Cal vs. Stanford: Score, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

The Stanford Cardinal are heading to Levi’s Stadium.

After a 35-22 win over the California Golden Bears on Saturday in Stanford Stadium, the No. 11-ranked Cardinal punched their ticket to the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 5 in Santa Clara, California.

Stanford will be vying for its third conference championship in the last four years under head coach David Shaw. The Cardinal will meet the winner of next week’s USC-UCLA showdown for a guaranteed spot in the Rose Bowl.

In the 118th all-time meeting between the two teams, Stanford faced the challenge of containing Cal quarterback Jared Goff, the projected top quarterback in next year’s NFL draft.

Goff threw for 386 yards and two touchdowns, so the Cardinal didn’t succeed on that front. But Stanford succeeded in keeping the Golden Bears out of the end zone for the majority of the game. Cal didn’t cross the goal line until there were four minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter, when Goff threw a touchdown pass to Darius Powe.

The Cardinal didn’t get much from quarterback Kevin Hogan, who threw for 96 yards and a touchdown in the win. But as has been the case all year, Christian McCaffrey carried the Cardinal to victory, rushing for 192 yards and also returning a kickoff for a 98-yard touchdown with 38 seconds left in the first half.

Stanford's official Twitter account provided a clip of McCaffrey's touchdown as he sprinted down the right sideline and went untouched to help put Stanford up 21-6 at halftime:

The Heisman Trophy candidate has been the biggest reason why Stanford is in this position. His 388 all-purpose yards Saturday set a new Stanford record. He's been putting up numbers like this all year, per ESPN's David Lombardi:

After the Cardinal lost to the Oregon Ducks on Nov. 14, Stanford seemed to be losing its grip on the Pac-12. If Stanford had lost to Cal, Oregon would have been in position to represent the North Division in the conference title game with a win over Oregon State next week.

But Stanford will be in Levi's Stadium for a chance to win the conference championship. That much is certain. This part isn't: Will Stanford be playing to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl or to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff?

The way CBS Sports' Jon Solomon sees it, that answer will come after Stanford's game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish next week in a de facto CFP quarterfinal matchup:

Postgame Reaction

ESPN's Heather Dinich was on SportsCenter after Stanford disposed of Cal on Saturday night. When asked to give her top four teams in college football, she listed Clemson, Alabama, Michigan State and Oklahoma.

Iowa was not listed, and when asked about why the undefeated Hawkeyes were not in her top four, Dinich responded with the phrase, "Iowa's best win is against Northwestern."

The same Northwestern team who beat Stanford 16-6 to open the college football season.

It's understandable. The early portion of the schedule should not be considered. A lot has changed since the Cardinal lost to the Wildcats in Week 1. Beating USC in the Coliseum was not expected. Neither was that eight-game winning streak the Cardinal went on.

To discredit Iowa right now is to discredit Stanford. And if the dominoes fall the right way, both of those teams could be playing for a national championship.

If Stanford doesn't lose to Oregon, there's a certain chance Stanford is in the College Football Playoff discussion heading into its showdown with Notre Dame next week. So much can change in a week's time, as Ralph Russo of the Associated Press points out:

"

Last week we buried Pac-12 & Baylor. OSU beats OU. Baylor wins out Stanford wins out. Final spot somes down to ... Stanford and Baylor.

— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) November 22, 2015"

For the Cardinal to be 8-1 in the Pac-12 with how that Northwestern game unfolded is a huge accomplishment and a credit to David Shaw as the program's head coach. That's something Shaw will say with pride, per ESPN's David Lombardi:

Stanford has just as much of a chance to make the Final Four as any eligible team at this point. If the Cardinal can beat Notre Dame, then that'll get the committee talking.