By Morris Phillips

STANFORD, CA–Stanford, limping through a rough season with a 3-7 record, desperately needed to find some confidence.

And Cal, with the ability to really mess with Stanford’s collective pysches, seemingly decided instead to soothe then aid their bitter rival.

Hard to understand? Yes, but the Big Game inherently comes with a few twists. Need someone to explain how Cal’s dominating start that saw them limit Stanford to 6 yards of offense in the first quarter, and 71 yards at halftime, also saw them trailing 14-10? Don’t ask coach Justin Wilcox for clarity.

“I wish I had a good answer for that,” Wilcox said when asked how 13 penalties doomed his team. “Whether it’s a little bit of nervous energy, I wish I could tell you. There’s no good reason, there’s no excuse for it.”

Stanford coach Frank Reich wasn’t mystified. Instead, he vividly recounted the gifts his team received in their moment of need.

“We were struggling on offense,” Reich said. “It’s one thing for the defense to keep you in the game while you’re struggling. It’s another thing for them to score two touchdowns and go in with a lead and you feel like you haven’t even made a first down. I just think that really kind of injected us with some confidence.”

No excuse for three fumbles, the first two resulting in scoop-and-score touchdowns for Stanford and their halftime lead. Cal’s scoreless second half, a sign that halftime demands and adjustments didn’t take hold, was another head scratcher.

Two weeks of preparation–after the Bears’ most impressive win of the season at Louisville–to unleash a disintegrating effort riddled by mistakes? Again, Wilcox was put under the microscope and forced to answer the biggest question.

“There should be high expectations… everybody’s got them,” Wilcox responded when pointedly asked if he’s still the guy to lead the program. “We have them. The players and the coaches have them. And I feel their pain. I understand. We work really hard at this… the coaches and the players do. It’s not an excuse to go out and play like that.”

Simply, the Cardinal couldn’t have gotten it done without Cal’s help. Throughout the season, Stanford’s offense has been more miss than hit with an uneven run game and a pass game that was handed to redshirt freshman quarterback Elijah Brown just two weeks ago. Their slow start was expected. But instead of Cal continuing to inflict damage, they called an ambulance loaded with their own turnovers and penalties. After that, Stanford merely needed to ingest their medicine and gracefully lift the Axe for the first time in six seasons.