California-Stanford Preview Capsule


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(AP) - California (1-10, 0-8 Pac-12) at No. 10 Stanford (8-2, 6-2), 4 p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

Line: Stanford by 31 1/2.

Series record: Stanford leads 58-46-11.

WHAT'S AT STAKE

Stanford lost control of its Rose Bowl hopes with a loss at Southern California last week. The Cardinal need a win and Oregon to lose one of its final two games against Arizona or Oregon State to represent the Pac-12 North in the conference championship game. California is closing out a dismal debut season for coach Sonny Dykes and is hoping to get some kind of positive momentum out of the 116th edition of the Big Game rivalry.

KEY MATCHUP

Stanford's offensive line vs. California's defensive line. The Cardinal's power running game is averaging 205.5 yards, helping Tyler Gaffney run for 1,201 yards and 15 TDs this season. The Bears are the second-worst rushing defense (188.8 yards rushing per game) and the worst scoring defense in the Pac-12 (44.4 points per game).

PLAYERS TO WATCH

California: WR Chris Harper. The Bear Raid offense might have to get in a shootout for Cal to have a chance to keep the game respectable, and speedy wide receivers have given the Cardinal fits lately. Harper has 70 catches for a team-leading 852 yards and five touchdowns this season.

Stanford: LB Trent Murphy. The pass-rushing outside linebacker has dominated one-dimensional teams this season, and Cal's depleted defensive line should give Murphy plenty of opportunities to hit freshman QB Jared Goff. Murphy has 12 sacks, 18 tackles for loss, one interception and one forced fumble.

FACTS & FIGURES

Stanford has won three straight against Cal. ... The Bears have lost nine consecutive games this season and 13 consecutive conference games going back to last year. They are the only winless team in Pac-12 play. ... Stanford hasn't dropped consecutive games since October 2009, when the Cardinal lost at Oregon State and at Arizona. ... Stanford has won 14 home games in row. ... Cal's only win this season came against Portland State of the lower-tier Football Championship Subdivision on Sept. 7.

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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