Cal Football Game Preview: Bears Host Stanford on a Wet Saturday

The Big Game is sold out, but the questions is this: Will the rain keep some people away?

Members of the California Golden Bears axe committee hold the Axe during the 2023 Big Game. / Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Cal plays its final home game of the season on Saturday when its hosts Stanford in the 127th Big Game. Cal needs to win one of its two final games to become bowl-eligible.

The game is sold out, but the rain may keep some people away.

Here are the facts of Saturday's Big Game:.

CAL (5-5, 1-5 ACC) Vs. STANFORD (3-7, 2-5 ACC)

SITE: California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

WHEN: Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

TV: ACC Network -- Jorge Sedano (Play-By-Play), Orlando Franklin (Analyst), Morgan Uber (Sideline)

RADIO: 810 AM and Sirius XM Radio (Sirius XM 113 and 202) -- Justin Allegri (play-by-play), Mike Pawlawski (analyst), Kevin Danna (sideline reporter)

BETTING LINE: Cal is favored by 14.5 points as of Saturday morning on most betting sites, and a few sites had the spread up to 16 points. Over/Under is 53.5 points

WEATHER FORECAST: Heavy rainfall is expected for Friday in Berkeley, and light rain is likely Saturday morning. But the rain is expected to stop at about the time the game starts Saturday afternoon. It will be cloudy during the game with the temperature at about 57 degrees at kickoff and rising a degree or two during the game.

CAL-STANFORD HISTORY: Cal and Stanford have played each other 126 times in football, and Stanford leads the series 65-50-1. It is the sixth-longest active series between FBS teams. Cal and Stanford first played on a field at the corner of Haight and Stanyan Streets in San Francisco on March 19, 1892. Since then the rivals have played each other every year except 1915-17 (World War I) and 1943-45 (World War II). The Golden Bears have won the last three games against Stanford, including Cal’s 27-15 victory at Stanford last year. 

Here are the top eight most-played series involving FBS opponents as of November 21, 2024:

133 meetings – Wisconsin-Minnesota

129 – Georgia-Auburn

129 – North Carolina-Virginia

128 – Cincinnati-Miami (Ohio)

128 – Oregon-Oregon State

126 – Cal-Stanford

125 – Purdue-Indiana

124 – Army-Navy

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Cal inside linebacker Cade Uluave is questionable for Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury he sustained two weeks ago. He missed last week’s game against Syracuse.

CAL STORYLINES:

---Cal needs to win one of its two final regular-season games – this week against Stanford and next week at SMU – to become bowl-eligible for the second straight.  There is an outside chance that Cal could go to a bowl with only five wins if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams to fill all the bowl vacancies. Cal needs to win two more games to have a winning season for the first time since 2019.  Cal is already assured of its 15th consecutive losing conference record, and that is the longest active such streak in the country.

---This is Cal’s final home game of the season, and Cal is scheduled to honor 30 seniors in a pregame ceremony Saturday. The list includes Mavin Anderson, Jake Arguello, Hunter Barth, Teddye Buchanan, Kadarius Calloway, Xavier Carlton, Ryan Coe, Ricky Correia, Collin Gamble, Trond Grizzell, Marcus Harris, Lu-Magia Hearns III, Dylan Jemtegaard, Liam Johnson, Jeffrey Johnson, Matthew Littlejohn, Will McDonald, David Reese, Rush Reimer, Chandler Rogers, Nate Rutchena, T.J. Session, Victor Stoffel, Josh Stovall, Derek Wilkins, Miles Williams, Myles Williams, Nohl Williams, Lachlan Wilson and Craig Woodson.

---Cal has won the last three meetings against Cal, which is the Bears’ longest winning streak in the series since they won five in a row from 2002 through 2006. Cal’s longest winning streak against Stanford was eight in a row from 1916 through 1923, and the unbeaten run was extended to nine straight when the teams tied in 1924. The longest winning streak by either team was achieved by Stanford, which beat Cal nine consecutive times from 2010 through 2018.

---Cal is coming off a 33-25 loss at home last week against Syracuse, which was 10.5-point underdog to the Bears. Cal’s defense could not handle the passing game provided by Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord, and the Bears offense could maintain the production of its previous two games, when it beat Oregon State 44-7 and Wake Forest 46-36.

---Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza had his worst game of the season last week, when he threw interceptions on each of Cal’s first two possessions.  It came right after Mendoza had had his two best performances of his college career against Oregon State and Wake Forest, establishing career highs in passing yardage both times. Stanford ranks last in the ACC in both scoring defense and total defense, and ranks 16th of the 17 ACC teams in pass defense.

---The Golden Bears rank first in the ACC in scoring defense (20.7 points), fourth in total defense and third in rushing defense.  However, Cal ranks only 11th in pass defense after McCord passed for 323 yards against the Bears last week.

---For the first time this season, Cal committed more turnovers than its opponent in last week’s loss to Syracuse. Cal still ranks third in the country in turnover margin at plus-14 (22 takeaways, 8 turnovers) and is tied for first nationally in interceptions with 17.  However, had no interceptions and no takeaways against Syracuse, which forced Cal into two turnovers. Cal cornerback Nohl Williams leads the nation in interceptions with seven, which is two more than anyone else in the country.

