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Nov. 18, 2000

Box Score

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Stanford waited until the last snap of the last game of the season to run this particular play.

The timing was perfect.

Fullback Casey Moore caught a 25-yard touchdown pass on Stanford's second play in overtime as the Cardinal beat California 36-30 on Saturday in the 103rd Big Game.

Randy Fasani threw three TD passes as Stanford (5-6, 4-4 Pac-10) beat its oldest rival for the sixth straight time, matching the longest winning streak in the rivalry's history.

"I guess we picked the right time to throw to the fullback," said a grinning Moore, who made his eighth catch of the year. "This is not exactly the way I thought it would end."

The final play, which Stanford hadn't even called since last season, worked to perfection. Fasani found Moore wide open across the middle, and he scored without a defender in sight.

The Big Game is best known for the 1982 five-lateral kickoff return that gave Cal a shocking victory. Moore's catch wasn't as dramatic or as balletic, but Moore and Fasani both admitted few scenarios were less likely than this.

"We've been preparing all this year for the right place and the right time to run this play," said Stanford coach Tyrone Willingham, who hasn't lost in six Big Games. "It's not a bad idea every once in a while to go in the stadium, shut the doors and work on something like that."

Stanford trumped the Golden Bears yet again when Moore, who hadn't caught a pass all day, became the Cardinal's primary option on second down in overtime. The play called for Moore to fake a run into the middle of the line, then pop out in the secondary.

"It felt like it was sitting up there all day," Moore said. "I was just trying to look it into my hands, because I knew I was all alone out there."

Moore, who scored twice in last year's meeting between the bitter foes, scored two more times this year. The Cardinal celebrated in the end zone, then ran to the other end of Memorial Stadium and saluted their fans.

"This is one of the best feelings I've ever had," senior linebacker Riall Johnson said. "This is closure on my career. A lot of things didn't go right this season, but this makes up for all of it. It makes me glad I went to Stanford."

In last year's Big Game, Stanford clinched its first undisputed Pac-10 title with a 31-13 win. With both teams assured of losing seasons in 2000, nothing was at stake this year but pride and bragging rights.

Cal fell behind 30-23 with 4:17 left when Stanford's Luke Powell caught a short pass and raced 75 yards for a score. The Bears threw an interception but quickly got the ball back, and Geoff McArthur's 38-yard fingertip catch set up Joe Igber's 9-yard scoring run with a minute to play.

"I think it was a draw," said Igber, who was among several Cal players shedding tears in the locker room. "I was just trying to do whatever I could for us to score."

The Stanford defense stymied Cal (3-8, 2-6) on its overtime possession, and Mark-Christian Jensen missed a 42-yard field goal.

"That put us in a bind," said Cal coach Tom Holmoe, who was given a vote of confidence by athletic director John Kasser after the game. "We had to go into a real risky defense."

With its high-powered offense struggling all afternoon, Stanford stayed in the game by blocking two punts and intercepting Cal quarterback Kyle Boller four times. Fasani, who was 12 of 23 for 242 yards, threw two TD passes in the fourth quarter.

Stanford senior defensive lineman Willie Howard got his first career interception and recovered a fumble to hurt the Golden Bears, who outplayed the Cardinal much of the day but still surrendered the symbolic Axe for another year.

"I'll always be able to say I never lost to Cal," said Howard, who wore his trademarks chains around his neck after the final outing of Stanford's Trench Dogs defensive line.

The schools have the West Coast's oldest football rivalry, and the Cardinal's six straight wins tied the six victories recorded by Stanford in the 1960s. Stanford has a 53-39-11 record in the series, which began in 1892 and is tied for 10th-longest in the nation.

Stanford's offense, ranked among the Pac-10's best all season, struggled all day against a fired-up Cal defense. But the Cardinal led 16-7 at halftime thanks to two blocked punts - one which was returned 20 yards for a touchdown by Colin Branch - and three interceptions, two by Stanford backup cornerback Brian Taylor.

By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer