Hot-shooting Broncos defeat Stanford 88-72 on opening night

The Stanford Cardinal suffered their first loss on opening night against the Santa Clara Broncos on Fri Nov 12, 2021 at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara (photo by Stanford Cardinal)

By Daniel Dullum
Friday, November 12, 2021

A big shooting night for PJ Pipes and Jalen Williams sparked Santa Clara to an 88-72 non conference men’s basketball win over Stanford Friday.

Pipes finished with 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including four 3-pointers. Williams was next for the Broncos (2-0) with 19 points. Keshawn Justice contributed 14 points, along with a career-high 13 rebounds to go with four assists and two steals. Josip Vrankic had a career-high eight assists along with 15 points.

Stanford (1-1) took an early 5-0 lead after the Broncos missed their first three shots, but Santa Clara caught fire from the perimeter, hitting 11 of its next 12 shots while forging a 21-0 run to take the lead for good.

A 13-2 Cardinal run, sparked by six points from Maxime Raynaid, cut Stanford’s deficit to 30-24 at 6:32 of the first half. Santa Clara responded with a 10point run that prevented the Cardinal from getting any closer.

Harrison Ingraham led the Cardinal with 19 points, including three 3-pointers. Raynaid finished with his first career double-double, as the 7-foot-1 freshman center tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while hitting 7-of-9 field goal attempts.

The Broncos hit a blistering 60 percent from the field (34-of-67), including 12-of-24 from behind the 3-point arc. However, Santa Clara struggled at the free throw line, hitting 8-of-15.

The Cardinal host San Jose State on Monday, and Valparaiso visits Maples Pavilion on Wednesday.

Cardinal claims season-opening 62-50 hoops win over Tarleton State

Stanford Cardinal Harrison Ingram throws down against visiting Tarleton State at Maples Pavilion on opening night Tue Nov 9, 2021 (photo by Stanford Cardinal)

By Daniel Dullum
Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Stanford opened its 2021-22 men’s basketball season on Tuesday with a 62-50 non-conference victory over Tarleton State at Maples Pavilion.

The visiting Texans (0-1), members of the Western Athletic Conference, took a 26-24 halftime lead. The Cardinal tied the game at 18:24 of the second half on a layup by Michael O’Connell, but Tarleton used a 5T-2 run – capped by a Jonathan Jackson Jr. dunk – to build a 35-28 lead.

Following a Stanford timeout, the Cardinal (1-0) used 3-pointers bu Spencer Jones and Jaiden Delaire to pull within 35-34 with 13:20 left in the second half. At 11:54, Delaire’s free throw tied the game at 35-35.

Moments later, a layup by Isa Silva put the Cardinal up 37-35 and sparked a six-point run that gave Stanford a 43-35 advantage. The Cardinal led by as many as 15 with just under five minutes remaining en route to their first win of the season.

Harrison Ingram led Stanford with 16 points, followed by Delaire with 14 and Lukas Kisunas with 12. Silva had four assists, while Ingram grabbed seven rebounds. Delaire and Maxime Raynaud each had six boards as the Cardinal outrebounded Tarleton State 36-25.

Guard Montre Gipson topped the Texans with 15 points, with Tahj Small next with 11 and Shakur Daniel added 10.

The Cardinal travel to Santa Clara on Friday to face the 1-0 Broncos. Santa Clara won its opener 84-77 on Tuesday over Cal State Fullerton. Game time is 7 p.m.

Cal Bears Football report: Cal’s next game vs. USC postponed to Dec 4th due to Covid 19 protocols

Cal Memorial Stadium will sit empty this Sat Nov 13, 2021 as this week’s game against the USC Trojans has been canceled due to more than half of the team positive for Covid 19 or Covid 19 protocol issues. USC and Cal has rescheduled the game to Dec 4, 2021 (photo from the Pac 12)

SRS Staff Report

Last week when the Cal Bears left to take the flight to Tucson and play at Arizona the team left 26 players behind including starting quarterback Chase Garbers. The result was Cal losing to a team the Wildcats who had a 20 game losing streak and who were 0-8 this season by a 10-3 final.

