Cal Football Preview: Bears Travel to Stanford

Former Cal quarterback Troy Taylor will lead Stanford against the Golden Bears in the 126th Big Game on Saturday afternoon at Stanford.

The Bears need to beat Stanford this week and UCLA next week to become bowl-eligible.

Here are all the important facts for this game:

CAL (4-6, 2-5 Pac-12) vs. STANFORD (3-7, 2-6 Pac-12)

SITE: Stanford Memorial Stadium

WHEN: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.

TV: Pac-12 Network -- Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Lincoln Kennedy (analyst)

RADIO: 810 AM -- Justin Allegri (Play-By-Play), Mike Pawlawski (Analyst), Kevin Danna (Sideline Reporter)

BETTING LINE: Cal is favored by 7 points at some betting sites and by 6.5 points at other sites. Over/under is 54.5 points.

WEATHER FORECAST: The forecast for Palo Alto calls for occasional showers Saturday afternoon with a high of 66 degrees. Showers will continue Saturday evening with the temperature dropping to a low of 49 degrees.

CAL-STANFORD STATE HISTORY: The teams have played each other 125 times, making it the sixth-most-played FBS rivalry and the 13th-most-play Division I rivalry (Including FCS schools). Stanford leads the series 65-49-11. Cal has defeated the Cardinal the past two years, including last year’s 27-20 victory in Berkeley. Two years ago, at Stanford Stadium, Cal dominated the Cardinal 41-11.

The eight most played FBS rivalries, with the number of meetings in the left column:

132 – Minnesota-Wisconsin

128 – Georgia-Auburn

128 – North Carolina-Virginia

127 – Cincinnati-Miami (Ohio)

126 – Oregon-Oregon State

125 – Cal-Stanford

124 – Purdue-Indiana

123 – Army-Navy

(Georgia-Auburn, North Carolina-Virginia and Cincinnati-Miami (Ohio) have already been played this year. Lehigh-Lafayette is the most-played Division I rivalry with 158 meetings, and those two FCS schools play each other for the 159th time on Saturday.)

INJURIES: Cal – Running back Jaivian Thomas, who was hospitalized two weeks ago, is back going to class, but will not play against Stanford. Justin Wilcox did not rule him out for the game against UCLA, but it is unlikely he would play in that game. Backup quarterback Sam Jackson V will not play Saturday, and running back Isaiah Ifanse is questionable.

Stanford – Starting quarterback Ashton Daniels is questionable with a hand injury, and Casey Filkins, the team’s leading rusher among running backs, is not expected to play.

CAL STORYLINES:

---Cal must win Saturday’s game against Stanford and next Saturday night’s road game against UCLA to become bowl-eligible. Cal has not played in a bowl since 2019. The Bears need to win both those regular-season games as well as a bowl game to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2019.

---Cal running back Jaydn Ott leads the Pac-12 and ranks eighth in the country in rushing, averaging 112.7 yards per game. He also leads the Pac-12 in touchdowns scored with 12 (10 rushing, 2 receiving). Ott rushed for 167 yards last week against Washington State and also caught a touchdown pass. He has 1,016 rushing yards this season, becoming the first Cal player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since Patrick Laird did it in 2017. Ott is within 161 yards of tying Shane Vereen for 10th-place on Cal’s all-time single-season list.

---The Bears are coming off a 42-39 victory over Washington State, which ended Cal’s four-game losing streak. Cal and Stanford both have two conference wins, so this game is likely to decide which team finishes higher in the standings.

---Cal ranks last in the Pac-12 and 127th of 130 FBS teams in scoring defense, allowing 37.0 points per game. Only Massachusetts, UAB and North Texas have allowed more points per game.

---The Bears rank fourth in the Pac-12 in rushing, averaging 190.1 yards per game, but they rank 11th in passing offense, averaging 217.0 yards per game.

---Cal is 1-3 in road games, including 0-3 away from home in conference play. The Bears’ losing margin has been at least 20 points in each of their Pac-12 road games, and they have given up an average of 52.0 points in those three games.

---Redshirt freshman Fernando Mendoza will make his sixth start of the season on Saturday. Cal is 1-4 in his previous five starts, including its first win with Mendoza as its starter last week against Washington State.

