New QB leads Cal over rival

STANFORD, Calif. – A year ago, Steve Levy was a backup fullback who played on special teams in the Big Game. He was California’s winning quarterback on Saturday night – yet Levy found it to be a much easier assignment.

That was all because of the Golden Bears’ defense, which blitzed, blasted and blazed the way to Cal’s fourth straight victory over Stanford.

Marshawn Lynch ran for 123 yards and a touchdown, and first-time starter Levy passed for 125 yards and another score in Cal’s 27-3 win in the 108th Big Game.

Justin Forsett ran for a 21-yard score and running back Terrell Williams threw a TD pass for the Bears (7-4, 4-4 Pac-10), who held the Cardinal without a touchdown for the second straight season. Cal sacked Stanford’s two quarterbacks nine times to keep the Axe for another season in Northern California’s biggest college rivalry.

“It always feels good when the defense has your back,” Levy said. “You know you don’t have to do too much. I did what I had to do to win. It’s a dream come true that I never thought would happen.”

Jeff Tedford is unbeaten in the Big Game since taking over at Cal, becoming the first Bears coach to start the rivalry 4-0 since 1921.

Tedford asked little of Levy, who performed smoothly in place of struggling starter Joe Ayoob. While Tedford praised Levy’s preparation in a tough assignment replacing a friend, he credited the win to coordinator Bob Gregory and a defense that probably played its best game of the season.

“They put a relentless rush on (Stanford), and I’m just real proud of the way we dominated,” Tedford said. “Four straight feels great. I’m really proud of our seniors to be able to maintain the Axe.”

Cal has outscored Stanford 126-32 since 2002, and the Bears have won four straight Big Games for the first time since 1939.

T.C. Ostrander passed for 143 yards after relieving injured Stanford starter Trent Edwards, but both quarterbacks took beatings from Cal’s dominant defense. The Cardinal managed 224 total yards, including just 16 yards rushing.

“We came from every angle you could think,” Cal defensive back Donnie McCleskey said. “The quarterback probably was thinking we were coming from behind him at times.”

Though coach Walt Harris has rebuilt much of the Stanford (5-5, 4-4) program in his first season, the Cardinal must beat Notre Dame next week to become eligible for their first bowl game since 2001. Stanford already would be eligible if it hadn’t lost to Division I-AA UC Davis earlier in the season.

“Our defense played well enough to keep us in it, but not well enough to carry the offense,” Harris said. “We got beat up front. They were more physical than we were, and that’s the game. They had bigger, better and stronger players.”

California 27, Stanford 3

UC—De.Jackson 56 pass from Levy (kick failed), 9:05.

SU—FG Sgroi 37, 9:54.

UC—Forsett 21 run (Schneider kick), 9:33.

UC—Lynch 3 run (Schneider kick), 7:14.

UC—Stevens 14 pass from T.Williams (Schneider kick), 3:31.

A—71,743.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—California, Lynch 24-123, Forsett 7-50, Levy 8-36, T.Williams 2-9, Storer 1-6, De.Jackson 1-2. Stanford, Lemon 8-22, N.Frank 4-16, Evans 5-15, Kimble 1-2, T.Edwards 13-(minus 9), Ostrander 6-(minus 30).

PASSING—California, Levy 10-18-1-125, T.Williams 1-1-0-14. Stanford, Ostrander 15-23-0-152, T.Edwards 9-14-0-76.

RECEIVING—California, Jordan 3-28, De.Jackson 2-65, Stevens 2-40, Hawkins 2-5, Lynch 2-1. Stanford, Crochet 7-86, Lemon 5-(minus 1), Traverso 4-55, Bradford 3-54, McCutcheon 2-27, Danahy 1-10, N.Frank 1-(minus 1), Evans 1-(minus 2).