The quarantine and testing situation at Cal doesn’t look like things have improved much as multiple Cal players have either tested positive or they are in quarantine trying to recover from Covid 19 and the Bears who were supposed to play USC this Saturday in Berkeley have rescheduled the contest to Dec 4th. The Bears next game will be the Big Game at Stanford on Nov 20th so far that game is still on target to be played and it will be over ten days as the players should be out of quarantine by then.

Cal Athletic Director Jim Knowlton said the decision to cancel the game was not an easy choice to make saying, “It was a difficult decision to postpone this Saturday’s game against USC, we know how important every one of our games is to our student-athletes, especially our seniors who have been incredible representatives of the program, but it was the right thing to do. Due to additional impact on specific position groups, we have decided to postpone Saturday’s game. We have had multiple COVID-19 positives within our program, and we are taking every step we can to mitigate the spread and protect the greater community.”

Stanford Beaten Up By Utah under Friday Night Lights 52-7 at Stanford Stadium

Stanford Cardinal quarterback tight end Benjamin Yurosek (84) can’t find the handle on the football as the Cardinal fall hard to the visiting Utah Utes at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto on Fri Nov 5, 2021 (AP News photo)

Stanford Beaten Up By Utah 52-7

By Barbara Mason

Utah’s Tavian Thomas ran roughshod all over the Stanford defense scoring four touchdowns in the first half to lead his team to a 52-7 win. He finished the game with 177 yards.

Utah (6-3) jumped all over Stanford (3-6) in the first quarter taking an early 14-0 lead. Stanford was rendered helpless and after the first quarter had -13 in rushing yards. Passing attempts by Stanford had resulted in incompletions and sacks. The Cardinal would get a badly needed break generating a Utah turnover late in the quarter. Stanford would send in quarterback Jack West late in the quarter still looking for some offense. Isaiah Sanders and West shared quarterbacking since Tanner McKee was ruled out due to injury for this game.

Utah’s Tavion Thomas scored his third touchdown in this game early in the second quarter giving Utah a 21-0 lead. Stanford stadium went silent when Utah scored their fourth touchdown of the game leading 28-0. It was Thomas’ fourth touchdown finishing the half with 153 rushing yards.

TJ Pledger would score for Utah in the final minutes of the half and the Utes led in a runaway 35-0. With 34 seconds left in the game Stanford was called for roughing the passer and Utah went to work on the Stanford 19 yard line. Utah settled for a field goal extending their lead 38-0.

The first half could not have been more lopsided in favor of Utah. This is not the way that the Cardinal wanted to come out in this game especially playing at home. With 23 receiving yards and 5 passing yards it was an absolute nightmare for Stanford. Utah had 434 total yards to Stanford’s 28 yards in the first half.

Stanford quarterback Isaiah Sanders would score in the third quarter for the lone Cardinal touchdown of the game. The score after three was 38-7

In the fourth quarter, Utah had a first and goal but Stanford held them on four downs. This was one of the few highlights for the Cardinal in this game. That highlight was followed by a devastating lowlight when Stanfords Sanders threw a pick six giving the Utes a 45-7 lead.

Utah was sailing though this game. Late in the final quarter the Utes would strike again scoring their sixth rushing touchdown of the game. The final was 52-7. The way that Utah is playing they have a great shot at the NCAA crown. Stanford will play Oregon State next Saturday November 13th. Status of quarterback Tanner McKee is unknown for this game. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 PM.

Golden Bears dominate hapless Buffs 26-3 for first Pac-12 win

The Cal Bears quarterback Chase Garbers (7) throws past the Colorado Buffaloes defense in the second half on Sat Oct 23, 2021 at Cal Memorial Stadium (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, October 23, 2021

California was looking for an opportunity to snag that first football win of the season over an FBS opponent, and achieved that goal with a 26-3 win over Colorado in a Pac-12 game at Berkeley.

Golden Bears quarterback Chase Garbers completed 22 of 29 for 225 passing yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Garbers also ran for 96 yards, moving into first place on Cal’s career rushing chart for quarterbacks, passing Joe Kapp.

