What Are The 10 Most Unbreakable Cal Football Records?

We count down the toughest ones established in the "modern" era, since 1950

Trevor Davis / James Snook-Imagn Images

ESPN revealed its picks for the 10 most unbreakable records in college football since 1950, so we thought we’d tackle the same assignment with Cal.

Restricting the list to the past 75 years means that a series of truly impossible records generated by coach Andy Smith’s “Wonder Teams” of the 1920s are not included here.

As a reminder of just how outlandish some of those teams’ achievements are, consider these three:

— 48 games without a loss (44-0-4) from 1920 through ’24

-- A 127-0 victory over Saint Mary’s (85-0 at halftime) in 1920

-- 9 shutout victories (and just seven points allowed all season) in 1923

There are many more crazy numbers. We could do a full top-10 list on the just most ridiculous records set by Smith's powerhouse teams.

But ESPN wisely considered only records set since 1950, and we’ll do the same:

1. Most points in a quarter by 2 teams: 56 by Cal and Washington State (28 points each) in the Bears’ 60-59 victory in 2014. The eight touchdowns came rapid fire in a span of 12 minutes, 17 seconds. Cougars quarterback Connor Halliday, who passed for an NCAA-record 734 yards, threw three of his six touchdowns in the high-octane third quarter while Cal’s Trevor Davis had kickoff returns of 100 and 98 yards for TDs. The game featured 1,401 yards of total offense and Cal won when WSU’s Quentin Breshears missed a 19-yard field goal with 19 seconds left.

Aaron Rodgers / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

2. Most consecutive pass completions in a game: 23 by Aaron Rodgers vs. No. 1 USC in 2004. Rodgers tied the NCAA record before misfiring three times and taking a sack on Cal’s final possession in a 23-17 loss. Rodgers finished with 267 passing yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

3. Most rushing yards in a game by Cal: 490 in a 55-14 win for the second-ranked Bears against Minnesota in 1951. Hard to imagine Cal coming anywhere near this number in the pass-happy modern era. In 2024, the Bears rushed for more than 200 yards just once.

Jared Goff / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

4. Most career games of at least 300 passing yards: 22 by Jared Goff from 2013 through 2015. No one else in program history has more than 10. Under coach Sonny Dykes, Goff became a starter in his first game as a true freshman and wound up passing for a program-record 12,200 yards in three seasons before becoming the No. 1 NFL draft pick.

5. Most turnovers lost in a game by Cal: 12 in a 45-0 loss to No. 10 UCLA in 1978. Cal threw 10 interceptions and lost two fumbles. For context, consider that the Bears had just 12 giveaways all season in 2022.

J.J. Arrington / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

6. Most rushing yards in a season: 2,018 by J.J. Arrington in 2004. Arrington had more than 100 yards in every game, recorded eight games of 169 yards or more, averaged 7.0 yards per attempt and scored 15 touchdowns.

7. Longest return of any kick: 108 yards by Don Guest on a missed field goal by Washington State in a 21-6 Cal victory in 1966. Guest is better known as a former Cal rugby player who went on to play on the USA national team.

Deatha O'Neal / Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

8. Most pick-6 interceptions in a season: 4 by Deltha O’Neal in 1999 to set an NCAA record. A first-team All-American, O’Neal had nine interceptions that year, returning them for 280 yards, including four that went the distance.

9. Most touchdown passes in a season: 43 by Goff his final season of 2015. Goff threw 6 TDs vs. both Oregon State and Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl and 5 vs. Arizona State. Davis Webb threw 37 TDs a year later but no one has come close since.

Evan Weaver / Photo by Al Sermeno, KLC fotos

10. Most tackles in a season: 182 by outside linebacker Evan Weaver in 2019. Weaver led the nation in tackles and earned consensus All-America honors. He had three games with 21 or more tackles.

Honorable mention: Tully Banta-Cain had 4.5 sacks in a game against New Mexico State in 2002 . . . Cal and San Diego State combined for just 2 rushing first downs —one each — in a 1982 game . . . Jahvid Best rushed for 311 yards in a win over Washington in 2008 . . . Cal had 84 rushing attempts in a 46-0 win over San Jose State in 1968.

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