Where I Come From: Most Memorable Moments
by yellow fever on Jul 9, 2010 12:00 PM PDT
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We've discussed many of these moments before in our decade in review series, but as John Madden would say, memorable moments make memorable games. And vice versa. And honestly, what's more memorable than another Boller to Ward, incomplete. Or even, Boller interception returned by _____ for a touchdown. Or Kittner to Lloyd, touchdown Illini.
So those were my formative memories of Cal football. But we can delve into a few of the happier ones (and some of the more notable unpleasant ones) after the jump. In no particular order.
The Good
Hydro's already stated that this is most likely the most famous play in Cal football in the past decade, and it's hard to argue otherwise.
In one play Tedford let us all know the Holmoecaust was over, and that we had a new visor-wearing chief in town. That we continued to roll up 70 points in that game made the day and game itself all the more memorable, but to anyone who lived through even a second of the Holmoe era, our opening play of the 2002 season filled the entire fanbase with hope.
The entire 2002 Big Game was one long cathartic moment for long-suffering Cal fans, as the stink of the Holmoe era was over. This became the team's de facto bowl game as we were banned from postseason play due to violations under Holmoe (make up your own jokes here about how bad the team would have been without cheating), and winning the Big Game for the first time in eight years certainly raised everyone's spirits going into our first offseason under Tedford.
3. Tyler Fredrickson's field goal against USC
Another obvious inclusion. The team wouldn't fully break out until the next year, and many forget that our man Aaron Rodgers was actually benched in this game for Reggie Robertson, but for one shining moment all signs pointed to our Bears becoming a national power - and soon.
4. THA1's punt return against Tennessee
Hype for our Bears as potential Pac-10 champions and THA1 as a Heisman candidate reached a fever pitch after DeSean Jackson weaved his way through the Tennessee punt coverage team for a 77 yard TD in the first ESPN prime time game of the year. Hearing Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit hype up the team and talk about how impressive it was (while at the same time wondering out loud what the hell was wrong with the treesitters) made the day's impressive way that much more enjoyable, but the most memorable moment of that day was undoubtedly DeSean's punt return above.
5. Beast Mode's stiff-arm on Patrick Chung
Umm… Just thought I’d clear something up. When Marshawn Lynch made the stiff-arm on Patrick Chung, Chung actually made the tackle, and slammed Lynch to the ground, thus taking him out of that game. Lynch wasn’t able to return after that play. As long as Chung made the tackle, nobody has anything on him. Chung was able to come back into the game, which is a lot more than we can say for Lynch. Thanks. (:
Comment by Anonymous — May 18, 2008 @ 3:59 pm
Yeah, but still.
The Bad
The second most famous Cal play of this decade. Let's just move on.
Much like a fine wine, sometimes what matters most is the vintage of a particular brand. So which do you prefer, Oregon State 2007 or USC 2004?
3. ALAMARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!
I couldn't find any clips of the amazingly bad special teams that Pete Alamar coached the team up to on that day. Sorry. You'll have to settle for the mighty MJD scoring the game winning touchdown.
By the way, our Bears were ranked tenth in the country at the time. Tenth! With Joe Ayoob at quarterback! Do you think that he puts on his resume that he QB'd a top ten team?
4. Cal loans the Axe to the Furd
I'll readily admit I'm a bit spoiled - at least to the point that I was saying to people before 2007 that I didn't view the Furd as a real rival to our Bears. I mean, what did I know? Our Bears got crushed in 2001 by the Cardinal (but then, they had been crushed but everyone already anyway) and we steamrolled them from 2002-2006, or nearly the entire time that I'd been a Cal fan.
Then we lost the Axe in 2007, our Bears lost their sixth in seven games since rising as high as second in the country, and our collapse was complete. And their fans celebrated like this. Only then did I begin to realize why we as a fanbase hate the Furd.
Cal and USC were headed towards another epic late-season showdown for the right to go to the Rose Bowl in 2006 when the team inexplicably laid an egg against the Wildcats. Even with the team's lackluster performance for most of the game, our Golden Bears would have won if DeSean Jackson hadn't been called for stepping on the sidelines in the fourth, negating a touchdown pass that would have put our Bears ahead. No YouTube clip of the call exists, so you'll have to live with Arizona fans celebrating stomping on our dreams to get to the Rose Bowl for the 46th year in a row.
