Cal vs. Cal, Aaron Rodgers vs. Jared Goff, Rams vs. Packers
You can blame a Stanford alum for ruining Aaron Rodgers’ chance for a late, game-winning drive the only time Rodgers and Jared Goff faced off in a football game.
Rodgers will get another chance when the two former Cal stars meet on the football field for just the second time in their careers in Saturday’s playoff game between the Rams and Packers in Green Bay.
Before we relive that 2018 Rams-Packers game, let’s take a little trip down Golden Bears memory lane and try to determine which was the better quarterback while at Cal.
First thing to note is that both players were recruited to Cal by Jeff Tedford, although Tedford was fired as Cal’s coach and replaced by Sonny Dykes before Goff played a game for the Bears.
The second thing to note is that Goff grew up in Novato in the Bay Area, had two Cal grads as parents and attended numerous Cal games growing up, often being on hand to see Rodgers play. Although stories have since said Goff grew up idolizing Rodgers, his real football idol was 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, which is why Goff wears No. 16.
Third, Goff started his very first game for Cal as a true freshman in 2013, while Rodgers did not get a start until his fifth game at Cal in 2003, when he was a sophomore after transferring from Butte (Junior) College.
Fourth, both players were first-team all-conference selections in their final college seasons (2004 and 2015), although each had to share that spot with another player.
Fifth, the statistics are difficult to compare, because Rodgers played in the Tedford system that emphasized balance (eight Cal players rushed for over 1,160 yards in a season in Tedford’s 11 years), while Goff played in Dykes' pass-happy Air Raid offense.
Goff holds virtually every Cal passing record of significance, and his 43 touchdown passes in his final college season as a junior set a Pac-12 record.
However, the best game by a Cal quarterback that I ever witnessed came in the Bears’ 34-29 loss at USC on Oct. 9, 2004. In that game at the L.A. Coliseum, Rodgers set an NCAA record by completing 23 passes in a row, the streak ending when Rodgers purposely threw the ball away to avoid a sack. He was 29-of-31 after driving Cal to a first down at the USC 9-yard line with 1:47 to play and the Bears down by five. But a sack and three Rodgers incompletions ruined the upset bid against a Trojans team that wound up going undefeated and winning the national championship game 55-19 over No. 2 Oklahoma.
Goff’s best game came in his final college game, when he completed 25-of-37 passes for 467 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions in a 55-36 bowl-game victory over Air Force.
In Rodgers’ final season (2004), Cal finished 10-2 and ranked No. 9 and Rodgers wound up ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting. In Goff’s final Cal season (2015), the Bears went 8-5 and finished unranked.
Goff was the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, and Rodgers was not taken until the 24th pick in 2005, although there were suspicions he might be the No. 1 overall pick right up until the 49ers announced Alex Smith as the top pick.
Goff became the Rams’ starting quarterback in the 10th game of his rookie season, and Rodgers did not start a game until his fourth NFL season.
By the time Goff’s Rams and Rodgers’ Packers met for the first and only time on Oct. 28, 2018, Rodgers had already won two league MVP awards and a Super Bowl, but it looked like his career might be in decline. The Packers were 3-2-1 and the numbers of the 34-year-old Rodgers were not up to his standard.
Meanwhile, the Rams came in with a 7-0 record, and Goff, who had turned 24 just two weeks earlier, was getting some mention as an MVP candidate.
The final quarterback numbers for that game:
Rodgers: 18-for-30, 286 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions, 3 sacks, 102.9 passer rating. (Rodgers had one passing touchdown negated when Jimmy Graham was ruled down at the 1-foot line after a video review.)
Goff: 19-for-35, 295 yards, 3 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, 5 sacks, 111.0 passer rating.
Here is a video of the highlights of that game, in which the Rams rallied from a 10-0 deficit to win.
You might want to skip ahead because the key play came in the final two minutes. The Rams had just kicked a field goal to go ahead 29-27 with 1:56 remaining, but there was every reason to believe Rodgers, who had already orchestrated 19 game-winning drives by then, could march Green Bay down field for the winning field goal.
Here is a 2018 compilation video of Rodgers’ game-winning drives:
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But Rodgers never got the chance against the Rams.
Stanford alum Ty Montgomery took the ensuing kickoff two yards deep in the end zone, returned it to the 20. And fumbled. Rams recovered and ran out the clock.
The Rams went on to earn a berth in the Super Bowl, while the Packers wound up 6-9-1.
Suffice to say, the Rams will not want to give Rodgers an opportunity to win the game on the final drive on Saturday. He seems like a shoo-in to win the league MVP award this season, while Goff is coming off Dec. 28 thumb surgery that made his status as the Rams starter uncertain until Thursday, when John Wolford was ruled out for Saturday’s game with a neck injury.
The Rodgers-Goff situations are reversed from 2018 as Cal meets Cal with a berth in the NFC Championship game at stake.
Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Donald by Jake Roth, USA TODAY Sports
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