Observations from Stanford's Win over California

The Stanford Axe is back home. For the first time since 2020, the Stanford Cardinal will get to take home the coveted Stanford Axe after beating the California Golden Bears 31-10 in front of their home fans. Winning their largest amount of games in a non-COVID season since 2019, the Cardinal have shown that they have made major strides as a program in 2025.

And what a win it was. Highlighted by a dominant night from the defense, the Cardinal were able to pull away in the game and deliver arguably their best performance of the season when it mattered most. Here are some key observations from the Cardinal's big win over Cal.

How 'Bout that Defense?

Wow, just wow. Not only did Stanford's defense stop Cal's offense, it absolutely decimated it. Two defensive touchdowns in the first half, the first one a 49 yard scoop and score fumble recovery from safety Jay Green and the second one a scoop and score from Darrius Davis, helped give the Cardinal momentum to pull off a win.

The Cardinal defense also did a very good job in containing Cal quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who only threw for 269 yards (averaging only 5.5 yards per pass) with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Stopping Cal's offense was a major key going into this game, and the Cardinal did just that in earning the win.

Micah Ford Showed Out

For the last few weeks, the Cardinal's running game has been its Achilles heel, with the offensive line struggling to hold up against opponents. But this week, the same week that guard Simione Pale returned from injury, running back Micah Ford put together a dominant performance, carrying the ball 29 times for 150 yards and a touchdown, averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

His third 100-yard game of the season, Ford was instrumental in helping the Cardinal offense pull away late in the game, scoring his rushing touchdown at the start of the fourth quarter to make it a two score game. Whenever Stanford's run game has been good, they have almost always come away with a win, and this week was no exception.

Is Matt Rose Stanford's Player of the Year?

When Stanford came into this season having lost both starting linebackers from 2024 in Tristan Sinclair and Gaethan Bernadel, nobody knew what to expect from the linebacker room this season. The Cardinal had a lot of talent, but most of it was seen as unproven, given how long Sinclair and Bernadel held the starting jobs.

But Rose quickly defused any concerns about the linebacker spot with his performance this season, having himself another dominant outing against Cal, totaling 14 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.

Improving his tackle total to 97, Rose is well on pace to record the first 100 tackle campaign by a Stanford since 2015 (Blake Martinez, 138). Rose is also a potential NFL draft prospect, proving himself as an elite linebacker all season long.