Nov. 23, 1996
Stanford Tops Cal In 99th Big Game, 42-21
Chad Hutchison threw three touchdowns as Stanford secured a berth in the Sun Bowl with a 42-21 victory over California in the 99th meeting between the Pac-10 Conference rivals.
Hutchinson, who completed 16-of-25 passes for 184 yards, threw scoring strikes of five, 56 and three yards for Stanford (6-5, 5-3 Pac-10). The Cardinal now leads the all-time series, 49-39-11.
Pat Barnes also threw three touchdowns for California (6-5, 3-5). The senior completed 21-of-32 for 284 yards and three interceptions. He had scoring passes of 17, 20 and 21 yards.
Barnes threw 31 TDs on the season to move ahead of former Arizona State standout Mike Pagel for the Pac-10 record. Pagel had 29 TD passes in 1981. Barnes also finished the regular season with 3,499 passing yards, second behind Stanford's Steve Stenstrom, who had 3,627 in 1993.
The Golden Bears jumped to a 17-0 advantage early in the second quarter. Kevin Miller opened the scoring with a 24-yard field goal and Hutchinson found Jon Ritchie from five yards out at 8:28 of the first.
Kailee Wong intercepted Barnes' pass and returned it 53 yards for the score in the opening minute of the second period. Barnes came back to hit Tony Gonzalez on a 17-yard score to get California on the board at 3:42.
The Cardinal put up 10 unanswered points before the half on a Hutchinson-to-Troy Walker 56-yard score and Miller's 24-yard field goal. Stanford led 27-7 at halftime.
Damon Dunn's 37-yard touchdown run expanded the lead 1 1/2 minutes into the third quarter. But Barnes rallied the Bears with a 20-yard scoring strike to Na'il Benjamin and a 21-yarder to Bobby Shaw.
Hutchinson and Mike Mitchell hooked up on a three-yard touchdown pass to close the scoring. Mitchell also rushed for 130 yards on 24 carries.
1 2 3 4 F
- - - - --
Stanford 10 17 7 8 42
California 0 7 7 7 21 FINAL
Stanford-FG Miller 24
Stanford-Ritchie 5 pass from Hutchinson (Miller kick)
Stanford-Wong 53 interception return (Miller kick)
California-Gonzalez 17 pass from Barnes (R Longwell kick)
Stanford-Walters 56 pass from Hutchinson (Miller kick)
Stanford-FG Miller 37
Stanford-Dunn 37 run (Miller kick)
California-Benjamin 20 pass from Barnes (R Longwell kick)
California-Shaw 21 pass from Barnes (R Longwell kick)
Stanford-Mitchell 3 pass from Hutchinson (Manning reception
for two-point conversion)
Stanford California
First downs 20 20
Rushed-yards 43-220 34-87
Passing yards 184 288
Sacked-yards lost 2-19 6-46
Return yards 106 12
Passes 16-25-0 22-35-2
Punts 5-38.4 6-48.5
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1
Penalties-yards 4-25 4-29
Time of possession 29:51 30:09
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Stanford-Mitchell 24-127, Comella 4-45, Dunn 1-37,
Bookman 8-29, Husak 3-minus 3, Hutchinson 3-minus 15.
California-B Willis 8-40, Oneal 7-32, Vera 7-25, Barnes 11-1,
Gottlieb 1-minus 11.
PASSING: Stanford-Hutchinson 16-25-0-184. California-Barnes
21-32-2-284, Gottlieb 1-3-0-4.
RECEIVING: Stanford-Walters 5-82, Bookman 2-29, Dunn 2-19,
Manning 2-12, Kirwan 1-17, Clark 1-16, Ritchie 1-5, Mitchell
1-3, Comella 1-1. California-Shaw 5-72, Vera 5-37, Douglas
4-41, Benjamin 3-58, Gonzalez 2-21, Bullard 1-35, Malili 1-18,
Yun 1-6.
Att: 70,500