The defensive standout for Cal (2-5 overall, 1-3 Pac-12) was safety Elijah Hicks, who recorded six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, picked off one pass and had one of the Bears’ six sacks.

Buffaloes quarterback Brendan Lewis was 9 of 17 for 69 yards. He had a minus-9 yards rushing.
The Bears were off and running early. Garbers scrambled for 38 yards on a third-and-6 from the Cal 30, leading to a Dario Longhetto 49-yard field goal with 9:47 left in the first quarter. That put the Bears ahead to stay.
Minutes later, Colorado (2-5 overall, 1-3 Pac-12) drove to the Cal 49 before Buffaloes running back Jarek Broussard was stopped for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1.

That stop of Colorado on downs led to Garbers throwing a 24-yard scoring strike to freshman tight end Keleki Latu, giving the Bears a 10-0 lead at 6:05 of the opening period.

Longhetto booted a 30-yard field goal at 9:23 of the second quarter, putting Cal up 13-0. After Brenden Rice (son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice) returned a kickoff 67 yards to the Cal 33, Cole Becker connected on a 33-yard field goal.
With 3:21 to play in the second quarter, Garbers threw a TD pass to Gavin Reinwald. Longhetto hit a 51-yard field goal on the final play of the quarter, putting the Bears up 23-3 at halftime. Cal scored on each of its possessions in the first half and outgained the Buffs 297-91 in total yards.

The Bears host Oregon State next Saturday, with a 4 p.m. kickoff. The Beavers (5-2 overall, 3-1 Pac-12) beat Utah 42-34 in their last game.

Cal Golden Bears podcast with Daniel Dullum: Cal faces Jekyell and Hyde Colorado in the first of two home games

The Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Brandon Lewis looks for a receiver at Boulder Col. The Buffaloes hosted the Arizona Wildcats on Sat Oct 16, 2021. Colorado plays the Cal Bears this Sat Oct 23, 2021 at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley (AP News photo)

On the Cal Bears podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel the Cal Bears (1-5) have had a tough time of it with five loses in the loss column Bears head coach Justin Wilcox trying to figure things out on both sides of the ball.

#2 The Oregon Ducks (5-1) Cal’s last opponent won by a touchdown. The Ducks scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and that pretty much was the difference in the 24-17 loss.

#3 The Ducks a formidable opponent didn’t give much breathing room to the Bears on both sides of the ball and on offense Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown threw 20-28, 244 yards, only one touchdown pass but it was big since the Ducks won by a touchdown.

#4 Bears quarterback Chase Garbers had a decent afternoon against the Ducks last week 25-43, 247 yards, and two touchdowns. No doubt Garbers was airing it out but couldn’t convert a lot of his pass attempts.

#5 The Bears will play the first of two home games starting with the Colorado Buffaloes (2-4) this Sat Oct 23 at Cal. Daniel which Buffaloes team is going to show up the team that got slaughtered in a laugher to USC 37-14 on Oct 2? Or the team that won in a laugher last Sat Oct 16th in Colorado shutting out Arizona (0-6) 34-0.

Join Daniel for the Cal Bears podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Washington State edges Stanford 34-31; Cougars get fifth straight win against Cardinal

Washington State Cougars running back Max Borghi (21) goes up against Stanford Cardinal defender Stephen Herron (left) during Sat Oct 16, 2021 game at Pullman (AP News photo)

Washington State Edges Stanford 34-31

By Barbara Mason

Saturday afternoon the Stanford Cardinal (3-4) took on Washington State Cougars (4-3) at Washington State in Pullman. With two similar records to start the game WSU faces a team that has celebrated two upsets this season. The first against USC by the score of 42-28 and the second a stunning win over 9th ranked Oregon 31-24 in overtime. WSU has won it’s last four games against Stanford which included a 49-22 victory the last time they met. WSU continued their winning way with it’s fifth straight win 34-31 in a comeback on Saturday.

