered on the 1 yard line. Running on the field with my kid, not leaving the stadium until well after midnight? And TEXAS. Plus we were with some friends from Poland who'd never seen an American football game in person (if at all) and they got TOTALLY into it.
Has to be Nov 10, 2018. Cal 15 - USC 14. Biggest win of the new era for Cal football, staking our claim to be a contender in this conference. And no, no game against WSU can qualify - we've always had at least equivalent talent no matter their ranking. A win over them is never a surprise, (but never assured either).
How about Cal upsetting #9 Washington 12-10. It was a nail-biting affair the entire way through, and the defense probably played its best game of the decade, scoring the lone TD for Cal and frustrating one of the best coaches of the last 20 years into putting in an unproven back-up QB for a spark which Weaver forced to go haywire.
Although we had seen incremental improvement to that point, this game showed this coaching staff could get the team to beat legitimately good teams.
Has to be USC 2018. I ended up in a dive bar in Southern California for my wife's cousin's birthday. We got there in time for the 4th quarter. I just remember Garbers running into the endzone, and I knew that was it. Shed a tear in the bar as the clock struck 0:00.
Shoutout to the 60-59 classic in Pullman. I will forever remember the camera cutting to Goff when they realized the WSU kicker missed the chip shot FG.
2. 2018 vs USC. Ending that streak was amazing. And watching all those disappointed USC fans on ESPN was a special treat.
3. 2017 vs WSU. Wazzu was #8 in the country and the Bears D COMPLETELY shut them down. For me, that game was the true arrival of Justin Wilcox and a reinvigorated team.
Honorable mentions: 2018, 2019 vs UW, 2016 vs Utah (goal-line stand to seal it) and 2015 vs Texas.
Being a Bears fan is rough, but these games bring a smile to my face and a tear to my eye....
Best FOUR hours??? I guess the 2019 UW game doesn't qualify then...... : )
Furd, 2019. But I watched it on delay and knew the outcome (for which my cardiologist thanks me). The USC game I watched in a dive bar while playing pool. No one knew why I was so happy.......
Wrote a comment below responding to someone's comment that Cal's victory over USC in 2018 was Cal's greatest victory in the last decade. They may be true, but since I'm an Old Blue, I like to write about prior Cal teams that I have witnessed, as I think any true Blue might be interested in reading about them and maybe they might take some adivice from someone who has been watching Cal football since 1967 and has thrown two big The Play parties. Also was a Cal yell leader and led a yell I created at Cal games for ten years after I graduated.
So I mentioned that probably Cal's greatest victory over USC was in 1975, when Cal probably had the greatest team in the modern era of Cal football, with several stars, including Chuck Muncie and Joe Roth.
As is something I am wont to do, I looked up Joe Roth on Wikipedia. I think it was there that I found out there are a one and a half documentary on the life of Joe Roth. Just watched it and it is fantastic. All true Cal fans should watch it. Broght me to tears, which is not easy to do. Has lots of great football footage that is pretty clear, showing Roth's football history and a lot more about him. Includes many, many famous Cal players and coaches (especially Mike White) and even Dungy, the coach at ASU, who knew Joe back in their college days.
I urge all true Cal fans to watch, as it's a classic Cal football film and I learned a lot from it, especially about Joe Roth, who Chuck Muncie rated higher than Steve Bartkowski, as he played with both. It was made in 2014. Called Don't Quit: The Joe Roth Story. It is free on Amazon Prime Video. Probably other places. Type in the title on Wikipedia and you will find other places you can probably get it for free. Below is a link to the documentary on Prime Video. Would love to read some comments about what people who watch it think of it. Go Bears!!!!
Beating UW a second time in a row in Husky Stadium during the lightning game. UW was ranked 14th at the time and they had their 'superstar' QB from Georgia, Jacob Eason. We shut him down. I was there and UW fans were so cocky early on and the Dawgs had a swagger that ended up being a tail between their legs.
Regarding 2010: "The Bears would go onto a successful bowl campaign..." No, not that year. That year ended in a failed goal line stand against U-Dub, when Chris Polk scored the game winning TD. It left us at 5-7 for the year and no bowl bid. That loss to Washington was one of the more depressing Cal losses I've ever experienced (although not as bad as the 2020 Big Game tbh...)
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.
For pure fun? I'd add Texas 2016 to the list. Multiple late scores, bizarro fumble-not-recovered on the 1 yard line. Running on the field with my kid, not leaving the stadium until well after midnight? And TEXAS. Plus we were with some friends from Poland who'd never seen an American football game in person (if at all) and they got TOTALLY into it.
Has to be Nov 10, 2018. Cal 15 - USC 14. Biggest win of the new era for Cal football, staking our claim to be a contender in this conference. And no, no game against WSU can qualify - we've always had at least equivalent talent no matter their ranking. A win over them is never a surprise, (but never assured either).
