Recap: Angels in the Red Zone? Stanford throttles Cal to reclaim The Axe
On Saturday, Stanford football defeated Cal 31-10 to win the 128th Big Game, breaking a four-year winning streak for Cal. Stanford redshirt freshman quarterback Elijah Brown went 10-20 for 123 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions for a 118.2 passer rating while sophomore running back Micah Ford rushed for 150 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries. Stanford’s defense also scored two touchdowns as redshirt junior safety Jay Green and sophomore safety Darrius Davis each recovered a fumble for a touchdown.
Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele went 33-49 for 269 yards, zero touchdowns, and zero interceptions for a 113.5 passer rating while senior wide receiver Trond Grizzell had nine receptions for 104 yards. Stanford improves to 4-7 overall and 3-5 in the ACC while Cal falls to 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the ACC.
VIDEO: Stanford Football Postgame Press Conference-Cal
VIDEO: Justin Wilcox reflects on Cal’s 31-10 loss to Stanford in the 128th Big Game (11.22.25)
BOX SCORE: Cal at Stanford-Saturday, November 22nd
“Getting The Axe back is huge,” Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich said after the game. “I mean, this was such an incredible experience for me. I’ll remember a lot of things about this year, but these last two weeks and this game tonight will certainly stick with me for a long time. I mean, just seeing and feeling what it means to the players the coaches, really everybody connected with Stanford football, former football players, alumni, like just proud of this team, proud of getting the Stanford Axe back where it belongs. Look forward to this team making a habit of keeping it here.
“So much credit to our players, man, the way these last two weeks you could just feel a different energy. This is college rivalry football. It was a new experience for me, and I felt every bit of it. Like I said, really credit to the players.”
On the opening drive of the game, Cal was forced to punt as they never got the ball past the 15-yard line. Stanford got the ball on their own 45-yard line to start their drive. There was 13:07 left in the 1st quarter.
Stanford was forced to punt on their opening drive as well. Elijah Brown came under pressure and was sacked. Cal had the ball inside their own 30-yard line. 11:56 remained in the 1st quarter.
On the next drive, Cal nailed a 40-yard field goal. Abram Murray drained it. Stanford’s red zone defense forced another field goal. It was 3-0 Cal with 6:10 left in the 1st quarter.
Stanford was forced to punt again. Cal got the ball on their own 27-yard line after a nice return by Jacob De Jesus was taken back 15 yards due to a personal foul against Cal. Cal led 3-0 with 5:05 left in the 1st quarter.
Cal was forced to punt after a nice stop by the Stanford defense. Cal’s wide receiver stepped out before touching the ball—an easy call there. Stanford had the rock on their own 13-yard line. 1:03 remained in the 1st quarter. 3-0 would remain the score at the end of the 1st quarter.
Cal’s defense would get another stop as they had the ball on the Stanford 45-yard line after a shanked punt. 13:14 remained in the 2nd quarter.
On the next drive, Stanford’s defense would score points: Defensive lineman Omar Staples forced a fumble after which safety Jay Green scooped it up and took it 41 yards to the house as general manager Andrew Luck was live on air to witness it. Stanford led 7-3 with 12:57 left in the 2nd quarter.
“It was three — well, really five simple things: physical, smart, fast, rip, run, hit. I mean, it was pretty simple in this aspect,” Green said of their defensive success. “Our whole thing is run and hit, and I think we showed that. That caused two fumbles. Got us in the end zone a couple times.
“My whole thing is I didn’t want to make the game too big. It’s the big game or whatever, but at the end of the day it comes down to wins and losses, and usually the team who wins wants it more. So I think we showed that and put that on display today.”
Cal’s next drive was kept alive by an equipment violation against Stanford—two guys (Jahsiah Galvan and Caden High) wearing the same number 0 on the punt return. 4th and 1 was coming up across midfield for Cal. 7:24 remained in the 2nd quarter.
Cal capitalized on the equipment violation against Stanford. Sagapolutele found the end zone on a seven-yard rushing touchdown to cap off a 15-play, 75-yard drive. Cal led 10-7 with 4:38 left in the 2nd quarter.
