STANFORD, Calif. — Without waiting to see whether Oregon would beat Arizona in the desert, No. 14 Stanford took itself out of the Rose Bowl race.
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One of the more entertaining games in the recent history of this 112-game rivalry ended when Cal linebacker Mike Mohamed intercepted a pass from Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck at the Bears’ 3-yard line to save a 34-28 Cal victory at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night.
Cal (8-3, 5-3 Pacific-10) beat Stanford for the seventh time in the last eight years, pulling off the upset in a rare year in which the Cardinal was the favorite. The loss knocked Stanford (7-4, 6-3) into third place in the conference, ending its bid for a spot in the Rose Bowl.
The Cardinal looked to be on its way to a game-winning drive when Mohamed stepped in front of the pass from Luck with 1 minute 36 seconds left in the game. Behind the stellar performance of the senior running back Toby Gerhart, Stanford staged the late comeback attempt after watching its 14-0 first-quarter lead evaporate as Cal went on a 31-7 run.
Coming into the game, however, the tables had been turned on this rivalry.
Stanford was the favorite for the first time since 2001. The Cardinal was ranked and bowl eligible, the tangible results of the rebuilding process of its third-year coach, Jim Harbaugh.
Cal, meanwhile, has been viewed as a major disappointment, starting the year among the country’s top-ranked teams and then dropping out of the national picture after lopsided losses to Oregon and Southern California at midseason.
The loss of Jahvid Best two weeks ago to a concussion was only supposed to further dampen the Bears’ prospects.
But the sophomore Shane Vereen, who has become the Bears’ No. 1 runner in Best’s absence, had career highs of 42 carries for 193 yards and 3 touchdowns and helped make much of this game a duel between the teams’ running backs.
Gerhart, who has vaulted into Heisman consideration, had 20 carries for 136 yards and 4 touchdowns. He set a Stanford record with his 23rd rushing touchdown this season.
Harbaugh said he regretted not handing the ball to Gerhart at the end.
“There were a lot of should-haves in this game,” Harbaugh said.
Stanford stalled on offense after outscoring Cal, 14-0, in the first quarter and was facing a 31-21 deficit in the fourth, but turned up the drama with two late scores. The second touchdown, a 1-yard run with 7:01 left that gave Gerhart his fourth score of the game, got the Cardinal to 31-28.
Stanford then got a big defensive stop on its second-to-last possession. But the Cardinal moved only 2 yards in four plays, giving the ball back at its 23 when Luck threw incomplete to tight end Jim Dray on fourth-and-8.
Cal responded with a drive that went nowhere, and Bears Coach Jeff Tedford had quarterback Kevin Riley kneel on third down instead of trying for the end zone, setting up a 28-yard field goal that gave Cal a 34-28 lead and Stanford one more chance to win.
The Cardinal looked poised to make Tedford pay for his decision, charging to the foot of the Cal end zone on two big runs by Luck and a 29-yard sideline pass from Luck to Gerhart. Gerhart shook three defenders and dragged two others down to the Cal 13.
Luck dropped back on second down and sent a pass over the middle, intended for tight end Coby Fleener. Instead it landed in the arms of Mohamed.
“I thought I had a shot at Coby in the end zone, but I didn’t make a good enough throw,” said Luck, who finished 10 of 30 for 157 yards.
Tedford credited his team for holding on against “the hottest team in the country.”
Stanford, the same team that put up 106 points in consecutive upsets against Oregon and U.S.C., went through an offensive malaise that ultimately cost the Cardinal the game.
But the defense played its part in the loss, unable to stop Cal, which at one point scored on five of six possessions to erase a 14-0 deficit.
Riley, Cal’s junior quarterback, led the Bears’ comeback and finished 17 of 31 for 235 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