Even more painful in hindsight is the fact that the team would have made it to the Rose Bowl if we had won this game even after the team's loss the next week to USC, because of their subsequent loss to UCLA.
The Ugly
1. Nate Longshore's ankle injury in 2007
What might have happened differently had Longshore not been injured in the fourth quarter of that game? Would the team have won the next week against Oregon State? Would the season have gotten derailed the way it did? If Riley doesn't start the next week and get into the Air Force game, is there ever a QB controversy? Do we Marshawnthusiasts ever finish polishing the Longshore statue, and do we ever start work on the frescoes of Riley?
Lots to think about, and a pivotal and memorable moment in Cal football.
The season had already gone off the rails by this point, my neck gets stiff just watching it, Jahvid still entered the NFL as a first round pick with the financial security that that status entails, and there was an epic Big Game victory to end the year, but this was the most memorable moment of the 2009 Cal football season for me.
3. Jahvid shows the world what he had for breakfast
Let's hope it tasted better going down.
4. Geoff McArthur fractures his right forearm before the 2003 Insight Bowl
Hit it, Wikipedia!
Rodgers' favorite passing target was wide receiver Geoff McArthur, who was the Bears' leading receiver during the regular season, catching 85 passes for a school-record 1,504 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns. In one of the Bears' final practices before the Insight Bowl, however, McArthur fractured his right forearm and was unable to play. McArthur recorded the third-highest receiving total for a Pac-10 player and had the second-highest average receiving yards per game in the country during the regular season. He set California single-game records for receiving yards and receptions.
Extremely unfortunate story for McArthur - he spent half of his Cal career on truly awful teams and was about to finally get to a bowl game, then ended up missing it due to injury. We salute you, Geoff McArthur. You will not be forgotten...even if I can't find a single YouTube highlight clip of you.
5. Mack Brown
"If you've got a vote, vote for us," Brown said, pleading directly to voters in The Associated Press writers poll. "I'm asking you to do that and I'm asking everyone across the nation.
"This team deserves to be in the BCS," he said. "They deserve to go more than some teams that are being talked about."
The most controversial omission was California, ranked No. 4 in both polls. Texas overtook Cal in the final BCS standings to grab an at-large berth and will play Big Ten champ Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns had a higher average computer ranking than Cal and received additional votes in both human polls this week, perhaps in part to Texas coach Mack Brown's lobbying and the score of Cal's final game, a 26-16 win against Southern Mississippi on Saturday. It is the first BCS and Rose Bowl appearance for Texas.
"I thought it was a little classless how Coach Brown was begging for votes," Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers told reporters in Berkeley. "I think a team's record and the way you play should speak for itself."
Mack Brown put the rabbit’s foot aside today and appealed again directly to the poll voters who will determine Texas’ bowl fate. He appeared in a taped interview on ESPN’s "College GameDay" to renew the campaign. "I don’t care about me. I don’t care about who says I’m whining," Brown said. "It’s about these kids."
ESPN’s Chris Fowler said that Brown had lobbied him last night and noted that Texas sports information director John Bianco has been flooding e-mail in-boxes with the case for Texas.
I tried to make an effort to stick to on-field moments, but no list of memorable moments is complete with remembering why our Bears didn't go to the Rose Bowl despite a 10-1 regular season.
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that was good...
although I suggest next time you start with the bad and end on a good note…
Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...
by Hey Bowles Hall! on Jul 9, 2010 12:05 PM PDT reply actions
eerrr....this has about the right balance of good, bad, and ugly
to fit my memories of Cal Football from the late 70’s till now.
Go Bears Go
The Good
“The” hit in Oregon, 2007 — I could watch that 100 times (and I think I have), and not tire of it!
I'm going to try and spin this positive
Most memorable moments? I guess there are many since the beginning of my Cal football fandom. Some are obvi, some are obsure. Most of these fall into one of two categores: (1) I was at the game and felt an incredible rush of excitement, a rush that was something more than the kind of rush I ordinarily get for great plays or (2) if watching the game on TV, it was some kind of moment that made me do something spontaneous, like, oh, run around the house and/or scream.
