Stanford 36, Cal 30 (OT)

Recap|Box Score|Quotes

Stanford has now won the last six Big Games after today's 36-30 overtime victory over the Golden Bears. The six-game winning streak in the Big Game ties for the longest by either team. Stanford also won six in a row from 1961-66. The Cardinal now lead the all-time Big Game series, 53-39-11. Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham is now 6-0 in the Big Game at the helm of the Cardinal program. Including three years as an assistant, Stanford teams in which Willingham has been a coach are 9-0 against the Golden Bears. Today's contest marked the first time a Big Game has gone into overtime in the 103 times the contest has been played. However, the game has been decided by seven points or less in 49 of the 103 meetings. The 66 combined points scored in today's Big Game (Stanford 36, California 30) were the most ever by two teams in the history of the Big Game. Today's Big Game marked the fifth time that the contest has been decided on the final play. The others were ... 1972 - Vince Ferragamo-Steve Sweeney TD pass for 24-21 Cal win, 1974 - Mike Langford 50-yard field goal for 22-20 Stanford win, 1982 - "The Play" gives Cal 25-20 win, 1990 - John Hopkins' 37-yard field goal for a 27-25 Stanford win. Stanford's defense had a season-high four interceptions. Brian Taylor picked off a pair of passes, Tank Williams intercepted his third ball of the year and defensive tackle Willie Howard had his first career interception. Riall Johnson had another sack, finishing the season with 15 sacks to become the first Pac-10 player to ever lead the conference in sacks in back-to-back years (he was a co-leader in 1999 with 14 sacks). Johnson's 15 sacks in 2000 were tied for the second most ever by a Cardinal behind school record holder Duncan McColl's 17 in 1976. Johnson had at least one sack in nine of Stanford's 11 games this season. Stanford is now 13-5 in its last 18 Pac-10 games. Stanford finishes with a 4-4 Pac-10 record. The Cardinal guaranteed itself at least a share of fourth place in the conference standings, marking the fourth time the Cardinal has finished among the top four in the conference in the six years under head coach Tyrone Willingham. Prior to Willingham's arrival in 1996, the Cardinal had finished in the top four just twice in the previous eight seasons. Stanford finished with a 2-2 record in Pac-10 road games this season to mark the fourth time in the six years under head coach Tyrone Willingham that the Cardinal has finished with a .500 or better Pac-10 road record. Stanford's Casey Moore has been involved in a big play in each of the last two Big Games. In 1999, Moore broke off a 94-yard run, the longest in Big Play history, during Stanford's 31-13 victory. This year, Moore was on the receiving end of a 25-yard touchdown pass from Randy Fasani to lift the Cardinal to a 36-30 overtime win. Stanford's DeRonnie Pitts finished his illustrious career ranked fourth in the history of the Pac-10 in career receiving yards. Pitts' career Pac-10 numbers were 228 catches for 3023 yards. His totals for the purposes of Stanford's career record books were 222 receptions (#2 career) for 2942 yards (#2 career) and 24 touchdowns (#3 career). The Pac-10's stats do include bowl games, while the Cardinal stats do not. Stanford's Luke Powell finished the game with three catches for 101 yards (33.7 yards per catch), including a 75-yard touchdown pass from Randy Fasani to put the Cardinal ahead 30-23 with 4:17 to go in the game. Powell had several big plays late in the season and finished the year with 18 catches for 502 yards (27.9 yards per catch).