“Just a miscommunication,” Galvan said of the equipment violation. “We had two number zeroes out there so that’s what the flag was. Just two of the same numbers out there. Yeah, no, it’s something we’ve practiced before in the past. Hasn’t came up in a while. Yeah, we know not to — that when he’s in I got to come out or vice versa.”
Stanford came up with no points on their next drive as Cal blocked a chip shot. 1:11 remained in the 2nd quarter.
As if there were angels in the red zone, another scoop and score for Stanford came on the next drive. Safety Darrius Davis recovered the fumble forced by Galvan and took it back to the house—a 17-yard return. Stanford led 14-10 with 58 seconds left in the 2nd quarter.
And that would take the game into halftime: Stanford 14 Cal 10. Stanford would get the ball to start the 3rd quarter, which might or might not have been a good thing for the Cardinal given how the poor the offense had looked.
On the opening drive of the 3rd quarter for Stanford, Kenney missed a 35-yard field goal. Cal had the ball on their own 20-yard line. 10:56 remained in the 3rd quarter. A missed opportunity for the Cardinal.
On the next drive, Stanford’s defense forced another punt. Stanford got the rock on their own 32-yard line. 9:48 remained in the 3rd quarter.
Stanford was forced to punt on their next drive. Jacob De Jesus fair-caught it for Cal at the 14-yard line. 8:04 remained in the 3rd quarter.
Cal was forced to punt on the next drive. Stanford had the ball at the 50-yard line. 5:54 remained in the 3rd.
On the next drive, the third time was the charm for Emmet Kenney. His 36-yard field goal was good. Stanford led 17-10 with 2:18 left in the 3rd quarter after a seven play, 31-yard drive.
As if there was yet more divine help for the Cardinal, the Bears would fumble again. Stanford recovered at the 25 unable to take it back to the house. 1:31 remained in the 3rd.
At the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford led 17-10. It was 1st and goal coming up from the 4-yard line for the Cardinal after a 10-yard scramble from Elijah Brown.
On the next play to open the 4th quarter, Micah Ford waltzed into the end zone. It didn’t even look like he was touched by a Cal defender. Ford was starting to really wear down the Bears’ defense. Stanford led 24-10 with 14:56 left in the 4th quarter.
On the next drive, Stanford sacked Sagapolutele. R.J. Cooper was the one who brought him down. Cal was forced to punt. Stanford got the rock on their own 42-yard line after the punt. Stanford led 24-10 with 13:27 left.
The following drive would be the nail in the coffin: Elijah Brown found CJ Williams for a 34-yard touchdown. It was now a 31-10 lead for Stanford with 10:01 to go.
“Yeah, you know, it was press man,” Brown said of the play call. “Safety rotated towards the middle. You know, that’s a dream look for a quarterback. That’s my guy, too, so if I can give him any kind of chance to score, you know, he’s going to make that play. Great call by Coach Reich, especially on that third and 7. You know, he was very aggressive on that and gave me the keys to go score like that.”
Stanford forced a turnover on downs with 4:42 to go on the next drive. That would add yet another nail to the coffin:
31-10 Stanford would go on to win as The Axe was coming home to break a four-game losing skid to Cal. Micah Ford rushed for 150 yards and 1 touchdown for the Cardinal—he balled out. The Cardinal defense scored two touchdowns and recorded five sacks, doing a phenomenal job of keeping them in the game until the offense was able to find their footing in the second half.
“It means the world,” Galvan said of the victory. “It’s just a blessing to be able to go out there and execute at a high level in the Big Game and super important game for everyone on the team, all the seniors, guys who have been here all four years. So to be able to go out there and have that type of performance is huge and it means a lot to everyone on the team.”
“You know, it’s very important, especially for the fourth years and the seniors, guys that aren’t going play again,” Brown added. “I know they haven’t beat Cal, so I feel like that’s a great team win. It’s a great win for the program and I’m glad to be able to help in that big win.”
