California Golden Bears football
| California Golden Bears football | |||
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| First season | 1886 | ||
| Athletic director | H. Michael Williams | ||
| Head coach |
Justin Wilcox 1st year, 0–0 (–) |
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| Stadium | California Memorial Stadium | ||
| Year built | 1923, renovated in 2011–12 | ||
| Seating capacity | 63,000 | ||
| Field surface | Momentum Turf | ||
| Location | Berkeley, California | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | Pac-12 Conference | ||
| Division | North | ||
| Past conferences | Independent (1886–1887, 1889–1905) PCC (1916–1958) |
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| All-time record | 658–528–51 (.553) | ||
| Bowl record | 11–10–1 (.523) | ||
| Claimed nat'l titles | 5 (1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1937) | ||
| Conference titles | 14 | ||
| Consensus All-Americans | 27 | ||
| Current uniform | |||
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| Colors | Blue and Gold |
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| Fight song | Fight for California | ||
| Mascot | Oski | ||
| Marching band | University of California Marching Band | ||
| Rival |
Stanford Cardinal UCLA Bruins Oregon Ducks |
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| Website | CalBears.com | ||
The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California, Berkeley. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium. Memorial Stadium was built to honor Berkeley alumni, students, and other Californians who died in World War I and modeled after the Colosseum in Rome. Memorial Stadium was named one of the 40 best college football stadiums by the Sporting News. The team also has produced two of the oddest and most memorable plays in college football: Roy "Wrong Way" Riegels' fumble recovery and run toward the California goal line in the 1929 Rose Bowl, and The Play in the 1982 Big Game with the last play five lateral winning kickoff return.
Football was first played on the Berkeley campus in 1882, albeit in a form that resembled rugby. It was not until 1886 that American football began play. It played its first annual rivalry game – known as The Big Game – against Stanford University in 1892. This became one of oldest College rivalry games in the United States. Football was put on hiatus in 1906 when it was decided by the Theodore Roosevelt administration that American football was too dangerous a sport and rugby once again took over the scene. Football returned for good in 1915 and Cal has fielded a team in every year since.
The 1920s saw the first golden age of California football, as the Golden Bears went 50 straight games without a defeat from 1920 to 1925, with a record of 46 wins and 4 ties. As of 2010, this is the third-longest unbeaten (not to be confused with winning) streak in NCAA history. The 1920–1924 squads were so dominant that they were nicknamed "The Wonder Teams", and were coached by Andy Smith. He is considered to be the greatest football coach in Golden Bears' history. He is famous for his defense-oriented strategy of "kick and wait for the breaks". Dying in 1925 with his University of California 10-year record of 74 wins, 16 losses and 7 ties, Smith remained Cal's most winning coach until he got surpassed by Jeff Tedford in 2011. During his time California won three NCAA recognized national titles, four Pacific Coast Conference championships and made three trips to the Rose Bowl. In 1921 it shutout Ohio State 28–0. In 1922 and while swimming in mud, it tied the huge underdog Washington & Jefferson College Presidents 0–0, for the sole tie in Rose Bowl history. One of the stars of this era was Harold "Brick" Muller. A month before the start of the 1920 season he won the Silver Medal in high jump at the Summer Olympics in Belgium, while that winter at the 1921 Rose Bowl win over Ohio State, he threw a touchdown, caught two passes and made several vital tackles. He also recovered three fumbles. In 1960 the respected Helms Athletic Foundation crowned the 1920 Cal Bears as the greatest football team in American history.
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