Cardinal aim to reclaim the Axe in game with no fans, no bands, but still a whole lot on the line
Stanford hasn’t won in 13 months, but there’s one game during the current six-game losing streak that hurts senior right tackle Foster Sarell more than the rest.
“The hardest loss I personally took (in my career) was last year losing to Cal,” Sarell said. “The standard that’s been set here is we beat Cal. That’s what we do. I felt bad for the legacy of that year. We can’t let them get two in a row so (we need to) just do anything you can, scratch and claw to get this win and get that Axe back.”
Cal (0-2) broke Stanford’s nine-year winning streak in the Big Game last season. Here are five things Stanford
(0-2) needs to do to win the Axe back today at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley: CONTAIN GARBERS >> Besides completing 20 of 30 passes for 285 yards, a TD and no interceptions, Cal QB Chase Garbers ran 13 times for 72 yards in last year’s game, including the go- ahead 16-yard touchdown run with 1:19 to play.
“We had every opportunity to win the game and we didn’t hand it away, Cal took it from us,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “We had Garbers bottled up probably three times and he escaped and made big plays with his legs, and then made about three or four big-time throws.”
Opposing QBs have 19 carries for 121 yards and 3 TDs against the Cardinal through two games this season, so the defense needs to be more sound in its assignments today. GET JONES GOING >> When
Austin Jones went to Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High School, he was surrounded by teachers telling him he should play for Cal. The messages continued after the Big Game last year.
“I got a bunch of texts and calls and emails, everyone talking about ‘Oh you should have went to Cal, you guys lost,’ ” said Jones, an Antioch resident. “So yeah, it’s definitely a pretty personal game for me.”
Unlike last year, when he had six carries for 23 yards in a reserve role, Jones should play a bigger part in the outcome this week. He had 100 yards and 2 TDs against Oregon and seven catches for 48 yards against Colorado. BETTER THIRD QUARTER >> Stanford has been outscored 28-7 in the third quarter as both Oregon and Colorado pulled away soon after halftime. The 28 points are twice as many as Stanford allowed in any other quarter.
Fifth-year outside linebacker Jordan Fox said the Cardinal focused on ramp
ing up quickly after breaks in practice since its last game, refocusing as soon as practice restarts to simulate what should happen in the third quarter.
“If we’re starting a new period we need to go and attack that period from the jump,” Fox said.
STAY NEGATIVE >> QB Davis Mills and WR Connor Wedington were forced to sit out the first game and held out of practice for most of the next week because of a coronavirus testing error and tracing protocols.
T heir circumstances played a role in Stanford’s 0-2 start, and the Cardinal can’t afford many more absences if it hopes to get a win.
Shaw said that the Cardinal didn’t have any positive tests on Tuesday, and will continue to practice social distancing leading up to the game — even though it means a less-than-ideal Thanksgiving team dinner in which players will have to eat in shifts.
RELENTLESSLY ADAPT >> Last week’s canceled game
against Washington State was just another in a long line of unprecedented experiences for Stanford, which adopted the slogan “Relentlessly Adapt” for this season.
Cal’s schedule has been even more unusual. When their first two scheduled games were postponed, the Bears ended up opening at UCLA on a Sunday morning in a game that came together less than 48 hours before it started.
This Big Game will also be a unique experience — played on a Friday for the first time ever, there won’t be a band on the field this time, or any fans or mascots at all. But Shaw said it felt like the Big Game during practice this week, and the team should have the same intensity when it takes the field.
“We’ve got enough guys that have played in this game a few times,” Shaw said. “And regardless of not having fans in the stands, know how emotional this is, and know that we have a trophy on the line.”