WSU has two of the best receivers in the Pac-12, Calvin Jackson Jr. and Travell Harris. These two players rank third and fourth in the conference. Stanford will have to keep both of these players under wraps. The Cardinal defense will have their hands full containing WSU quarterback Jayden de Laura who has been having a banner year.

Stanford came out strong in the first quarter. Quarterback Tanner McKee threw for a 45 yard touchdown to Benjamin Yoroek. Stanford would add a couple of field goals; a 45 yard and 32 yard strike to lead 13-0 at the end of the quarter.

WSU would come roaring back as Jayden de Laura threw three touchdowns in the second quarter. Travell Harris had the first touchdown, a 32 yard pass. De Laura would hit Calvin Jackson Jr. for 31 yards and the third for ten yards to De’Zhaun Stribling. WSU led by the score of 20-13. The Cardinal would block the PAT on the second touchdown. Stanford would kick a 31 yard field goal as the half came to an end. At the half the score was 20-16 in favor of WSU.

WSU had the ball to open the second half. The Stanford defense was able to hold and put the ball back into the hands of their offense. Penalties hurt Stanford on their first drive of the third quarter putting WSU back into the drivers seat. De Laura went right to work driving downfield culminating in a six play drive for 66 yards and their fourth touchdown of the game. The Cougars had extended their lead to 27-16. Stopping De Laura was proving a major challenge for the Stanford defense.

A pass interference called on WSU coupled with some nice play by McKee was huge for Stanford setting them up with a first and goal on the WSU one yard line as the third quarter came to an end.

Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee would rush for the touchdown. The two point conversion was successful and Stanford trailed by a field goal 27-24. McKee was not finished. On Stanford’s next drive he would complete an 8 yard pass to Austin Jones for a touchdown taking the lead 31-27 with 3:42 left in the game. The WSU offense had really cooled letting Stanford back into this game.

Jayden de Laura got back on track in the latter minutes of the fourth quarter and moved his team downfield. Max Borghi rushed for a two yard touchdown giving WSU the lead and the win 34-31. The small window that Stanford had closed completely when McKee fumbled and WSU recovered with 1:30 left on the clock.

It was almost a great finish for the Cardinal but they just could not hold the Cougars at the end.

Next up for Stanford will be the Washington Huskies on Saturday October 30 at Stanford Stadium. The time for kickoff is TBD.

Ducks hold off late Cal threat, wins 24-17

Ducks can fly the Oregon Ducks running back Travis Dye (26) takes a high dive into the end zone sailing over Cal Bears safety Daniel Scott (32) in the second quarter on Fri Oct 15, 2021 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene (AP News photo) 

By Daniel Dullum
Friday, October 15, 2021

A late rally by California Bears fell short on Friday night against Oregon, as the No. 9-ranked Ducks held on for a 24-17 Pac-12 football victory at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore.

Oregon improved to 5-1 overall.

Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 11-yard run with 5:42 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Ducks’ defense then held Cal on downs inside their 5-yard line as time ran out.

Brown completed 20 of 28 passes for 244 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He also ran 13 times for 44 yards. Oregon’s Travis Dye gained 145 yards on 19 carries, and caught seven passes for 73 yards.

Golden Bears quarterback Chase Garbers threw for 248 yards, two touchdowns, completing 25 of 45 passes without a pick. Christopher Brooks was Cal’s top ground gainer with 69 yards on 14 carries. Kekoa Crawford caught six passes, Nikko Remigo caught four and Jeremiah Hunter had 78 receiving yards on three catches.

Cal (1-5) drove 67 yards on its final drive in regulation, moving to the Ducks 7-yard line with less than a minute to play following an Oregon pass interference penalty. After Garbers was sacked, followed by an incomplete pass, the Bears called time out
On 4th-and-8 from the Oregon 7, Garbers completed a 5-yard pass to Kekoa Crawford, putting Cal at the Ducks 3.

With Cal looking at 3rd-and-goal, Oregon called time out with 14 seconds left. After Garbers gained one yard, Cal called time out with 10 seconds to play.  Out of the time out, Garbers threw an incompletion on 4th-and-2.

