In only his third start, Vereen had the game of his career with 193 yards and three touchdowns on an astounding 42 carries. JO caught up with him on the field immediately after the clock hit 0:00.
"I needed to do anything I could do to help our team win," Vereen said on the field immediately after the game, his voice choking with emotion. "I've never carried that many times, and I never thought I would carry that many times. I came into the game prepared for anything."
After the jump, we have a smörgåsbord of stories on last night's incredible win (which should easily be among the top-5 of Tedford's career). From rankings to bowl projections to post-game quotes from Tedford and Harbaugh, there are plenty of stories covering a fantastic game. Also, thanks to TouchedTheAxeIn82, the torrent is already available! Tomorrow I'll wrap up the rest of the weekend in Cal sports, which included tough losses from women's basketball and women's volleyball. For now, continue reveling in victory!
Click here to download the torrent of yesterday's win. Once you're done downloading, keep seeding for everyone else who wants to preserve this game for all eternity. Click here to vote in royrules22's top-25 poll. For every ballot you don't submit, I'll submit three that have Texas at every position in the top-10.
Cal Football
- Cal moves up to 22nd in the BCS rankings and makes another appearance in the AP poll at 21st. They're 26th in the Coaches' poll.
- Tedford and Harbaugh at the post-game press conference. Tedford defends the decision to kneel the ball in the middle of the field on third down because it gave Cal the best possible chance to avoid a turnover and to get a field goal, which would force Stanford to score a TD to win. He says this is among the best Big Game wins in his career. Harbaugh says he thinks his team won on special teams, but that was about it. He admits they were dominated in the trenches.
- The victory really meant something to Shane, who had tears in his eyes as he was being interviewed by JO immediately after the game. The players lobbied Tedford to give them today off after the big win. Some fun stats: Cal's 31 first downs ties them with Oregon for the Pac-10 high this year, Vereen had the most carries since Terrell Williams had 36 in Cal's pillow fight against Rutgers in 2001. Mike Tepper says "it was an honor for me to block for Shane."
- Vereen and Tedford earned helmet stickers from Ted Miller. Vereen for his legendary performance and Tedford for taking his team to a 5-1 record after being the national laughingstock following the Oregon/USC faceplants.
- Dr Saturday says Shane Vereen deserves an ice pack, a deep massage, and a good's night sleep. Vereen's workload ties this year's FBS record for most carries in a game. The good doctor says this should buy Cal some national respect for demonstrating resilience after their blowout losses to Oregon and USC.
- All week long Tedford said he heard about how "physical" Stanford was, yet he patiently waited for Saturday when he said "we're going to find out who's physical." After falling down 14-0, Cal was the most physical team on the field as they dominated the trenches and held the ball for 26 of the next 36 minutes.
- Cam Inman recaps what he called an "epic" game, sealed by "The Interception." Daily Cal recaps the game. Wilner, who said Stanford would dominate this game, recaps the upset.
- Luck had a tough day as he struggled to connect with his receivers. He was 10/30 for 157 yards and also fumbled the ball three times.
- Ray Ratto attempts to sort out the madness of the Pac-10 bowl games. Ted Miller predicts a Sun Bowl for Cal.