The bowl game possibilities may be marginal, but for Stanford it marks progress. Winning against Oregon State last weekend placed Stanford within one game of bowl eligibility.
Stanford’s best shot for its sixth win comes Saturday when California (6-4 overall, 3-4 Pacific-10 Conference) visits Palo Alto for the Big Game. Game time is set for 4 p.m., and ABC will telecast the 108th meeting of the rivalry.
With Stanford (5-4, 4-3) facing No. 6 Notre Dame the following week, the Cardinal faces a Cal team coming off consecutive losses to No. 10 Oregon and No. 1 USC.
Cal quarterback Joe Ayoob is a big factor behind Cal’s disappointing play. He threw four interceptions against USC and passed for only 132 yards. This season, he’s only passed for one more touchdown (15) than interception (14) and 1,707 yards.
“Confidence and fundamentals, they both go hand-in-hand,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “When you start pressing – that becomes a confidence issue. He’s very competitive, very tough. But we need to work harder on fundamentals to hopefully help him get his confidence back.”
All season, Cal’s success has been credited to running backs Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett. Lynch is averaging 116 rushing yards per game and Forsett 91.2. The last two games, Lynch had 87 against USC and 189 against Oregon, while Forsett struggled to a combined 45 yards.
Stanford is enjoying a resurgence of sorts. The last two seasons have been tough, resulting in matching 4-7 overall and 2-6 conference records. To win its fifth game after struggling since its 9-2 record in 2001 is important, Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards said.
“This is huge,” Edwards added. “We’ve been in this position the last two years and for us to get over that hump is huge for this program.”
Fitting new Stanford coach Walt Harris’ history, the Bay Area native led his former school Pittsburgh to six bowl games in eight seasons, including the last five. His teams steadily improved with a Fiesta Bowl appearance in 2004 before he joined the Cardinal.
Stanford’s bowl game possibility also lessens the pain of losing to UC Davis earlier this season. Stanford recovered with wins against Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon State. The Cardinal nearly upset UCLA and was blown out by USC, 51-21.
Success hasn’t rested with one player, but a group effort, with five players averaging more than 10 yards rushing, led by Anthony Kimble at 34.4 yards per game. Quarterback Trent Edwards, knocked out of the UC Davis loss with an injury, has thrown for 15 touchdowns and has a 62.8 completion percentage.

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