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Alex Gyr Monday, November 22, 2004 last updated November 21, 2004 10:18 PM It was an ugly way to end what turned out to be an ugly season for the St anford Cardinal. Saturday's 41-6 loss at the hands of the Cal Bears officially closes the book on a season that started strong for Stanford, but ended with the sa me disappointing 4-7 record as a year ago. This weekend's game was exceptional not only in the magnitude of the loss to the rival Bears, but also in the general ugliness of the whole affai r Not only did the game feature Stanford struggling to move the ball, a tre nd that has been very visible in the Cardinal's five straight losses, bu t also 26 total penalties on both teams. Stanford again failed to pick up 200 yards of total offense, with only 18 0 total yards, including just 24 yards on the ground. "Offensively, we didn't have the ability to control the ball," Stanford h ead coach Buddy Teevens said. Given the way the Cardinal offense has played the last few weeks and the strength of the Bears' defense, the offensive troubles were expected. Un foreseen were the penalties and the lack of sportsmanship displayed by b oth teams, especially towards the end of the game. The Cardinal were penalized 14 times for 126 yards, while the Bears were flagged 12 times for 102 yards. The game was called very tightly by the officials throughout the entire c ontest, with 11 penalties coming in the first half, but towards the end of the game things began to get rough. With a little over nine minutes left to go in the game and Cal leading 27 -6, the Bears ran a halfback pass play, and backup tailback Marshawn Lyn ch threw a 26-yard strike for a score to Burl Toler. It was after that point that many players from both Cal and Stanford star ted getting more aggressive. On the next Stanford possession the Cardinal went three-and-out. On the e nsuing punt, Stanford senior cornerback Leigh Torrence laid a monstrous hit on punt returner Tim Mixon before the ball had even reached the help less player. "I was really disappointed in the way that went down," junior linebacker Jon Alston said. "I was disappointed in the fact that we were getting pe rsonal fouls. The frustration was obvious among Stanford players, many of whom have nev er beaten Cal in a Big Game. "As far as emotions go, they're always high," said redshirt freshman quar terback TC Ostrander. I don't thin k we were too emotional, we just got frustrated at the end of the game." It wasn't only the Cardinal who were playing dirty at the end of the game . Defensive tackle Babatunde Oshinowo was injured on what he thought was a dirty block by the Cal offensive line late in the game. While the Car dinal did pick up a lot of personal fouls, a good number were offset by personal fouls on the Bears. Teevens said, "Emotions certainly took over on both sides at the end. Senior linebacker David Bergeron saw the end-of-the-game antics in a diff erent way. It's a bunch of 22- and 21-year-old guys playing the game that they love and talking to each other about it. It wasn't even as much negative sentiment going back and fort h as it was trying to get in each other's head and getting each other ri led up." Either way, the 107th Big Game did not go the way the Cardinal would have liked. Unfortunately for Stanford, they are going to have to wait until next sea son to get back on the winning track.
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