1982 California Golden Bears football team

The 1982 California Golden Bears football team represented the University of California, Berkeley during the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season.^[1][2] For the Golden Bears this season is historically known for its last game – the 85th Big Game against Stanford on November 20, 1982. Specifically – The Play. A last-second kickoff return on which Cal was able to score a touchdown to win the game. Because of the context of the rivalry, the timing of the play and the unusual multi-lateral way that it occurred, it is recognized as one of the most memorable plays in college football history and among the most memorable in American sports.

1982 California Golden Bears football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	7–4 (4–4 Pac-10)
Head coach	Joe Kapp (1st season)
Home stadium	California Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1981 1983 →

1982 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 UCLA $	5	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
No. 7 Washington	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 15 USC	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Arizona	4	–	3	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
California	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Stanford	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Oregon	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	1			1	–	9	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	12:31 p.m.	at Colorado*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO		W 31–17	33,835	[3]
September 18	1:02 p.m.	San Diego State*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 28–0	35,000	[4]
September 25	1:05 p.m.	No. 14 Arizona State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		L 0–15	35,673	[5]
October 2	12:36 p.m.	San Jose State*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 26–7	37,000–37,136	[6]
October 9	1:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Washington	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	ABC	L 7–50	56,500	[7]
October 16	1:04 p.m.	Oregon	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 10–7	31,736	[8]
October 23	1:06 p.m.	No. 11 UCLA	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (rivalry)		L 31–47	51,600	[9]
October 30	1:00 p.m.	at Oregon State	Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 28–14	25,000	[10]
November 6		at No. 16 USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 0–42	54,670	[11]
November 13	1:01 p.m.	Washington State	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		W 34–14	34,060	[12]
November 20	1:05 p.m.	Stanford	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (Big Game)	USA	W 25–20	75,662	[13]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[14][15]

Game summaries

Stanford

Stanford at California
85th Big Game

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinal	0	0	14	6	20
• Golden Bears	0	10	0	15	25

• Date: November 20
• Location: California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, California
• Game attendance: 75,662
• Referee: Charles Moffett
• TV announcers (USA): Barry Tompkins and John Beasley

Scoring summary

2	9:22	CAL	Joe Cooper 31-yard field goal	Cal 3–0
2	2:42	CAL	Mariet Ford 29-yard pass from Gale Gilbert (Joe Cooper kick)	Cal 10–0
3	5:29	STAN	Vincent White 2-yard pass from John Elway (Mark Harmon kick)	Cal 10–7
3	1:42	STAN	Vincent White 43-yard pass from John Elway (Mark Harmon kick)	Stanford 14–10
4	13:28	CAL	Joe Cooper 31-yard field goal	Stanford 14–13
4	11:24	CAL	Wes Howell 32 yard pass from Gale Gilbert (pass failed)	Cal 19–14
4	5:32	STAN	Mark Harmon 22-yard field goal	Cal 19–17
4	0:04	STAN	Mark Harmon 35-yard field goal	Stanford 20–19
4	0:00	CAL	Kevin Moen 25-yard kickoff return after numerous laterals (conversion not attempted)	Cal 25–20

Main article: The Play (American football)

See also: 1982 Stanford Cardinal football team

^[16][17]

Roster

1982 California Golden Bears football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Dwight Garner QB 14 Gale Gilbert So TE 86 David Lewis Jr OT 73 Harvey Salem Sr QB 11 J Torchio Jr FB 31 John Tuggle Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 90 Reggie Camp Sr LB 48 Tim Lucas Sr S 26 Kevin Moen Sr LB 80 Ron Rivera Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 7 Mike Ahr Sr K 9 Joe Cooper Sr	Head coach Joe Kapp Coordinators/assistant coaches Sam Gruneisen (offensive line) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Not listed: Mariet Ford, Richard Rodgers

1983 NFL draft

Main article: 1983 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Harvey Salem	Tackle	2	30	Houston Oilers)
Reggie Camp	Defensive end	3	68	Cleveland Browns
Wes Howell	Tight end	4	105	New York Jets
Tim Lucas	Linebacker	10	269	St. Louis Cardinals
John Tuggle	Running back	12	335	New York Giants

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