---Bears running back Jaydn Ott, a first-team all-Pac-12 pick last year when he rushed for 1,315 yards last season, has struggled this season, largely because of a nagging ankle injury.  He has run for 247 yards in the seven games he has played and is averaging 3.0 yards per carry.  He also has 22 receptions for 218 yards. Cal’s leading rusher is sophomore Jaivian Thomas who has run for 583 yards and averaged 6.8 yards per carry in his 10 games. Thomas has caught nine passes for 88 yards.

---Cal has two place-kickers – freshman Derek Morris, who expected to kick field goals of less than 40 yards, and Ryan Coe, who will attempt the longer field goals.  Over the past two games, Coe has made all three of his field-goal attempts – two from 54 yards and one from 44 yards. Morris is 10-for-12 on field goals, with none of his makes being longer than 46 yards.

STANFORD STORYLINES:

---Stanford ended a six-game losing streak last week by coming up with a 38-35 victory over then-No. 19 Louisville, which was a three-touchdown favorite against the Cardinal.  Both of Stanford’s ACC wins have come on field goals on the final play of the game. Sanford topped Syracuse 26-24 on Emmet Kenney’s 39-yard field goal as time expired back on September 20, and Kenney made a 52-yard field goal on the final play to beat Louisville.

---If Stanford wins Saturday’s game, it will be assured of finishing higher than Cal in the conference standings for the first time since 2020, the shortened pandemic season.  The Cardinal is already guaranteed its fourth straight losing season. Stanford has not played in a bowl game since 2018.

---Former Cal quarterback Troy Taylor is in his second season as Stanford’s head coach, and he played against Stanford as Cal’s starting quarterback in two Big Games.  He was the Bears’ starting quarterback in the 1988 Big Game that ended in a 19-19 tie, and he was also Cal’s starting quarterback in 1989 when Cal lost to Stanford 24-14.  He was Cal’s starting quarterback in 1986 and 1987 as well, but he missed the Big Game both seasons because of injuries. His most vivid recollection of he 1988 Big Game was the sideline fight between the Stanford Tree and Oski.

---Stanford ranks just 14th in the ACC in passing offense, but Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels and Stanford wide receiver Emmet Mosley V were named ACC players of the week at their positions for their performances against Louisville.  Daniels completed 22-of-33 passes for a season-high 298 yards and a season-high three touchdowns. He also ran for 34 yards. Mosley, a true freshman, had not had more than 49 receiving yards in a game before making 13 receptions for 168 yards and three touchdowns against Louisville. Stanford’s top receiver is Elic Ayomanor, who has caught 48 passes for 660 yards and six touchdowns.

---Stanford ranks 16th of the 17 ACC teams in scoring offense, averaging 22.2 points, and the Cardinal ranks last in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 34.6 points per game.  The Cardinal defense yields 4.5 yards per rushing attempt, which is better than only two ACC teams. Stanford ranks 16th in pass defense in the ACC and the 8.7 yards allowed per reception and the 24 touchdown passes allowed are both the most in the ACC.

---The Cardinal likes to go for it on fourth down under Troy Taylor.  Stanford has made 31 fourth-down attempts this season and has converted 17 of them, which is tied for the sixth-most in the country.

---Ashton Daniels is the Cardinal’s starting quarterback, but his backup, Justin Lamson, has played in all 10 games, and often comes in on short-yardage situations.  He has scored five rushing touchdowns this season. Eighteen true freshmen have made their college debut for Stanford this season.

---A Stanford beat writer answers five questions about the Cardinal---

CAL PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Fernando Mendoza (13 TDs, 6 interceptions); RB Jaydn Ott (3.0 yards per carry); RB Jaivian Thomas (6.8 yards per carry); CB Nohl Williams (7 interceptions, tops in the nation); ILB Teddye Buchanan (97 tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss, 5 sacks); TE Jack Endries (32 receptions over the last five games); WR Jonathan Brady (11 receptions over the past two games); OLB Xavier Carlton (9.0 sacks, 7 quarterback hurries)

STANFORD PLAYERS TO WATCH:  QB Ashton Daniels (9 TDs, 9 interceptions, 515 rushing yards); WR Emmett Mosley V (168 receiving yards last week); WR Elic Ayomanor (48 receptions, 6 TDs); DE David Bailey (6.0 sacks); RB Chris Davis Jr. (5.6 yards per carry); K Emmet Kenney (game-winning 52-yard field goal last week); LB Tristan Sinclair (4.5 tackles for loss, 5 quarterback hurries).

CAL STATISTICS: Click here

CAL NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click Here

STANFORD STATISTICS: Click here

STANFORD NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click here

JAKE'S PICK: Cal 32, Stanford 17

JEFF'S PICK: Cal 35, Stanford 21

STEVE KRONER’S PICK (San Francisco Chronicle): Cal 34, Stanford 24

TICKETS: Click here. Stub Hub: Click here. Seat Geek: Click here

PARKING AND TRANSPORTATION: Click here.

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Justin Wilcox in the video below responds to questions about the starting running back spot

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