By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–On a nasty, snarly day of weather, filled with emotion for the occasion of the 119^th Big Game, in front of a sellout crowd itching for surprise, the last thing the Cal Bears could afford was for their opponent to be comfortable as if on a routine, cross-bay, business trip.

But that’s exactly what the Bears got as soon as Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey arrived and opened his ample briefcase.

McCaffrey made the spectacular look ordinary, rushing for a school-record 284 yards as Stanford ran past Cal, 45-31, and captured the Axe for the seventh, consecutive year.    Throughout, last season’s Heisman Trophy runner-up dipped, ducked, leapt and sprinted through and around the Bears as if he was performing a tightly-choreographed routine.

“He’s as good as advertised,” Coach Sonny Dykes admitted.

Luckily for Dykes, his Bears were better than expected as well, scoring on their initial, offensive play of the afternoon—a perfectly-executed screen that saw Chad Hansen catch a short pass and turn it into a 70-yard touchdown run.   In the second quarter, the Bears were even with double-digit favorite Stanford, 14 apiece, just a bit of the surprise Cal was hoping to hatch.

But ultimately, the Bears were undone by their Pac-12 worst defense and the fleet feet of McCaffrey.

Midway through the second quarter, the Bears appeared poised to answer Stanford’s tying score, driving to the Cardinal’s 21-yard line where they faced third-and-two.  But Khalfani Muhammad was thrown for a one-yard loss by Stanford’s Peter Kalambayi, forcing Dykes to forgo an opportunity to take a seven-point lead, instead settling for a 39-yard Matt Anderson field goal try.

But the normally sure-footed Anderson watched his kick sail wide right.

After an exchange of punts, Stanford took the lead for good right before halftime.  Quarterback Keller Chryst led the Cardinal on a 10-play drive culminating in Conrad Ukropina’s 40-yard field goal and a 17-14 Stanford lead.

McCaffrey, already a huge factor with a combined 147 yards rushing and receiving, then took his game to another level after halftime.  On second down from the Stanford 10, McCaffrey took a handoff, jabbed hard to his left, then again to his right.  McCaffrey’s quick change of direction left Cal’s Devante Downs and Jaylinn Hawkins lunging for air, while the junior tailback took off straight up the middle for a 90-yard touchdown run.   Equal parts athletic brilliance, and functional speed, McCaffrey’s big run put Stanford in the driver’s seat.

“At that point, Stanford had the momentum and we never seemed to get it back,” Dykes admitted.

Stanford Coach David Shaw also saw McCaffrey’s run as a game changer, but the rarely effusive Shaw had seen it before.

“I don’t know what else I can say.  Two years, I’ve kind of run out of words,” Shaw said.  “The bottom line is, he’s not the biggest guy but you can’t tell him that.  He runs like a big back.  He’s going to run in between the tackles, he’s going to make people miss and he has the speed in the open to finish the runs in the end zone.”

With Stanford comfortably ahead, Cal needed big plays, and initially, they came up with them.  Matt Anderson’s 43-yard field goal capped a 12-play drive to get the Bears within a touchdown.  Then after McCaffrey’s second touchdown run, Davis Webb led Cal on a 13-play touchdown drive that drew the Bears within 31-24.

But without a lick of defense, Cal was left grasping for straws.  Stanford scored touchdowns on two of their first three possessions of the fourth quarter to put the game away.  Webb’s second touchdown pass to Hansen with 3:01 remaining closed the scoring but had little impact on the result.

With athletic director Michael Williams watching intently, Dykes’ press conference played like a state of the union address as he patiently explained that the culture of his program is positive, and with some defensive stops, discipline and patience, the losing streak—now four straight under Dykes’ watch—to Stanford might soon come to an end.

“You can’t give up 350 rushing yards against anybody and expect to have a chance to win,” Dykes explained.  “That’s clearly something we need to get fixed.  That puts a lot of pressure on you offensively.  You feel like you have to score every possession and you can’t do that against a good defensive football team.”

The Bears’ aspirations to qualify for a bowl game for a second straight season came to end with the loss.  Once 4-4 after alternating wins and losses over their first eight games, the Bears have dropped four straight, and they failed to capitalize on their post-season rallying call that punctuated their week of preparation for the Big Game.

“We haven’t beaten UCLA in a while either, so it’s a great opportunity for our team, and we look forward to getting back to work tomorrow and finishing the season the way it should be,” Webb said.

LONG TIME CAL BROADCASTER STARKEY HONORED: Now in his 42^nd year of broadcasting of Cal football, radio voice Joe Starkey was honored in a pre-game ceremony in which his broadcast booth was renamed in his honor.

Announcing his 483^rd Cal football game on Saturday, and for the first time from the renamed Joe Starkey Broadcast Booth, Starkey is—for most Cal fans—the only voice they’ve ever known.

The Chicago native also enjoyed long stints as the voice of the 49ers and the former California Golden Seals NHL team.