Golden Nuggets, 11/23: The Big Game looms

The California Golden Bears and the Stanford Cardinal each enter the 123rd iteration of the Big Game with matching 0-2 records after each have lost a game on their schedule due to COVID-19.

The Bears, of course, lost their first game this season due to their own trouble with the coronavirus and will have played each of their games this season on short notice. The Cardinal, however, lost their Week 3 matchup against Washington State after the Cougars had a COVID-19 outbreak themselves.

While their Week 2 game against Arizona State was canceled, Cal had to play UCLA on short notice, playing the UCLA Bruins on a Sunday to make sure they didn’t lose two games to start the season. They then played the Oregon State Beavers on six days rest instead of seven, playing them this past Saturday, dropping the game by four points.

Now, they’ll play Stanford on Friday afternoon, again with just six days rest instead of the usual seven, under increasingly stressful circumstances this season.

Now, with the Big Game looming, we take a look at what the Bears can do against the Cardinal to retain the Axe and not revert to their historical losing ways after they finished the 2010 decade with a paltry 1-9 record against Stanford.

Here’s your daily news links and analysis around the Cal Bears ahead of their matchup with Stanford:

Cal’s offense made strides but still has issues | SI

Six Cal starters out after one positive COVID test | 247Sports

Shut it down during the COVID-19 surge | Mercury News

Stanford-Cal’s The Play is peak ‘If Twitter were around’ moment | SI

WATCH: 38th Anniversary of The Play | 247Sports

Cal vs Stanford Picks, Odds | Sports Chat