The Big Game between the Cal Golden Bears and the Stanford Cardinal has produced some great finishes over the years, from the 1924 tie to 1982’s “The band is on the field!” to 1990’s “The Revenge of The Play.” Friday’s edition, the 123rd, gave us another one. Stanford won this game every year from 2011 to 2018, but Cal came up with the victory last year, and while the Golden Bears trailed 24-17 heading into the final quarter Friday, they looked likely to at least force overtime at home Friday when they scored a touchdown with less than a minute left. But then Stanford defensive end Thomas Booker blocked the game-tying extra point:
BLOCKED!@StanfordFball blocks the extra point with under a minute left in the Big Game to preserve their lead 🌲😱 pic.twitter.com/khDuKB6PXp
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 28, 2020
Here’s another look at that:
Take another look at the blocked PAT by @StanfordFball 👀 pic.twitter.com/j5ZwRC6WoU
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 28, 2020
That’s a remarkable play by Booker, who got great push up the middle and made sure that kick never had a chance. And it adds to the canon of great Big Game finishes, joining other ones with memorable late blocked kicks like 1988. And it was enough to let Stanford hang on for a 24-23 win, make the all-time series 65–47–11 in their favor, and take back The Axe.
BRING BACK THAT AXE 😂 @StanfordFball pic.twitter.com/moWjIQbhj9
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 28, 2020
[CFB on Fox on Twitter]
