Cardinal claim ‘their Axe’
Stanford capitalizes on Cal mistakes in backandforth, fanless thriller
The UC Rally Committee set up a card stunt in the student section that read “OUR” above a picture of the Axe during the pregame.
They had no way of knowing that the card mosaic would create the perfect backdrop for Stanford after the final whistle.
After the Cardinal claimed a 2423 victory over Cal in the 123rd Big Game, which sometimes felt more like the Big Scrimmage as noises from the Memorial Stadium field echoed through a mostly empty Strawberry Canyon on Friday afternoon, the players grabbed the Axe from the South Tunnel and sprinted toward the Bears’ sideline.
With the trophy in hand, the Stanford players posed for photos in front of the cards and reminded everyone that they have a history of dominating the sixthmostplayed rivalry in college football. The Cardinal (12) moved to 654711 with wins in 10 of the past 11 in the series.
“I think our guys took a lot of pride in grabbing the Axe and taking a picture in front of that ‘Our Axe’ sign up there, just to remind everybody that it is called the Stanford Axe,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “We’re excited to bring that Stanford Axe back to Stanford, California.”
The one recent blip for Stanford in the series came last season, when Cal quarter
There were plenty of gamechanging plays in Stanford’s 2423 victory over Cal in the 123rd Big Game on Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
But Stanford’s secondhalf running game was similarly important as Cal muffed a punt, fumbled and allowed two kicks to be blocked.
After rushing for just 19 yards in the first half, the Cardinal finished with 95 yards on the ground behind a motivated offensive line and running back Austin Jones.
Center “Drew Dalman leads that group, and he was fired up all day today,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “He took a lot of pride in getting these guys fired up. He was one of those voices you could hear on the sidelines: ‘We’ve got to close our windows. We’ve got to not allow penetration. We’ve got to get our double teams going.’ I heard him talking the entire game, and those young guys follow him.”
Especially Jones, a sophomore from Antioch who played at Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd. He ran 21 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns, including the gamewinning 8yarder on which he dragged about half of the Cal defense across the goal line.
“We knew that if we just kept pounding and pounding, it would start to open up,” Jones said. “I just had in my mind: ‘They’re not going to stop me from going in there.’ ”
Jones was inundated with texts last year when Stanford’s ninegame winning streak was snapped by Cal, mostly about how he should have chosen the Berkeley school. He expects similar messages this year.
“A couple of my friends grew up being Cal fans, so they might be a little bitter,” he said. “I’m just going to let them see the Axe. I’m not even going to bother giving them the response that they want.”
Big Game debut: In his first Big Game, freshman Damien Moore was the most productive player on the field for Cal, turning 10 carries into 121 yards.
His 54yard scamper in the third quarter set up a touchdown that tied it 1717 with 9:13 remaining and marked the school’s longest run since Christopher Brown Jr. went 54 yards in the Redbox Bowl last year.
All told, Cal rushed for 241 yards — its most since grinding out 305 against Oregon State in 2018.
Top tacklers: Cal linebacker Kuony Deng had a teambest 14 tackles, and defensive lineman Brett Johnson might have been even more impactful. Johnson had a careerbest 10 tackles, including a sack, and added a pass breakup.
But it wasn’t enough. “Obviously, it’s not what we wanted. We’re 03,” Deng said. “Obviously, it’s a different kind of year with different types of circumstances. But it’s going to be all about responding. That’s what this entire year has been about, outside of football, just in life in general with everything going on. That’s exactly the case in football.”
Kicking into history: Jet Toner’s 27yard field at the start of the second quarter gave the Stanford kicker 257 points in his career. He passed Darrin Nelson (256 from 197781) for fifth on the school’s alltime scoring list.