For Cal, this is obviously a stinging loss. Losing to Stanford in and of itself would have been disappointing, but to get dominated 31-10 is just embarrassing. Not to take anything away from Stanford. The Cardinal played the better game and took advantage of all the mistakes Cal made, but man, to fumble the ball three times and have all three of those leads to touchdowns for Stanford, two of which were scoop and scores is just painful. No other way to slice it.
“Turnovers that resulted in touchdowns,” Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said of what went wrong for his team. “The two fumble returns and then the one from the 20. And the penalties and yeah just, wouldn’t saw that coming, but there was some things early in the game that were were doing well. Defensively we were stopping them and offensively we were moving the ball. We didn’t put it in the end zone, but the two fumble touchdowns and then the late fumble that gave them another one and then in the 3rd quarter, I don’t know, we got a first down. So, yeah. Just bad penalties and turnovers.”
After the game there were “Fire Wilcox” chants on the Millbrae BART platform. I don’t blame them. If you’re going to lose to this Stanford team, at least put up a fight comparable to that of San Jose State, who lost to Stanford by one point and pushed the Cardinal to the brink. To lose by 21 points in the manner that they did is just silly.
As for Stanford, this win means a ton. They end a four year drought of not having The Axe, they end a four year streak finishing 3-9, and they do it in year one of Andrew Luck being general manager of the program. Interim head coach Frank Reich will leave The Farm with a perfect 1-0 Big Game record. He has certainly etched himself in Cardinal history in a very unique way.
While there are a lot of heroes for this Cardinal victory, the entire defense is who you’d give the first game ball to. To score two touchdowns and record five sacks is just massive. Those guys balled out for the entire 60 minutes, unfazed by the offense’s early struggles. They cooked up a fantastic game plan and executed it to near perfection.
“Defense was incredible,” Reich said. “I mean, players were make plays all the over the field. Listen, I give a lot of the credit to Coach Thompson, Coach April. Scheme was amazing. They been great the whole year. Obviously today against that offense, that quarterback, did a phenomenal job on defense.
“How well they played early and not only playing well, but scoring two touchdowns, I mean, are you kidding me? We were struggling on offense so 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 for you 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. We came out and we moved the ball down there to start the second half, and then we didn’t come away with points, but I just think, again, the defense has been really good the whole year. Super great game tonight. Happy for Coach Thompson, Coach April and Jay and Double D coming up with those two touchdowns are massive.”
“It was just emphasized all week that we got to create turnovers,” Galvan added. “Scoring on defense was something that we wanted to do, and to be able to do it twice is awesome, it’s amazing. Credit to all the guys that are around the ball. That ball comes loose, guys are right there to scoop it and take it back to the house. So credit to everyone on defense with amazing effort all the game.”
What made this win even more fun for Stanford was the support they got from the Stanford community. The student section nicknamed “The Red Zone” was packed to the brim with a record 6,481 students. That’s over 80% of the undergraduate population. Green Library must have been quiet as a mouse.
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Notre Dame on Saturday, November 29th. The Cardinal will be playing for The Legends Trophy, which they last won in 2022. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM PT on ESPN.
“Obviously a great football tradition,” Reich said of the Irish. “Listen, where I grew up in Pennsylvania, Notre Dame football was everything. I grew up watching the Ara Parseghian Show, all that stuff. They always had the — so probably at one point I wanted to go to — as a young player go to Notre Dame. So a lot of respect for the program and what they have done and continue to do.
“It’s going to be a great test for us. We want to finish strong. So we’re going to prepare to win, prepare to play to win. You know, I know this: We’ve played a very tough schedule this year. We played a lot of really good football teams.
“This is just going to be the next one, and so we are not going to get too caught up in their tradition and who they are. We’ll watch the tape. We talk about faceless opponent. They’re just the next team in one regard. We got a lot of respect for them. They obviously are having a great year. Had a big game today from what I saw. So look forward to the week of preparation and getting a chance to battle against these guys next week in our house.”
P.S. As Stanford looks for their next head coach, do check out the Cardinal Sports Report message boards for information on how things are progressing on that front.
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