How the Axe was last won by the Bears
Eight years ago, Stanford redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck dropped back to pass, poised to lift his team to victory in the waning minutes of a riveting Big Game.
Moments later, Cal junior linebacker Mike Mohamed reached up and seized a slice of lore in this storied rivalry. Mohamed’s interception at the 3-yard line sealed a 34-28 win for the Golden Bears, a triumph more prized as the years pass and the frustration mounts for his alma mater.
“It’s really hard to believe that’s the last time we won the Big Game,” Mohamed said this week.
Mohamed was a terrific linebacker at Cal — he made 87, 112 and 94 tackles in his final three seasons. But he’s most remembered for his oh-so-timely interception of Luck, the future No. 1 overall draft pick, to preserve another Big Game victory for the Bears.
Yes, another victory. Cal beat Stanford seven times in an eight-season stretch (2002-09), culminating with Mohamed’s interception and preceding the Cardinal’s seven-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s 120th edition.
Stanford also nearly won in 2009, at least until Luck’s costly pass. The Cardinal, trailing by six points, marched to Cal’s 13-yard-line, mostly leaning on all-world running back Toby Gerhart (who ran for 136 yards and four touchdowns).
Along the way, as the Cardinal neared the end zone and a capacity crowd at Stanford Stadium roared, Mohamed and his teammates had the same thought as many of their fans: Oh, no.
“We had played great football all day,” Mohamed said. “They were driving and I believe they were going nohuddle, or at least going fast. And they were ripping off yards. We really didn’t have time to think, they were going so fast.
“If anything, we were thinking, ‘Gosh, we can’t blow this. We’ve fought so hard, it would be terrible to blow it at the end.’ ”
Mohamed insisted the Bears entered the game with abundant confidence, even if they were decided underdogs against a Stanford team still harboring Rose Bowl hopes. Cal was without swift running back Jahvid Best, injured in a terrifying fall two weeks earlier, but Shane Vereen ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns.
Then, at the end, Mohamed dropped back in coverage and Luck didn’t see him. The ball zoomed straight toward Mohamed, who caught it, ran a few yards and shrewdly hit the ground with 1:36 left.
“It’s one of those things where you prepare all week and all season, then the opportunity comes and you make the play,” Mohamed said. “I remember getting mobbed by all my teammates. …
“But the most memorable part for me was all our fans rushing their field. It almost turned into a home game at the end. I’ve never really heard of opposing fans rushing the field. That’s one of my favorite memories.”
Mohamed, now 29, spent parts of five seasons in the NFL, bouncing from the Broncos and Titans to the Texans and Saints. He played 22 games for Houston in 2013 and ’14, so he faced Luck and division rival Indianapolis twice each season.
Mohamed’s career ended in 2015, in part because of a torn calf muscle. He’s married with three young kids, and he will graduate next month with an MBA from Indiana. Mohamed and his family then will move to New York, where he has a job lined up with an investment banking firm.
And, yes, he plans to take a break from his hectic life to find a television Saturday, hoping Cal will defeat its rival for the first time since he cradled an Andrew Luck pass.
“I’m definitely going to watch,” Mohamed said. “You can’t not watch the Big Game.”