Vereen’s presence will give Bears reminder of better days
Cal at No. 15 Stanford, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPN/810, 1050
The schedules aligned for Shane Vereen. With his New York Giants on a bye, the NFL running back will touch down in the Bay Area this weekend for the 118th Big Game.
His presence Saturday night at Stanford Stadium will represent a link to fonder days for Cal in this series. It has been six years since the Bears’ last win over their rival, a 34-28 thriller in which Vereen rushed for 193 yards and three touchdowns.
“Being an alum, I feel like I follow it almost more than I did when I was there,” Vereen said this week. “It definitely hurts that we haven’t gotten (The Axe) back since that time.”
Streaks have defined the Big Game, which dates back to 1892 and is tied for the FBS’ sixthlongest active series. Cal dropped seven straight to Stanford from 1995 through 2001 before head coach Jeff Tedford guided the Bears to seven wins in his first eight years.
That last one in 2009 was perhaps the most memorable.
Entering the 112th Big Game, the two programs were riding vastly different trajectories. The Cardinal were well positioned after back-to-back wins over nationally ranked Oregon and USC. The Bears, who had their Rose Bowl hopes deflated with blowout defeats to the Ducks and Trojans, were two weeks removed from losing running back Jahvid Best to a concussion.
After digging a 14-0 hole in the first quarter, Cal rattled off 24 straight points. A field goal put the Bears up 34-28 with 2:42 left on the game clock. Little more than a minute later, a 29-yard Toby Gerhart catch placed Stanford at the Bears’ 13. But moments later, Cal linebacker Mike Mohamed picked off redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck at the 3yard line. Soon thereafter, Cal fans were streaming onto the Cardinal’s field to celebrate the upset.
“Not a lot of people believed that we could do it,” Mohamed said. “It was just one of those great feelings that you get from beating your rival.”
Jim Harbaugh had built the foundation for Stanford to become a Pac-12 power by that point. Of the Bears’ ensuing five consecutive losses to Stanford, only one — a 31-28 defeat Nov. 19, 2011 — has been within two touchdowns.
In that game, Cal mounted a fourth-quarter rally at a rainsoaked Stanford Stadium, but ran out of time as the Cardinal drained the clock with a series of short runs and passes.
“It hurt so much,” said safety Stefan McClure, one of only two players still on Cal’s roster who appeared in the 2011 loss. “Because it came against Stanford, it hurt even more.”
The gap between the two programs was never wider than in 2013. In the finale of Cal head coach Sonny Dykes’ 1-11 first season, the Bears fell 63-13 to a Stanford team headed to the Rose Bowl. It was the most lopsided result in series history.
In a solemn postgame locker room, Chris Borrayo, a freshman offensive lineman at the time, voiced his frustrations.
“Getting your (rear) kicked by your rivals, it’s kind of a heavy thing,” Borrayo recalled.
Last year, five turnovers doomed Cal in its 38-17 loss to the Cardinal. Still, it was progress. Saturday night offers a chance for the Bears to prove that the strides they’ve made this season extend beyond simply earning bowl eligibility.
The Cardinal tumbled out of the College Football Playoff discussion with their loss to Oregon last Saturday. This Saturday night, Cal’s goals are twofold: squelch Stanford’s Pac-12 title hopes and take back The Axe.
If the Bears want any added inspiration, players need only glance at the man who powered their last Big Game upset.
“It’s definitely up there as far as my college games are concerned. It’s probably No. 1,” Vereen said of beating the Cardinal in 2009.