When the Bears and the Cardinals met in the 26th Big Game on November 20, 1920, the stakes were enormous. With the teams tied atop the Pacific Coast Conference, the winner would win the championship. A win would almost certainly mean a first trip to Pasadena on New Years Day for California. For Stanford, aContinue reading “Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Eight – The Big Game”
Category Archives: football
The Year USC Caused Stanford to Play a Home Game in Berkeley
No, I am not making this up. In 1924, the actions of the University of Southern California resulted in the Stanford football team playing a home game at California Memorial Stadium. Against Utah. There were allegations of players being paid, a fired coach, canceled games, secret deals, a school suspended from the conference, recriminations, counter-recriminations,Continue reading “The Year USC Caused Stanford to Play a Home Game in Berkeley”
Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Seven – California vs. Washington State College
As the California Golden Bears neared the end of the 1920 football season, they remained the odds-on favorite to win the Pacific Coast Conference championship. After a close road win over the well-regarded Oregon Aggies in Corvallis, the prognosticators uniformly proclaimed that the winner of the battle between California and Washington State on November 6Continue reading “Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Seven – California vs. Washington State College”
Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Six – California vs. Oregon Agricultural College
By the last weekend of October in 1920, the University of California Golden Bears were riding high. They had soundly beaten the Olympic Club, the Mare Island Marines, St. Mary’s, Nevada and Utah, outscoring those teams by a combined total of 378-7. But now, at last, they were entering Pacific Coast Conference Play. They wereContinue reading “Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Six – California vs. Oregon Agricultural College”
Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Five – California vs. Utah
By late October 1920, the California Golden Bears were the established favorite to win the Pacific Coast Conference championship and play in the Rose Bowl – despite the fact that they had yet to play a conference game. After beating the semi-pro Olympic Club in an almost competitive game in September, the Bears had spentContinue reading “Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Five – California vs. Utah”
Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Four – California vs. Nevada
Coach Andy Smith and his California Varsity squad could have been excused if they had approached the fourth game of the 1920 season, against Nevada, with considerable satisfaction. They had swept through the first three games in extraordinary fashion, first a 21-0 win over the Olympic Club, then an 88-0 beat down of the MareContinue reading “Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Four – California vs. Nevada”
Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Three – California vs. St. Mary’s
Eighteen touchdowns scored in a single game is a lot. Eighteen touchdowns scored by one team in a single game is…almost inconceivable. Throw in a safety (and subtract one missed extra point) and you have the 127-0 score by which Andy Smith’s boys triumphed over St. Mary’s in their third game of the 1920 season.Continue reading “Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Three – California vs. St. Mary’s”
Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Two – California vs. The Mare Island Marines
Game postponed by an epidemic? Or maybe canceled? A desperate scramble to find a substitute? Minimal chance to prepare? Why does all this seem familiar? But never fear, Cal fans. The second game of the “Wonder Team’s” amazing 1920 season turned out to be a rousing success for the Golden Bears, and provided the firstContinue reading “Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game Two – California vs. The Mare Island Marines”
Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game One – California vs. The Olympic Club
In 1960, the Helms Athletic Foundation reviewed the records and accomplishments of the best college football teams from the beginning of the sport in 1869 to the end of the 1959 season, to decide which team was the greatest of all time. Their answer? The 1920 University of California Golden Bears. Undefeated and untied, theyContinue reading “Cal’s Wonder Team Centennial: Game One – California vs. The Olympic Club”
Jerry Drew: The Day the Dam Broke
A few years ago I was reading an article about the all-time greatest games by Cal running backs and came across this amazing statistic: Jerry Drew vs. Oregon State (1954) – 283 yards on 11 carries. That’s 25.7 yards per carry. I got to wondering: who was this Jerry Drew? Why had I never heardContinue reading “Jerry Drew: The Day the Dam Broke”
Cal Bears History 