This Bear Will Bite the Hand That Beats It, 24-22

Losing records aside, Stanford and Cal mutually agreed Saturday that there was no need for the Big Game to be a Big Bore.

With nothing more at stake than the privilege of one well-heeled set of alumni getting to grind the Axe of the other, Stanford held on for a 24-22 win over Cal before a shivering crowd of 84,876 in Stanford Stadium.

For the Cardinal, it could have been a big blowout--Stanford led, 24-0, just 2:14 into the third quarter. Cal’s offense went punt, fumble, fumble, interception and fumble on its first five possessions.

It just as easily could have been a bigger collapse, as the Bears scored all of their points in a dizzying 5:24 span of the third quarter and would have gone ahead if Cal kicker Leland Rix hadn’t been wide to the right on a 30-yard field-goal attempt with 8:32 left to play.

But Stanford quarterback John Paye, backed deep in his own end on third and 22, prevented a big chill with a 34-yard pass to wide receiver Jeff James. That play all but ran out the clock on the Bears, who never got the ball back for any last-second laterals through the band.

Stanford may have gotten a scare, but they came out of it without a scratch, well, almost. After the game, Stanford offensive tackle John Barns said he found teeth marks on his right-index finger. His reaction, according to team publicist Bob Vazquez: “I was bitten by a Bear.”

But when it came time to throw into the teeth of a Cal defense that had become increasingly ferocious, Paye didn’t blink, even though he had been dropped for an 11-yard loss the play before. Earlier he had given Cal a safety by throwing to his center, Kurt Josephson, while in the clutches of Bear linebacker Miles Turpin in his own end zone.

James ran what he called a streak route down the right sideline, got outside the cornerback, and when the safety was a little slow to come over, was open long enough for Paye to thread a pass to him at the Stanford 42 for a first down with slightly more than two minutes left.

“A great, great throw,” Stanford Coach Jack Elway said. “He couldn’t put any air in that ball, he had to buggy-whip it, and he got it there.”

Paye, a junior, had gotten it there enough times to break the school completion record set by Elway’s son, John, in 1982. Paye, who broke the record earlier in the game, has 271 completions to Elway’s 262, and that’s not even counting the two-handed bounce pass he throws as a guard on the Stanford basketball team.

Stanford switches to hoops Tuesday, but Paye said the court can wait, at least until he was through holding court.

“The best pass I’ve ever thrown,” said Paye, who also threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end Greg Baty for Stanford’s first touchdown. “I know Coach Elway doesn’t like calling those plays.”

Elway could hardly have been happy with what happened after kicker David Sweeney followed two big plays by Kevin Scott--a 46-yard kickoff return and a 45-yard run with a screen pass--with a 20-yard field goal that gave Stanford a 24-0 lead with 12:46 left in the third quarter.

Cal came to life after roverback Garey Williams intercepted an off-balance Paye pass and also changed quarterbacks. Coach Joe Kapp sent in Brian Bedford to replace starter Kevin Brown, who had failed to complete a pass in the first half, had lost a fumbled snap and thrown an interception.

Bedford’s first pass also was picked off, but after Williams’ play, he took Cal downfield for its first score, dragging a tackler into the end zone on a fourth-down keeper from the four.

Bedford came off the field limping with a twisted ankle, and Brown returned on the next series, this time with much greater success, throwing 39 yards to a diving Vince Delgado at the three. Dwight Garner carried it in from there, and the score was 24-14.

On Stanford’s next series, Paye was trapped for the safety, Stanford punted, and Delgado ran 45 yards on a reverse for another touchdown. Cal went for the two-point conversion, but Stanford tackle Sean Scheller sacked Brown before he could throw.

The Cal cheering section exploded to life. “They were really souped up,” Paye said. “Maybe we shouldn’t give them so many tickets.”

There was worry on the Stanford sideline. “Coach Kapp always says the Bear never dies,” said Stanford fullback Brad Muster, who ran for 86 yards and caught five passes--most of them little shovel tosses--for 36 more.

“After today, I believe him.”

But then Rix missed his fourth straight kick, Muster himself swept 11 yards for Stanford’s last first down on a third and- ight and no more timeouts left for Cal. The Bear may not have died, but the clock soon did.

So Stanford and Cal ended the season with identical 4-7 records, but there was no need to ask who had a better year.