Big Game has very big importance Big Game has very big importance (November 16, 2005)

by Rick Eymer

The Stanford football team will finish no lower than fourth place in the Pac-10 Conference, its best finish since 2001, regardless of what happens the rest of the season.

What does it mean? Well, not much right now.

Had the season ended after Saturday's 20-17 victory over host Oregon State, the Cardinal (4-3, 5-4) would be on its way to the Insight Bowl in Phoenix.

With California coming to town for Saturday's Big Game at 4 p.m., a bowl game is far from secure. Stanford needs a win either against the Bears, losers in four of their past five games after a 5-0 start, or against sixth-ranked Notre Dame the following week.

It makes this week's contest the most important Big Game since 1996, the last time both schools had bowl hopes in the same year.

While Cal is likely to be invited somewhere, win or loss, the Bears could take the Insight Bowl away from Stanford and even help destroy its bowl hopes entirely.

A Stanford victory would likely limit Cal's options to Las Vegas or San Francisco. There are other scenarios which would send the Cardinal to other places than Phoenix but it would depend on the outcome of several other Pac-10 contests. Suffice it to say that a win on Saturday guarantees Stanford a trip to Bank One Ballpark.

"This will be the greatest Big Game for me," Stanford senior defensive end Julian Jenkins said. "Big Game means so much more now. This is the biggest Big Game ever."

The Stanford seniors have never played a meaningful game this late in the season. Some of the fifth-year players may remember something of the 2001 season which ended with a trip to the Seattle Bowl. Not Jenkins though, he played as a true freshman in 2002.

The Cardinal would do well to remember 2000, a season in which Stanford finished fourth in the conference but didn't play in a bowl game. An early season home loss to San Jose State was the difference that year.

So here we are, with the final conference game holding great importance. California has beaten the Cardinal three straight and none of them have been close. Cal has outscored the Cardinal 99-29 in that span. Stanford hasn't lost four in a row to the Bears since the stretch between 1936-39.

"You've got to credit the players and how they've hung in there through some tough times," said Stanford coach Walt Harris, who is seeking his sixth straight winning season as a coach. He led Pittsburgh to the Insight Bowl in 2000 and 2002, and the Panthers reached the Fiesta Bowl last year.

Even now, without the guarantee of a bowl game, the excitement surrounding Stanford football has increased significantly and this week's game should bring out the best in both teams.

There's some question about the starting quarterback for each team too. Trent Edwards sustained a thumb injury in the third quarter against the Beavers and turned the reigns over to Menlo-Atherton grad T.C. Ostrander to finish off the win. Edwards' status is unknown.

Cal's Joe Ayoob was pulled out of the Bears' loss to USC because of ineffectiveness. Ayoob remains the likely starter, but it's not a lock.

Edwards tried to dismiss concerns about his thumb, the same one he injured against UC Davis earlier in the season.

"I feel like I'll be practicing and be good to go," he said.

Receiver Mark Bradford and running back Anthony Kimble were able to make limited appearances against Oregon State and will be more involved against Cal.

Justin McCullum has taken advantage of his opportunity with the loss of Bradford and again had another big performance, catching seven passes for 119 yards, including touchdown catches from Edwards of 3 and 10 yards. Gerren Crochet caught five passes for 77 yards.

Michael Sgroi kicked a pair of field goals.

Edwards became the 10th all-time leading passer in school history after throwing for 196 yards. He has 4,176 career passing yards and is 170 yards shy of reaching eighth all-time.

Stanford's five overall wins and four victories in the Pac-10 are the most since the Cardinal went 9-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play in 2001. A Cardinal victory in The Big Game would give Stanford five conference wins, equaling the number of conference wins the Cardinal recorded in the last three years.

November 19 is an historic day in Big Game history. The first Big Game played in Stanford Stadium was held on November 19, 1921.

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