Inside Slant

The Sports Xchange

November 13, 2018 at 10:34 pm.

Stanford meets upstart Cal in 121st Big Game

It’s not yet obvious whether or not Stanford’s midseason slump epitomized the state of the program or if it was a hiccup.

Regardless, facing the worst team in the Pacific-12 Conference helped the Cardinal come back to life. Stanford steamrolled Oregon State 48-17 on Saturday at Stanford Stadium — a solid primer before trekking to rival Cal. It was an important step for Stanford, which had dropped four of its previous five games to fall out of the Pac-12 North race.

The Golden Bears host the Cardinal in the 121st rendition of the “Big Game” at 4:30 p.m. PT Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

Stanford (6-4, 4-3 Pac-12) was missing stud senior receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (6-foot-3, 225 pounds) against Oregon State. But another big target picked up the slack and then some.

Tight end Colby Parkinson (6-7, 240 pounds) caught all four touchdown passes thrown by quarterback K.J. Costello. Parkinson tallied six catches for 166 yards; he presents a potential matchup nightmare for Cal linebackers like Jordan Kunaszyk and Evan Weaver.

“We were getting the match-ups we wanted,” Parkinson said after the Oregon State game. “That’s what K.J. and I have been working on. K.J. puts the ball where it needs to be. It’s what we do in practice every day.”

Costello was sharp. He went 23 of 33 for 342 yards, with four touchdowns and one interception. Tailback Bryce Love is slowly but steadily making his way back from an ankle injury; he had 11 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown.

“K.J. played extremely well,” Cardinal coach David Shaw said. “Him and Colby have been working at timing. It was great to see those two connect.”

Now, Stanford faces a Cal defense that has undergone a complete makeover in two seasons under head coach Justin Wilcox. In 2016, Cal was allowing a horrific 42.6 points per game and allowing over 6 yards per carry (among the worst in the nation).

In the past month, the Golden Bears’ stout defense has keyed upsets of Washington (12-10, and without an offensive touchdown) and USC (15-14 in Cal’s first win at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 18 years).

Regardless of Parkinson’s surge, the health of Arcega-Whiteside (a potential early-round NFL draft pick who’s been among the nation’s top TD producers all season) could be crucial. He is questionable for the Cal game with an ankle injury.

“I was joking with him before the game that I’d catch a touchdown pass for him,” Parkinson said.

The Stanford defense has a lesser task than the offense. Cal quarterback Chase Garbers threw for just 93 yards a week ago and the Golden Bears managed only 207 total yards of offense.

Stanford is now bowl eligible with six wins, as is Cal (6-4, 3-4).

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