The axe is back! Cal punts Stanford for the win

November 22, 5:45 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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The Stanford Axe is back home where it belongs
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Revenge is a dish best served...period.  Today the Bears were able to get their revenge for the 20-13 defeat they endured last year on Stanford's home field.  Today, the game was in doubt for about 35 minutes, but Cal wouldn't be denied an opportunity to not only defeat the Cardinal and get the axe back, but to also prevent Stanford from becoming bowl-eligible.  For Bears Backers, the revenge couldn't be sweeter as they witnessed the 37-16 victory.

On Cal's very first possession, they drove from their own 20 to Stanford's 11-yard line.  The drive was halted, but Giorgio Tavecchio easily put the Bears in front 3-0 with a chip shot.  The field goal was set up by a 60 yard run by Jahvid Best, who was surprisingly caught from behind at the Stanford 14.

It was another kicker that came through on the day, consistently launching amazing punts to force the Cardinal to drive longer distances.  Bryan Anger averaged 60.3 yards-per-punt with a long of 76 yards that also pinned the Cardinal at their own one-yard line.

It's a good thing too.  Stanford starting that drive from the one, their second of the game, would go 91 yards down the field on 11 plays.  When Cal was finally able to stop the Cardinal at the Bears' eight-yard line, Stanford brought out their field goal unit.  Unfortunately for head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal, Aaron Zagory missed the 25 yard chip-shot.

It feels great.  The whole point was to get the axe and we got that so it's a great day.
- Jahvid Best on saving his best game for today

Soon after Zagory's missed field goal, the Bears would drive down to the Stanford 24.  As the game was looking to get out of hand early, Kevin Riley made a poor decision to throw the ball to a double covered Cameron Morrah.  The result of his poor decision - a Stanford interception at the goal line.

Stanford followed the interception by driving to Cal's 10-yard line before Toby Gerhart was stripped running up the middle.  Gerhart had an open field had he not been stripped, but instead it was another missed opportunity for the Cardinal to take a commanding lead.

The fumble woke the Bears up on offense with 7:19 left in the first half.  Driving from their own 10-yard line, they made it to their 41 with a first down.  On the next play, Riley would throw his best pass of the season as he floated a 59-yard touchdown throw to Shane Vereen and the Bears would lead 10-0.  Stanford would follow that up with a 12 play 72 yard drive that was stopped at the three by a great shoe-string tackle on Gerhart.  Thanks to that tackle, the first half would end with the score 10-3, Bears.

In the second half, Cal looked like the Bears of old on offense.  In only six and a half minutes, the Bears had gone from a 10-3 lead to a 30-3 lead and for all intents and purposes, ended the game.  Most of it was due to the ol' trick play.  After going up 17-3 in large part due to an Eddie Young interception to start the half, the Bears scored again on the hook-and-ladder that was caught by Verran Tucker, who timely pitched the ball to Jahvid Best who then ran down the left sidelines for the score.  Next up was a double reverse to Jeremy Ross who motored down to the Stanford eight before getting another four yards on a personal foul call.  The Bears would score on the next play with a three-yard touchdown run by Best.

Best would score again on another long 45-yard run and putting the game away at 37-3.  For the game, Best had a career high 201 yards on 19 carries with two touchdowns and a 10.6 yards-per-carry average.  The Cardinal came in with the 20th ranked rushing attack, but it was the Bears that ran all over.  For the game, Cal rushed for 287 yards to Stanford's 123.  In fact, both teams seemed to reverse their strengths for the game.  Stanford out-passed the Bears 311 to a meager 101 yards for the Bears.

It didn't matter for Cal.  Stanford's Tavita Pritchard threw three interceptions to Riley's one and the Bears didn't fumble the ball, while they recovered Gerhart's costly turnover.  Being +3 in the turnover battle helped to keep the Cardinal from scoring and allowing the Bears to win the game.

Next week, the Bears will be hoping that USC and Oregon State both get into BCS bowls so they can take the Holliday Bowl.  With their last game of the regular season against winless Washington, they shouldn't have too much trouble holding up their end, but being that it's Tyrone Willingham's last game as head coach, the Huskies could be more hyped up to end their losing streak.

FINAL 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T Stanford 0 3 0 13 16 California  3 7 20 7 37

Team Statistics   Stanford California First Downs 23 17 Rushing 8 11 Passing 14 5 Penalty 1 1 3rd-Down efficiency 4-13-31% 3-9-33% 4th-Down efficiency 2-3-67% 1-1-100% Total net yards 434 394 Total plays 80 50 Average gain 5.4 7.9 Net yards rushing 122 292 Rushes 37 38 Average per rush 3.3 7.7 Net yards passing 312 102 Completed-attempted 23-39 7-11 Yards per pass 7.3 8.5 Sacked-yards lost 4-31 1-15 Had intercepted 3 1 Return Yardage 102 35 Punts-returns 0-0 1-6 Kickoffs-returns 5-102 1-0 Interceptions-returns 1-0 3-29 Penalties-yards 6-50 3-25 Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

1st Quarter FG 13:03 Giorgio Tavecchio 28 yard field goal 2nd Quarter TD 4:09 Shane Vereen 59 yard TD pass from Kevin Riley (Giorgio Tavecchio Extra Point) FG 0:06 Aaron Zagory 20 yard field goal 3rd Quarter TD 11:57 Cameron Morrah 1 yard TD pass from Kevin Riley (Giorgio Tavecchio Extra Point) TD 9:55 Jahvid Best 14 yard TD pass from (Giorgio Tavecchio Extra Point) TD 7:53 Jahvid Best 6 yard TD run (2pt conversion attempt NO GOOD) 4th Quarter TD 14:01 Jahvid Best 45 yard TD run (Giorgio Tavecchio Extra Point) TD 11:50 Doug Baldwin 34 yard TD pass from Tavita Pritchard (Aaron Zagory Extra Point) TD 9:14 Toby Gerhart 10 yard TD run (Aaron Zagory Kick Failed)