A Brief History of Stanford and Cal's Big Game Rivalry

The biggest game of Stanford football's season is finally here. On a bye week, the Cardinal will use the week off to prepare extra hard for a game that they have had circled on their calendar since the end of last season. Taking on Cal in the 128th Big Game on Saturday, Nov. 22, the two programs will renew their historic rivalry in what is sure to be a very entertaining ball game.

Losing the matchup on the road 24-21 last season after being up multiple scores at halftime, the Cardinal will play with a major chip on their shoulder, hungry to not only defend their home field with a win over their rivals, but also reclaim the Stanford Axe and surpass their win total from the previous four seasons.

A massive game for both programs, the focus will be at an all-time high. And as the anticipation builds for another Cal-Stanford matchup, let's take a look at the history of the matchup known as Big Game.

The oldest college football rivalry in the Western United States, Stanford and Cal first met in March of 1892, after future US President Herbert Hoover, a student manager for both the baseball and football teams, helped organize the first Big Game with the help of a friend from Cal.

While only 10,000 tickets were made available for the first game, 20,000 fans showed up. Stanford ended up winning the very first Big Game 14-10.

127 meetings later, Stanford leads the all-time series against Cal 65-51-11, including a dominant stretch from 2010-18 where Stanford won nine games in a row against Cal. The largest victory for Stanford came in 2013 at home, when the then-ranked No. 10 Cardinal won 63-13.

In 2019, Cal won its first game against Stanford since 2009, beating the Cardinal 24-20 at Stanford. After the Cardinal won the 2020 matchup in the COVID-shortened season, the Golden Bears have since dominated Big Game, winning every year since 2021, including a matchup in 2021 that saw Stanford lose 41-11.

And even though Stanford had that nine year stretch of dominance, it has not won a Big Game at home since 2017. In that 2017 victory, the No. 22 ranked Cardinal won 17-14 to improve to 8-3, getting a big performance out of running back Bryce Love, who carried the ball 14 times for 101 yards and one touchdown, averaging 7.2 yards per carry.

But the most memorable Cal-Stanford game is arguably the Big Game from the 1982 season. Led by starting quarterback and future NFL legend, John Elway, the Cardinal took a 20-19 lead with four seconds left in the game, before Cal won in the most shocking way.

On the ensuing kickoff after Stanford scored the field goal, the Golden Bears utilized five lateral passes in the process of their return, ultimately resulting in a last second touchdown to win the game 25-20. But, believing that the game was over on the return, members of the Stanford band stormed the field midway through the play, adding even more confusion to the situation.

While Cal won, there are still questions to this day about the legality of the backwards passes and if they should have counted.

Cal and Stanford may not be the biggest rivalry in college football, but on the West Coast, and particularly the Bay Area, it is the most anticipated matchup for either program every year. Regardless of how good each team is in a given year, each and every time they meet, it is bound to be a good game. Kickoff for the 128th Annual Big Game is at 4:30 p.m. (PST).