You have to have special moments in order to be a special team. What I want the team to know is don't take it for granted, Smith said. I want them to celebrate. I want them to feel this. I want them to be happy, not be too cool for school. We beat Stanford and we're going to act like we beat Stanford because of the respect we have for them. These moments are really, really meaningful.
California held Stanford without a field goal for the final 7:41 of the game to beat the Cardinal 78-66 Saturday night, breaking a five-game losing streak in the rivalry. Cal's Chris Bell broke a 60-60 tie on a 3-pointer with 6:24 remaining to start the game-ending 18-6 run. Offensive rebounds and putbacks by DeJuan Campbell extended the lead, and a follow slam by Bell put the finishing touches on a dominant close for the Bears (15-5, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Everybody is very clear on what this game means to us, what it means to everybody that's played here before. And what better year to do it than now, at home, with a lot of our fans here? Wright has spent the week reminding younger teammates of the magnitude that surrounds the Big Game and that previous results don't matter after the opening kickoff.
Having lost 10 straight road games dating back to last season, the Cardinal makes one last road trip this season to face the Tar Heels. Redshirt freshman Elijah Brown (47 of 79 passing for 492 yards, three TDs and three INTs in six games) makes his second collegiate start in place of Ben Gulbranson, whose 10 interceptions are the second-most of any FBS QB. No team in FBS has fewer rushing yards as a team since the start of Week 4 than Stanford (324).
Stanford is in the bottom 10 in the country in scoring offense, though it does much better at home (80 points in three wins) than on the road (60 points in five losses). Some of that has to do with the strength of its opponents - the Cardinal has faced three losing teams at home and three AP Top 15 teams on the road.
The Stanford softball team was eliminated despite Joie Economides' impressive performance, scoring two home runs and seven RBI. Oregon's Dezianna Patmon delivered the game-winning homer.