I’ll skip over the obvious moments that are obvious (e.g., T-Freddy beats USC; Ezeff forces Colvin fumble at Oregon; Terrell Williams halfback pass on first play of Tedford era). Here are 10 of my top moments that haven’t been mentioned yet, in chronological order starting with the earliest:
1. Big Game 1988, late 4th quarter in tie game, interception by David Ortega deep in Furd territory: This was my first Big Game and that moment was an INCREDIBLE rush. I had arrived at this game ungodly early to secure great seats. And this play seemed like it would be the game winner. (Alas, we missed a last second FG and the game ended in a tie.)
2. 1990, Michael Davis sacks Tommy Maddox, forces fumble which Cal recovers to clinch game, Cal defeats Ucla 38-31 to break 18 game losing streak vs. Ucla: This was like a weight being lifted off our shoulders. I don’t think I had any voice left, but still managed to yell my head off. And win the game ended, this was the one and only field rush I ever did at Memorial.
3. 1991, Doug Brien kicks 47 yard FG at Ucla to give Cal a 27-24 lead with about 30 seconds left: We came back to win a tough road game against a good Ucla team. Somehow, I didn’t believe Brien would make it. This can’t be us winning a SECOND straight road game on a last minute FG, could it?!? (The previous game, we’d won at Arizona 23-21 on a FG by Brien as time expired.) But it happened. It was kind of surreal.
4. 1991, Lindsey Chapman straight up the middle for a 68 yard TD vs. Washington: # 7 Cal vs. # 3 Washington in the biggest game Memorial had seen in years. Chapman’s TD on last play of 3rd quarter tied the game 17-all and was an all time moment in my Cal fandom. The stadium was absolutely electric.
5. 1993, Mike Caldwell catches 2 point conversion vs. Oregon to win game 42-41 and cap Cal comeback from 30-0 deficit: Yeah, that was pretty friggin’ awesome. (Ooops, I guess LeonPowe mentioned this one. Well, I’ll mention it again.)
6. 1996, Andre Rhodes tackles Arizona’s holder on fake PAT attempt in 4th OT to clinch 56-55 Cal win: I was so tired, I’m not sure that any sound came out of my mouth when I tried to scream in joy.
7. 2002 Big Game, Jemeel Powell’s punt return TD: The moment I knew that the streak from hell would be over. Almost spilled my beer at the Columbus sports bar at which I was watching this game.
8. 2003, at Illinois, Vinny Strang punt return TD: Gave us a 14-point lead just a few seconds before halftime. It was bedlam in our small Cal section at Illinois’ Memorial Stadium.
9. 2005, Terrell Williams halfback pass to Craig Stevens for late TD in Big Game: Beatdown complete and an unforgettable grin on Tedford’s face when the TV camera showed him on the sideline. I felt an incredible feeling of satisfaction in winning a Big Game that we didn’t necessarily expect to win.
10. 2009, Jahvid Best’s 93 yard run at Ucla: Wow, just wow. I’m pretty confident in thinking this is the best run from scrimmage I have seen by a Cal running back in the history of my fandom.
Yes, I am an Old Blue. Now get off my lawn.
by Ohio Bear on Jul 9, 2010 6:32 PM PDT reply actions 3 recs
Re #2: UCLA game
I remember being in the student section and the players walking down to the field down the aisles through the students before the game.
The other would be two 1991 games: USC where Russell White ran because he wanted to stick it to SC and the Washington game.
Another obvious memorable moment that must be mentioned
Yes, I am an Old Blue. Now get off my lawn.
by Ohio Bear on Jul 9, 2010 6:33 PM PDT reply actions 3 recs
Super short Cal Fandom Career.... (aka 2 years)
But (this is pretty much what I remember off the top of my head because… I assume if they’re that close to the top they must be memorable!):
1. 2009. THE PROPHET. ‘nuff said. Student Section. Declaring that place down there Bear Territory.
2. 2009. Nick Foles attempts 2 forward passes. Fails. Vereen TOUCHDOWN. Because, at the end of the long season, there finally was a moment during which all of Memorial was united in making noise. For a brief moment, it was okay to be happy about Cal Football again, after all of 2009.
3. 2008. Vereen 81 yard touchdown. 1st football game EVER. Just learned how football worked. WOW HE’S GOING A REALLY LONG WAY!
4. 2009. The last play Jahvid Best would be in as a Golden Bear. I have never seen that many people that quiet/upset/hoping that one person would be alive. Hearing the ambulance was the WORST part.
5. 2008 Washington. Wow Jahvid is pretty good.
6. 2008 Big Game. Only because the Furd had those fake newspapers saying Jahvid was out. Uh huh. Right.
