Cal Football Reaffirms the Big Game Standard

98 yards with my boys.

Miles Williams with the axe. Credit: Cal Football

I’m quite certain the 127th Big Game took years off everyone’s lives. But, when the dust settled, it was the fans of the California Golden Bears who rushed the field for the fourth straight season.

At times it was maddening, agonizing, even unconscionable what was happening in Berkeley. The therapeutic nature of everything that transpired after that botched field goal was inspiring, exhilarating, and captured everything that the blue and gold experienced in the 2024 season. In some cases, the scale of situations that Cal fans have gone through is broken, there’s simply no way to describe it all.

For hours into the night, the 127th Big Game restored order.

It reaffirmed what Cal vs Stanford is and what the Bears winning means regardless of record; it’s no longer a luxury to be the Cardinal, it is now the standard.

98 yards with my boys

A phrase that’ll go down in Cal Football history. A drive that everyone will tell their grandchildren about. You’ll remember who you were with, what you were doing, where you were watching from, and how you celebrated the indescribable euphoria of securing a fourth straight axe.

Those are memories that you’ll cherish the rest of your life.

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Through three quarters, Stanford had effectively owned Cal. Considering the circumstances of the season, there was certainly some peril-esque feelings inside of California Memorial Stadium as the clock chewed and the offense continued to be stuck in neutral.

However, the defense kept holding firm. Going from allowing third and fourth down conversions to locking down Stanford’s offense in prison, none of the lore surrounding the 98 yard drive takes place if the defense doesn’t stand tall several times over.

S Craig Woodson remarked postgame that “I’m not going out like this” when it came to the fire the defense played with in trying to retain the Axe.

Then the boys had their moment. What actually turned into a drive of over 100 yards after the sacks, Fernando Mendoza and Jonathan Brady cemented themselves as Big Game Heroes for life. As Jaydn Ott and Trond Grizzell did a year ago, these Bears stepped up when the moment called for it and are now among a legendary list of names.

Sending out the Seniors

Emotions already run high with the Big Game. Add in Senior Day, and it’s easy to get lost in the lack of emotional equilibrium required to execute at a high level. It’s Cal players last time putting on a uniform inside of a stadium that they’ve put in blood, sweat, and tears into. For a bit, the emotion did consume the Bears. While it was frustrating to see in the moment, they are human. There’s so much at stake personally in this one game alone, balancing that out with the knowledge that a chapter officially closes no matter how the game ends, is a tough ask.

Then the guys hunkered down. Fernando Mendoza exclaimed post game that the team was focused on sending the seniors out the right way, never relinquishing the Axe in their tenure on campus.

So many of them would not be denied. Xavier Carlton and David Reese turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, stifling Ashton Daniels from getting anything going. Teddye Buchanan and Craig Woodson continued to be the key cogs in making the defensive machine operate on schedule. Trond Grizzell and Lachlan Wilson did enough when the moment called for it to keep Cal right where it needed to be.

To cap it all off, Chandler Rogers was the one to earn the game sealing first down. No matter all of the trials and tribulations that Cal went through or how long these Bears were in the program, what stays true is that they were sent out the right way with the fans who stuck by them.

I don’t a give a damn about the details

Maybe I’m one of *those* people, but I do not care how you win a Big Game. Unless you are up 40 points, doing it in style makes no difference to me no matter what the context of Cal or Stanford’s season is. Rivalry games simply call for winning at all costs.

Some fans may reference that the persistent issues for the Bears still exist and they would be totally right. For this game specifically, I don’t care about any of that. Offensive line, fourth down defense, Fernando holding on to the ball, return coverage, us fans can deal with that later. Those troubles a known quantity but when you’re a dogfight against your rival, all that matters is that scoreboard.

In the first half, I was fairly apoplectic about the effort that was on the field. My emotionally laden analysis exponentially increases during the Big Game, so to see the down trodden nature of the first three quarters followed up by a 2022 Big Game-esque fourth quarter for the ages sent my headspace off the planet.

Cal won the Big Game. It’s all I care about right now. We can talk about the long term issues and flaws when Write For California dives into SMU, the bowl game, and the offseason.

Conclusions

Man that felt good. Rushing the field with over 50,000 members of your extended family never gets old. Beating Stanford still means everything. If that’s the last time we see Jaydn Ott hit paydirt in California Memorial Stadium, how fitting it was against the institution that he so rightfully despises.

Partially lost in all this is that Cal qualified for a bowl game. Understandably this isn’t the only goal Cal fans had coming into the season and especially late into September, but if there’s one thing we’ve all learned, the Bear will not quit. The loyal masochists will march towards LA, Vegas, or where ever Cal goes and root for these Bears like we always have.

You all have seen me tell me the story of the best that Cal Football had to offer this season. You’ve also heard me be critical of numerous things throughout this year. But this week, we all get to rejoice in the one event that brings unbridled joy to everyone associated with the University of California.

And I for one can’t wait to do it again next year when we get to renew our lease at Stanford Stadium.

Go Bears. Forever.