How about Cal upsetting #9 Washington 12-10. It was a nail-biting affair the entire way through, and the defense probably played its best game of the decade, scoring the lone TD for Cal and frustrating one of the best coaches of the last 20 years into putting in an unproven back-up QB for a spark which Weaver forced to go haywire.
Although we had seen incremental improvement to that point, this game showed this coaching staff could get the team to beat legitimately good teams.
45-44 victory at Texas in 2015 with a missed PAT.
Win vs UCLA 2012 in the Memorial Stadium. 43-17 win behind Maynard, Allen, CJ Anderson
3rd place: Cal victory over Oregon in double OT at Memorial, Jordan Kunashyk gets interception to seal the win
2nd place: Cal victory over Stanford in 2019
1st place: Cal victory over USC in 2018. Patrick Laird seals the win with a 12 yard scamper on 4th-and-1.
Has to be USC 2018. I ended up in a dive bar in Southern California for my wife's cousin's birthday. We got there in time for the 4th quarter. I just remember Garbers running into the endzone, and I knew that was it. Shed a tear in the bar as the clock struck 0:00.
Shoutout to the 60-59 classic in Pullman. I will forever remember the camera cutting to Goff when they realized the WSU kicker missed the chip shot FG.
My Top 3:
1. 2019 vs Stanfurd. That Big Game was a classic
2. 2018 vs USC. Ending that streak was amazing. And watching all those disappointed USC fans on ESPN was a special treat.
3. 2017 vs WSU. Wazzu was #8 in the country and the Bears D COMPLETELY shut them down. For me, that game was the true arrival of Justin Wilcox and a reinvigorated team.
Honorable mentions: 2018, 2019 vs UW, 2016 vs Utah (goal-line stand to seal it) and 2015 vs Texas.
Being a Bears fan is rough, but these games bring a smile to my face and a tear to my eye....
Best FOUR hours??? I guess the 2019 UW game doesn't qualify then...... : )
Furd, 2019. But I watched it on delay and knew the outcome (for which my cardiologist thanks me). The USC game I watched in a dive bar while playing pool. No one knew why I was so happy.......
Wrote a comment below responding to someone's comment that Cal's victory over USC in 2018 was Cal's greatest victory in the last decade. They may be true, but since I'm an Old Blue, I like to write about prior Cal teams that I have witnessed, as I think any true Blue might be interested in reading about them and maybe they might take some adivice from someone who has been watching Cal football since 1967 and has thrown two big The Play parties. Also was a Cal yell leader and led a yell I created at Cal games for ten years after I graduated.
So I mentioned that probably Cal's greatest victory over USC was in 1975, when Cal probably had the greatest team in the modern era of Cal football, with several stars, including Chuck Muncie and Joe Roth.
As is something I am wont to do, I looked up Joe Roth on Wikipedia. I think it was there that I found out there are a one and a half documentary on the life of Joe Roth. Just watched it and it is fantastic. All true Cal fans should watch it. Broght me to tears, which is not easy to do. Has lots of great football footage that is pretty clear, showing Roth's football history and a lot more about him. Includes many, many famous Cal players and coaches (especially Mike White) and even Dungy, the coach at ASU, who knew Joe back in their college days.
I urge all true Cal fans to watch, as it's a classic Cal football film and I learned a lot from it, especially about Joe Roth, who Chuck Muncie rated higher than Steve Bartkowski, as he played with both. It was made in 2014. Called Don't Quit: The Joe Roth Story. It is free on Amazon Prime Video. Probably other places. Type in the title on Wikipedia and you will find other places you can probably get it for free. Below is a link to the documentary on Prime Video. Would love to read some comments about what people who watch it think of it. Go Bears!!!!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.18ad8c54-661f-a664-456e-64237b36452a?ref_=imdbref_tt_wbr_pvs_piv&tag=imdbtag_tt_wbr_pvs_piv-20
Goal line stand to beat Utah in 2016 was pretty sweet, also the last game I've seen in person.
Beating UW a second time in a row in Husky Stadium during the lightning game. UW was ranked 14th at the time and they had their 'superstar' QB from Georgia, Jacob Eason. We shut him down. I was there and UW fans were so cocky early on and the Dawgs had a swagger that ended up being a tail between their legs.
My vote is the win at USC but a close second is Goffs 2015 comeback against ASU in his last game at Memorial.
Regarding 2010: "The Bears would go onto a successful bowl campaign..." No, not that year. That year ended in a failed goal line stand against U-Dub, when Chris Polk scored the game winning TD. It left us at 5-7 for the year and no bowl bid. That loss to Washington was one of the more depressing Cal losses I've ever experienced (although not as bad as the 2020 Big Game tbh...)