Cal took a 17-10 lead at 14:29 of the fourth quarter on Garbers’ 4-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Reinwald. The Ducks responded nearly two minutes later when Brown connected with Jaylon Redd on a 20-yard scoring pass, tying the game at 17-17.

An 11-yard touchdown run by Travis Dye gave the Ducks their second lead of the night at 10-7 with 5:55 remaining in the first half. Dario Longhetto’s 45-yard field goal at 8:45 of the third quarter tied the contest at 10-10.

Oregon scored first early in the first quarter when Camden Lewis booted a 49-yard field goal. The Bears took their first lead at 5:57 of the first period on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Garbers to Jake Tonges, putting Cal up 7-3.

Next week, the Bears return home to host Colorado. Game time is 12:30 p.m.

Cal Bears football podcast with Daniel Dullum: Cal pays Oregon a visit this Saturday in week six

Cal Bears quarterback Chase Garbers (7) throws a second quarter pass against the Washington State Cougars Sat Oct 2, 2021 at Cal Berkeley (AP News photo)

On the Cal football podcast with Daniel:

#1 Daniel, in the last two games the Cal Bears (1-4) have convincingly been defeated Sep 25 in Seattle by the Washington Huskies (2-3) 31-24 and Oct 2 by the Washington State Cougars (3-3) 21-6. How much would you allude the loses to a break down in the Cal defense.

#2 In the last game against the Cougars quarterback Jayden de Laura threw for 25-41, 219 yards, three touchdowns, and was intercepted twice.

#3 The Cougars scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and Cal could only answer with six points in the first quarter for all their scoring for the night.

#4 Cal quarterback Chase Garbers just couldn’t get anything going on offense going 14-30, 152 yards, and no touchdowns as Cal was shutout in the second, third and fourth quarters.

#5 The Oregon Ducks (4-1) are next for Cal this Sat Oct 16th. The Ducks lost their last game to the Stanford Cardinal (3-2) 31-24 at Stanford Stadium. The Ducks quarterback Anthony Brown was 14-26, 186 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

Join Daniel Dullum for the Cal football podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal can’t get any offense going drop third straight to WSU 21-6

California quarterback Chase Garbers (7) starts the quarterback keeper against the Washington State Cougars during the first quarter at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on Sat Oct 2, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Morris Phillips and Michael Duca

It’s tough to lose three straight but it’s tougher to lose on your own home field which the Cal Golden Bears (1-4) did at UC Berkeley Memorial Stadium to the Washington State Cougars (2-3) 21-6.

The Cougars quarterback Jayden De Laura threw for three touchdowns, was 25-41 for 219 yards and was intercepted twice but the defense held their ground and De Laura and the offense just got enough scoring for the win.

On one of the two passes from De Laura to wide out Calvin Jackson Jr who made a one handed catch in the end zone at the corner. This was De Laura’s first game back since suffering a leg injury two weeks ago against the USC Trojans.

The 25 completions out of 41 attempts for De Laura tied his career best in a game and it helped the Cougars pick up their first win at Cal since the 2013 season. “It felt fine to go out there,” de Laura said. “I knew I had to bring some energy and do my part. I just gave the receivers and the running backs the ball and let them make plays.”

Jackson Jr had his way with the Cal defense with six receptions for 53 yards Jackson’s teammate wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling had a pretty decent afternoon himself with four catches for 36 yards and one touchdown.

The Cal offense just sputtered and it was tough especially to lose at home and Bears quarterback Chase Garbers came up empty handed for the afternoon not being able to throw one touchdown, going 14-30 for 152 yards and an interception.

The Bears next opponent the Oregon Ducks (4-1) No.3 next Sat Oct 9 who were just knocked off by the Stanford Cardinal (3-2) 31-24 will be pumped and ready to go and it’s the last thing the Bears want is to walk into a hornets nest which they can expect at Autzen Stadium in Eugene.

Garbers says the Bears need to be prepared and they need to find out who they are, “These next two weeks we’re really going to find out who we are as a team, who we are as people. They had our number, they did a great job and they just outplayed us. That happens.”