ScarlettScarlett
Football

Big Game Week, Again

Stanford Cardinal (7-4, 5-3)
Cal Bears (7-4, 4-4)

Dec. 1, 2018 • Noon
Memorial Stadium (63,000) • Berkeley, Calif.

Notes Depth ChartUpdated History and Records Media Guide Live Stats

TelevisionLive national broadcast on Pac-12 Network with Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Yogi Roth (analyst) and Jill Savage (sideline).

RadioLive coverage on Stanford's flagship station -- KNBR 1050 AM -- with Scott Reiss '93 (play-by-play), Todd Husak '00 (analyst) and Troy Clardy '97 (sideline). The broadcast begins one hour before kickoff with the Cardinal Tailgate Show and concludes with the postgame Cardinal Locker Room Report. The game can be heard on Stanford student radio -- KZSU 90.1 FM -- and online at kzsulive.stanford.edu.

On the WebGoStanford.comCalBears.com#GoStanford

What You Need to Know

  • 1 • Stanford is 7-0 this season when forcing at least one turnover, and 0-4 when not forcing a turnover.
  • 2 • Sophomore tight end Colby Parkinson is second in the nation among tight ends with seven touchdown receptions. 
  • 3 • Stanford football players have conducted interviews in three foreign languages this season—JJ Arcega-Whiteside (Spanish), Jesse Burkett (Japanese) and Osiris St. Brown (German). All other Stanford football interviews this year have been done in English. 
  • 3 • Junior Kaden Smith is one of three finalists for the John Mackey Award, joining T.J. Hockenson (Iowa), Albert Okwuegbunam (Missouri). The winner will be announced on Dec. 5.
  • 3 • The Cardinal vie for a sweep of its in-state rivals UCLA, USC and Cal for the third time in four years. The Cardinal most recently swept all three in 2015 and 2016. Under Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw (2011-current), Stanford is 28-5 vs. in-state opponents, including 22-4 against USC, UCLA and Cal. This season, Stanford is 4-0 against Californian opposition.
  • 4 • Stanford's four losses this season have come against the AP's curent No. 3, No. 10, No. 12 and No. 17th-ranked teams in the nation (Notre Dame, Washington, Washington State, Utah). Those four teams have a combined record of 40-8 (.833) this season.
  • 5 • Costello's five touchdown passes at UCLA on Nov. 24 were second-most in school history (Elway, 6 vs. OSU in 1980) and the most since Kevin Hogan had five in the 2013 Big Game.
  • 8 • Stanford has won a series-record eight consecutive Big Games.
  • 10 • Stanford has clinched its 10th straight bowl game appearance, extending the program record. The previous best streak was three—when the Cardinal went to three straight Rose Bowls from 1933-35. The 10 straight winning seasons is the longest streak since an 11-year run from 1968-78.
  • 10 • Stanford clinched its 10th straight winning season in conference play, extending the school record. The previous best streak was seven straight years under Pop Warner in the Pacific Coast Conference from 1924-1930. 
  • 11 • Stanford has won a series-record 11 consecutive games over the Bruins, dating back to 2009 and including the 2012 Pac-12 Championship Game. It is the all-time longest winning streak by any opponent against the Bruins.
  • 14 • Senior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside tied a school record and ranks third nationally (first among Pac-12 players) -- with 14 receiving touchdowns. That ties Pro Football Hall of Famer James Lofton's school record set in 1977. He is four away from matching Mario Bailey's Pac-12 record set in 1991.
  • 16 • In addition to his 55 receptions and 860 receiving yards this season, Arcega-Whiteside has drawn 16 penalties this year—13 pass interference and three holding calls for 210 penalty yards (1.6 penalties/game and 21.0 penalty yards/game).
  • 17 • Sophomore cornerback Paulson Adebo ranks second nationally with 17 pass breakups and fifth in the NCAA with 19 passes defended.
  • 20 • Junior quarterback K.J. Costello ranks among the Top 20 nationally in completion percentage (16th), completions per game (14th), passing efficiency (13th), passing touchdowns (9th), passing yards (14th), passing yards per game (12th) and yards per attempt (14th). He leads the Pac-12 in efficiency (159.1) and is second in the conference in yards (3,198), touchdowns (28) and yards per attempt (8.71).
  • 21 • Stanford's seniors finished their careers 20-5 (.800) at Stanford Stadium. In the last four years, the Cardinal has won 37 games, three Big Games, two Pac-12 North titles, a conference championship, and has played in the Rose Bowl, Sun Bowl and Alamo Bowl.
  • 28 • Only Andrew Luck has thrown more TD passes in a season at Stanford than Costello's 28 in 2018. Luck set the record with 37 in 2011 and had 32 in 2010.
  • 100 • Arcega-Whiteside is the first Stanford player with four 100-yard receiving games in a season since Luke Powell in 2001. His eight career 100-yard receiving games ranks third in school history. 
  • 121 • The 121st Big Game was rescheduled due to poor air quality caused by the devastating wildfires in Butte County (Dec. 1 is Stanford's latest calendar kickoff for a regular season game since the 2007 Big Game was played on the same date). Cal is Stanford's most common opponent (next is USC with 98 all-time meetings), while Stanford's 63 wins over the Bears are also its most against any opponent.
  • 300 • Costello is the third Cardinal with seven 300-yard passing games in a season, joining John Elway (1982) and Steve Stenstrom, who set the school record with nine in 1993. He is the first Cardinal with four consecutive 100-yard passing performances since Steve Stenstrom had five in a row in 1994.
  • 1,000 • The last Cardinal to reach 1,000 receiving yards in a season was Troy Walters in 1999. Arcega-Whiteside is just 140 yards away from that milestone.
  • 3, 201 • K.J. Costello's 3,201 yards of total offense ranks fifth in school history. He needs 198 yards to move into third which would place him behind only Andrew Luck, who set the school record with 3,791 in 2010 and had 3,667 in 2011. In addition, Costello's 3,198 passing yards this season are fifth-most in school history and is just 429 yards away from the school record set by Steve Stenstrom in 1993.