California (5-5, 2-5 Pac-12) at No. 20 Stanford (7-3, 6-2, No. 22 CFP), Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (Fox)
Line: Stanford by 16.
Series record: Stanford leads 57-44-10.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The Cardinal need a win to keep their hopes alive at winning the Pac-12 North. Stanford would clinch the division with a win and a Washington State loss at Washington next week. The Cardinal would be eliminated with a loss. The Golden Bears need a win over Stanford or UCLA to become bowl eligible in coach Justin Wilcox’s first season.
KEY MATCHUP
California D vs. Stanford RB Bryce Love. No one has been able to slow Love down this season. He leads the nation with 180.2 yards rushing per game, has tied a school record with a TD in 11 straight games and leads the country in runs of 20 yards (25), 30 yards (20), 40 yards (12) and 50 yards (10). The Bears allowed more than 300 yards rushing in losses to Oregon and Arizona.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
California: RB Patrick Laird. Laird is coming off the best game of his career when he carried 33 times for 214 yards against Oregon State. That was the 10th best rushing game in Cal history.
Stanford: LB Bobby Okereke. Stanford’s “other” No. 20 has had almost as big an impact as Love on the defensive side of the ball the past two weeks. He returned an INT for a TD against Washington State and then had 10 tackles, four for a loss, two sacks and a forced fumble last week against Washington.
FACTS & FIGURES
Stanford has won seven straight in series, tying the longest streak for either team. The Cardinal also won seven in a row from 1995-2001. … K Matt Anderson became Cal’s all-time leading scorer with 297 points and needs two FGs to tie Doug Brien’s school mark of 56 in a career. … Cal has converted 14 of 21 fourth-down tries. … Stanford has allowed only four sacks the past seven games. … The Cardinal lead the Pac-12 with a plus-1.1 turnover margin per game. … Stanford K Jake Bailey has 41 touchbacks on 61 kickoffs. … Cardinal coach David Shaw’s 71 wins are tied for the school record set by Glenn “Pop” Warner from 1924-32.
___
AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org
Please read our comment policy before commenting.