THE BIGGEST GAME
Card looking for bowl berth in 111th Big Game

By DENIS GRIFFIN, MANAGING EDITOR

It’s normally important, but rarely does it live up so well to its hype. Big Game, so big it doesn’t need a direct article, doesn’t need a reason for being the lynchpin of two teams’ seasons and can fend off lawsuits from the NFL basically claiming that the Super Bowl is the bigger big game.

No, there’s no doubt that this year’s Big Game carries a little something extra, as Stanford (5-6, 4-4 Pacific-10 Conference) and Cal (6-4, 4-3) enter the weekend separated by the narrowest of margins both overall and in the conference standings, where the Bears are currently fifth and the Cardinal sixth.

But the most significant storyline is the Cardinal’s quest to end its near decade-long bowl game drought. A win would give Stanford its sixth victory of the season, making the program eligible to play in its first bowl game since 2001. And make no mistake, Cal would like nothing better than to shove the Cardinal right back down into the gutter of the Pac-10.

“This season will in my mind be successful if we win on Saturday, and we’re putting everything into it,” redshirt junior quarterback Tavita Pritchard said at Tuesday’s press conference. “This is a playoff game essentially for us: win and you keep playing, lose [and] you go home.”

If it’s a win the Cardinal is looking for, it will most likely find it on the ground, where junior running back Toby Gerhart has led a Stanford backfield that has carried the offense all season. Stanford is second in the Pac-10 in total rushing yards, with 2,272 on the year, behind only Oregon, and third in rushing yards per game with an average of 206.5.

But Cal’s fourth-ranked rushing defense in the conference won’t be looking to make things easy on the Cardinal, as the Bears are currently allowing just 3.3 yards per carry. Cal runs a physical, 3-4 defensive scheme that could also pose some problems for Stanford’s offense, as the team is much more accustomed to facing a traditional 4-3 alignment.

“I think the structure of their defense . . . .is tough because you play 4-3 defenses most of the entire year,” senior center Alex Fletcher said. “Thankfully we have a bunch of guys, older guys, who have played against our own 3-4 defense for all those years, so we have experience playing against it in practice . . . . So that helps, but . . . their defense is the strength of their team, no question about it.”

Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh echoed his center’s sentiments, describing the Cal defensive personnel as being a tough challenge for his team to overcome.

“I think it’s a particularly strong [defense] because they are particularly good up the middle,” Harbaugh said. “If you’re going to have a 3-4 defense, you need a man playing the nose guard position, and Cal has that. You need good backers, especially the inside guys, and that’s their strength. You need safeties, and they’ve got safeties and they’ve got a heck of a corner in Syd’Quan Thompson.

“They’ve got tremendous personnel to play a 3-4 defense,” Harbaugh continued. “I think that was a wise move for their team that has helped them very much.”

It’s clear that Stanford is well aware that the game is likely to be a hard-fought battle, won or lost in the trenches. If the Cardinal and its running attack can get the better of the Cal defense the contest swings one way. If, on the other hand, the Bears and star runner Jahvid Best tear up the field in front of a home crowd, it could be a long day for the Stanford defense.

Best and Gerhart have undoubtedly been their respective teams’ most productive offensive weapons this season. Gerhart has provided the steady production that has kept Stanford’s offense churning, gaining 1,033 rushing yards on the year in 191 attempts for a 5.4 yards per carry average and 14 touchdowns.

Best, on the other hand, provides Cal with a home run threat in the backfield, as his game-breaking speed gives the Bears a chance for a touchdown every time he touches the ball. He has carried 136 times for 882 yards on the season, good for a 6.5 yards per carry average and seven touchdowns.

“It’s going to be a physical game,” Fletcher said. “I know both teams are pretty good running the ball. And we really have to run the ball and win on offense . . . I think that’s key.

As for the prize that’s at stake for the Cardinal, the objective is simple for the team’s second-year coach. Another win means more chances to improve, as teams playing in bowl games are allowed to practice between the time their regular season ends and their postseason competition.

“Extra game, extra practices,” Harbaugh said of the significance of a win. “Almost an extension of spring practice. It’s been a piece that’s been missing here for a long time. Not only the veteran players but the young players and the young freshmen, they get a head start on spring ball.”

For the Cardinal, it’s just that simple. Win to keep playing. Lose and go home.

NOTES: Stanford leads the overall Big Game series, 55-44-11 in a matchup dating back to 1892. The Cardinal retook the Axe last season for the first time in six years, winning at home 20-13 . . . Gerhart isn’t the only Cardinal rusher making headlines on the ground, as redshirt senior Anthony Kimble has racked up 688 rushing yards on the year. With 1,911 career rushing yards at Stanford, Kimble needs just 128 more to tie Kerry Carter for seventh on the all-time Cardinal leaderboard . . . Big Game returns to Cal’s Memorial Stadium this year, with kickoff scheduled for 12:30 p.m. tomorrow. The last time Stanford played at Cal, the Bears triumphed 26-17, bringing a dismal end to the Cardinal’s 1-11 season under Walt Harris in his final year on The Farm.