---Cal is assured of a losing conference record for the 14th consecutive season, the longest such active streak in the Pac-12 and the second-longest FBS streak in the country. (Kansas has had 14 straight losing conference records, and is 4-3 in Big 12 play this year with two conference games left.)

---Bears freshman inside linebacker Cade Uluave has become a star since replacing Jackson Sirmon in the starting lineup after Sirmon suffered a season-ending biceps injury. He was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Washington State, when he recorded two fumble recoveries (one returned for a TD), one interception, a forced fumble and nine tackles.

---Cal recorded just 10 sacks over the first nine games but had six last week against Washington State.

---The Bears have forced 21 turnovers by their opponents, and that ranks tied for second in the country, behind only Bowling Green, which has 25 takeaways.

STANFORD STORYLINES:

---Former Cal quarterback Troy Taylor is in his first season as Stanford’s head coach. Taylor was a Cal starter in two Big Games – a 19-19 tie in 1988 and a 24-14 loss in 1989. He had been the Bears starter in 1986 and 1987, but missed the Big Game both years with injuries.

---Saturday’s game against Cal will be Stanford’s last Pac-12 conference game ever. The Cardinal plays a nonconference home game against Notre Dame next week in its regular-season finale, and Stanford, Cal and SMU will join the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

---Cardinal quarterback Ashton Daniels, who has started eight games this season including the last four, injured his hand in last week’s loss to Oregon State and is questionable for Saturday’s game. If he cannot play, Stanford’s starting quarterback will be Justin Lamson, who has started two games this season. If Daniels plays, he and Lamson are both likely to get playing time against Cal.

---Stanford ranks 126th of 130 FBS teams in scoring defense, allowing 36.9 points per game, just 0.1 of a point fewer than Cal. The Cardinal ranks 128th of 130 FBS teams in total defense, allowing 456.4 yards per game. Stanford yielded 598 yards in last week’s 62-17 loss to Oregon State.

---The Cardinal is 0-5 in home games this season, including a loss to FCS school Sacramento State early in the season. The Cardinals’ two conference wins came on the road, against Colorado (46-43, 2 OTs) and Washington State (10-7).

---Cardinal redshirt freshman wide receiver Elic Ayomanor set a Stanford record with his 294 receiving yards (on 13 receptions) in the double-overtime win over Colorado. He has had more than 120 receiving yards three times this season.

---Stanford’s Joshua Karty is one of the best place-kickers in the country. He set a school record with a 61-yard field goal as time expired at Cal last year. Karty missed two field goals against Arizona, both from 51 yards, snapping his consecutive field goals made streak at 26 in a row. Karty has been named the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week on two occasions, both for game-winning field goals (at Colorado, at Washington State). Karty’s longest field goal this season is a 53-yarder.

--Stanford beat writer answers five questions about the Cardinal--

CAL PLAYERS TO WATCH: RB Jaydn Ott (four games over 150 rushing yards this season); QB Fernando Mendoza (61.1% completion rate, 8 TDs, 4 interceptions); ILB Cade Uluave (over the past five games, freshman had 41 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 interception); OLB David Reese (3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles last week); WR Jeremiah Hunter (48 catches, 4 TDs); ILB Kaleb Elarms-Orr (8.7 tackles per game, third in the Pac-12).

STANFORD PLAYERS TO WATCH: WR Elic Ayomanor (more than 120 receiving yards in three of past five games); QB Ashton Daniels (10 TD passes, questionable for Saturday); QB Justin Lamson (team’s leading rusher); PK Joshua Karty (17-of-20 on field goals in 2023); ILB Gaethen Bernadel (team’s leading tackler); WR Tiger Bachmeier (freshman has 35 catches, including 10 against Washington)

CAL STATISTICS: Click here

CAL NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click Here

STANFORD STATISTICS: Click here

STANFORD NOTES: Click here

JAKE'S PICK: Cal 45, Stanford 35

JEFF'S PICK: Cal 37, Stanford 28

HAROLD GUTMANN'S PICK (he covers Stanford for Bay Area News Group): Cal 34, Stanford 31

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