Big Game (football)
| First meeting | March 19, 1892 Stanford 14, California 10 |
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| Latest meeting | November 19, 2016 Stanford 45, California 31 |
| Next meeting | 2017 |
| Trophy | Stanford Axe |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 119 |
| All-time series |
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| Largest victory | Stanford, 63–13 (2013) |
| Longest win streak | Stanford, 7 (1995–2001, 2010–present) |
| Current win streak | Stanford, 7 (2010–present) |
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Location of Stanford University and UC Berkeley in Northern California
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The Big Game is an American college football rivalry game played by the California Golden Bears football team of the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford Cardinal football team of Stanford University. First played 124 years ago in 1892, it is one of the oldest college rivalries in the United States. Stanford leads the series 62-46-11. The game is typically played in late November or early December, and its location alternates between the two universities every year. In even-numbered years, the game is played at Berkeley, while in odd-numbered years it is played at Stanford. Stanford has won the last seven games, the latest at Memorial Stadium 45–31.
The Big Game is the oldest college football rivalry in the West.
While an undergraduate at Stanford, future U.S. President Herbert Hoover was the student manager of both the baseball and football teams. He helped organize the inaugural Big Game, along with his friend Cal manager Herbert Lang. Only 10,000 tickets were printed for the game but 20,000 people showed up. Hoover and Lang scrambled to find pots, bowls and any other available receptacles to collect the admission fees.
The term "Big Game" was first used in 1900, when it was played on Thanksgiving Day in San Francisco. During that game, a large group of men and boys, who were observing from the roof of the nearby S.F. and Pacific Glass Works, fell into the fiery interior of the building when the roof collapsed, resulting in 13 dead and 78 injured. Fred Lilly, the last victim of the disaster, died on December 4, 1900, bringing the death toll to 22. To this day, the "Thanksgiving Day Disaster" remains the deadliest accident to kill spectators at a U.S. sporting event.
In 1906, citing concerns about the violence in football, both schools dropped football in favor of rugby, which was played for the Big Games of 1906–14. The first incidence of card stunts was performed by Cal fans at the halftime of the 1910 Big Game.
California resumed playing football in 1915, but Stanford's rugby teams continued until 1917. From 1915–1917, California's "Big Game" was their game against Washington, while Stanford played Santa Clara as their rugby "Big Game". The 1918 game, in which Cal prevailed 67–0, is not considered an official game because Stanford's team was composed of volunteers from the Student Army Training Corps stationed at Stanford, some of whom were not Stanford students. The game resumed as football in 1919, and has been played as such every year since, except from 1943 to 1945, when Stanford shut down its football program due to World War II. A handful of Stanford starters—including guards Jim Cox, Bill Hachten and Fred Boensch, running back George Quist and halfback Billy Agnew—shifted to Cal in order to continue playing. Quist returned to Stanford, playing against Cal in the 1946 Big Game.
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