Some of the stuff I remember is crazy, but moments I enjoyed:
1. Discovering that you get a point if you block an extra point and return it all the way back to the other endzone. I’d watched my high school team play, and thought I had a good feel for the rules, but I’d never seen that one before. (Nevada 1996)
2. The Cal victory over USC my freshman year. Nobody remembers it, but it was our first victory in USC’s house in forever and a half, and it felt good to take those punks out. (USC 1996)
3. The infamous “The Eighth Quarter’s Ours!” game, which Ohio Bear mentioned above. (Arizona 1996)
4. We didn’t win, but there was a great Bobby Shaw reaching over the goal line for a touchdown in the 1997 Big Game that I used as my computer backdrop for two years. (Big Game 1997)
5. Any victory over USC is special, but getting Justin Vedder with the comeback victory? And Deltha O’Neal throwing a touchdown pass? Priceless. (USC 1998)
6. Both of Zack Follett’s OMG monster hits — Erik Ainge and Rudy Carpenter, you have just gone on a ride on the Pain Train. (Tennessee/ASU 2008)
And a couple bitter moments:
1. The WSU fumble. Mentioned in my ‘how I became a Cal fan’ post.
2. Going to ASU with the band. It was a great trip, but between this and ‘Furd clinching the rose bowl in 1999 with a win over us, I now refuse to go to games where the opposing team goes to the Roses with a win over us. Doubly so if it’s in their house. And ASU fans are complete and utter assholes. I can’t tell you how many people were screaming awful shit to the band and I as we walked out of the stadium. Dude…you’re going to the Rose Bowl. You don’t have to say that sort of crap to opposing fans. Act like you’ve been there before. (ASU 1996)
3. The Aloha Bowl. Losing to Navy. Assuming we’d be in a bowl next year. Haw, haw silly Cal fan. (Aloha Bowl 1996)
4. Big Game. November 21, 1998. We were the better team. This was going to be our year to get the Axe back, and it’d be a wonderful birthday present and…wait, how did we fail to score a touchdown? And oh fuck, there goes the Stanford wide receiver…of course, touchdown. 10-3. That one will stick in my craw forever, because it’s the only time I’ve broken down crying in a bad way over Cal football.. (Big Game 1998)
…yeah, a lot of these are from 1996, but that’s my formative experience with Cal football, and you all have hit most of the big ones from this decade.
Member of the Lost Tribe of Mooch
Three stick out for me:
1. The Play. Rushing the field and afterward going home and flipping news channels to watch it over and over (before the days of DVR). Enough said.
2. Watching Cal play SC my freshman year and having the Trojan Band march slowly toward the Student Section playing “Conquest” in all their arrogance. And I see an orange fly, then another, and next thing I know there’s a fruit salad flying at the Cardinal & Gold. Nothing better than getting flipped off by a fat rich kid that’s wearing a helmet and playing trombone.
3. Getting the Sunday LA Times from my driveway in 2003 after the win over SC and listening to my new Trojan neighbors complain “who is this Echemandu kid; I never heard of him, he’s probably not even eligible.” After explaining to them that he’d been hurt most of the year, and that Cal doesn’t get many wins over USC and let us enjoy it, the comment back was ’shouldn’t there have been something in the escrow paper’s about living next to a Cal fan." I told her I was here first and they were more than welcome to move away. The irony of a Trojan fan complaining about playing an ineligible player strikes me to this day.
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| Fresno St. | Sat 09/03 | W 36 - 21 |
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| Presbyterian | Sat 09/17 | W 63 - 12 |
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Washington
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Sat 09/24 | L 23 - 31 |
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Washington St.
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Oregon St.
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Pacific-12 Conference Standings
(updated 1.2.2012 at 11:12 PM PST)
| North | Conf | Overall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
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Oregon Ducks
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8 | 1 | 12 | 2 |
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Stanford Cardinal
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8 | 1 | 11 | 2 |
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Washington Huskies
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California Golden Bears
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Oregon St. Beavers
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Washington St. Cougars
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2 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
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USC Trojans
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7 | 2 | 10 | 2 |
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UCLA Bruins
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5 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
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Utah Utes
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4 | 5 | 8 | 5 |
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Arizona St. Sun Devils
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4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
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Arizona Wildcats
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2 | 7 | 4 | 8 |
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Colorado Buffaloes
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2 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
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