By Freddy Cianfano

The California Bears are playing versus the Stanford Cardinals on Saturday (11/19) at 10:30 EST in Stanford, Ca. This is the 114th meeting between these two schools with a 46-46-11 record . The last meeting ended in a lopsided 48-14 Stanford victory last year. This game is known to many as “The Big Game”.

The 8th ranked Stanford Cardinals are led by Head Coach David Shaw and have a 9-1 record in his 1st season. They are 7-1 in conference play and are overcoming a 53-30 loss to the Oregon Ducks last week that ended their 11 game home winning streak. Coach Shaw & his squad are hoping to regroup quickly and avoid an emotional letdown this week after possibly losing opportunities to win the PAC-12 and play for a National Championship last week.

The Stanford Cardinals have many playmakers on offense and are led by Heisman Trophy candidate Andrew Luck. Luck has compiled almost 2700 yards passing with a 70% completion rate to go with his 29 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. Stanford has a stable of running backs all of which are capable of taking a game over and have 27 rushing touchdowns this season. JR-TB Stepfan Taylor needs only 10 yards to achieve his second straight 1000 yard season to go with 8 touchdowns this season. Reserves JR TB- Tyler Gaffney has 375 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns, SR-TB Jeremy Stewart has recorded 8 touchdowns as well and SO- TB Anthony Wilkerson has contributed with two touchdowns rushing this season. The Cardinals #1 Wide Receiver is SR- Griff Whalen and his 45 receptions, 641 yards and 4 touchdowns. Stanford & QB Luck love to utilize the Tight End as a vertical deep threat and potent weapon inside the red zone. SR-TE Coby Fleener has 24 receptions, almost 500 yards receiving and 8 touchdown catches.

Stanford has a few standouts who could miss this game due to injury including:SR-TE- Zach Ertz– (22 receptions, 308 yards, 3 touchdowns) might miss his third straight game with a knee injury, SR-WR Chris Owosu– (35 receptions, 376 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns), FR-OT Cameron Fleming (Knee Injury) and FR-K Jordan Williamson – all might not play. Extremely favorable to Cal if they do not.

The Stanford Cardinal defense is very good and boasts the 7th ranked run defense in the country. The Cardinals have a very strong pass rush compiling 30 sacks led by OLB Chase Thomas 6.5 sacks. There are weaknesses within Stanford’s D as well. Last week, Oregon showcased how to beat up on Stanford by exposing their vulnerability to long runs by fast perimeter players and lack of sure tackling in the secondary- (gave up 232 yards rushing last week alone). Food for Thought for Cal Bears.

The California Golden Bears (6-4) were victorious last week in Berkeley 23-6 over the Oregon State Beavers. Cal assured itself a bowl game by winning its last two games and 3 out of their last 4. They have won 7 out of the last 9 contests against Stanford and are either going to catch them at the most opportune moment or worst time possible. This game will test the character and strength of both teams.

The California Bears are playing versus   the Stanford Cardinals on Saturday (11/19) at 10:30 EST in Stanford,   Ca. This is the 114th meeting between these two schools with a 46-46-11   record . The last meeting ended in a lopsided 48-14 Stanford victory last   year. This game is known to many as “The Big Game”.The 8th ranked Stanford Cardinals are led by Head   Coach David Shaw and have a 9-1 record in his 1st season. They are 7-1 in   conference play and are overcoming a 53-30 loss to the Oregon Ducks last week   that ended their 11 game home winning streak. Coach Shaw & his squad are   hoping to regroup quickly and avoid an emotional letdown this week after   possibly losing opportunities to win the PAC-12 and play for a National   Championship last week. The Stanford Cardinals have many playmakers on   offense and are led by Heisman Trophy candidate Andrew Luck. Luck has   compiled almost 2700 yards passing with a 70% completion rate to go with his   29 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. Stanford has a stable of running   backs all of which are capable of taking a game over and have 27 rushing   touchdowns this season. JR-TB Stepfan Taylor needs only 10 yards to   achieve his second straight 1000 yard season to go with 8 touchdowns this   season. Reserves JR TB- Tyler Gaffney has 375 yards rushing and 6   touchdowns, SR-TB Jeremy Stewart has recorded 8 touchdowns as well and   SO- TB Anthony Wilkerson has contributed with two touchdowns rushing   this season. The Cardinals #1 Wide Receiver is SR- Griff Whalen and   his 45 receptions, 641 yards and 4 touchdowns. Stanford & QB Luck love to   utilize the Tight End as a vertical deep threat and potent weapon inside the   red zone. SR-TE Coby Fleener has 24 receptions, almost 500 yards   receiving and 8 touchdown catches. Stanford has a few standouts who could miss   this game due to injury including: SR-TE- Zach Ertz– (22 receptions, 308 yards, 3 touchdowns) might miss his third   straight game with a knee injury, SR-WR Chris Owosu– (35 receptions,   376 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns), FR-OT Cameron Fleming   (Knee Injury) and FR-K Jordan Williamson – all might not play.   Extremely favorable to Cal if they do not. The Stanford Cardinal defense is very good and   boasts the 7th ranked run defense in the country. The Cardinals have a very   strong pass rush compiling 30 sacks led by OLB Chase Thomas 6.5   sacks. There are weaknesses within Stanford’s D as well. Last week, Oregon   showcased how to beat up on Stanford by exposing their vulnerability to long   runs by fast perimeter players and lack of sure tackling in the secondary-   (gave up 232 yards rushing last week alone). Food for Thought for Cal Bears. The California Golden Bears (6-4) were   victorious last week in Berkeley 23-6 over the Oregon State Beavers. Cal   assured itself a bowl game by winning its last two games and 3 out of their   last 4. They have won 7 out of the last 9 contests against Stanford and are   either going to catch them at the most opportune moment or worst time   possible. This game will test the character and strength of both teams. Last week, the Bears had almost 300 yards   rushing led by Isi Sofele(190 yards, 1 TD) and 96 yards rushing. Cal offense had 3 touchdown runs negated by penalties or it could have been worse. QB- Zach Maynard played conservatively (13/19, 128 yards, 1 TD) and it proved to be crucial in securing the win. WR’s Keenan Allen, Marvin Jones and (TE) Anthony Miller each had very quite games but that result cannot be the case this weekend as their production is extremely necessary to pull out a victory against the Cards.  Cal’s defense played very well giving up only 27 rushing yards to Oregon State and forcing 2 interceptions (3 second half turnovers). The return of OLB’s Chris McCain and David Wilkerson this week would be very helpful in trying to slow down Stanford’s rushing attack. The Bears need to ease up on the penalties as the zebras flagged them 15 times for 130 total yards last week. Completely unacceptable if they want to win this week and must be avoided. The Bears need to run the ball effectively and keep Luck and the offense off the field to keep this one close. Try to exploit WR- Keenan Allen and TB-Sofele on the outside and keep Maynard playing conservatively and look for TE- Anthony Miller down the middle of the field. Coach Tedford needs this win and Stanford can’t lose this game or the BCS will not come calling this year for the Cardinals.