The CardBoard
1974 Big Game - Printable Version

+- The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board)
+-- Forum: C-House! (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: 1974 Big Game (/thread-4046.html)


1974 Big Game - Oasis - 10-16-2012

The SAA page has a link that leads to a story about the 1974 Big Game and Mike Langford's last-second, 50-yard FG.  It looked as if we were done for when that Other Institution (Bartkowski to Rivera) went ahead with about half a minute to play.  Then Guy Benjamin and Stanford drove down the field, but time ran down and Stanford had to bet the game on a long-shot FG.  The C*al fans seemed certain we wouldn't make it and were roaring as Langford lined up to kick.  On the hopeful but anxious Stanford side of the stadium all was silence. 

Then Langford kicked, really got his leg into it.  The kick looked good from the first instant.  As the ball rose and arced beautifully toward the uprights, the Stanford section erupted in absolute joy.  A pall of silence fell over C*al.  It was like two volume controls, one turned up, one down as the ball headed to the goal posts.  The cannabis clouds even stopped for a minute.  Maybe not a whole minute.

It was the best BG finish I ever saw.  Wonderful.

Langford is immortal as the kicker; the holder was Eric Test.  The long-snapper, the unsung hero of every winning field goal, gets a medal too, whoever he is. 

Re: 1974 Big Game - Oasis - 10-16-2012

...Forever is one of the best reasons to have been at that game. 

BTW, the site identifies the long-snapper as Rudy Bergthold, who according to other web info graduated in electrical engineering and now works (where else?) in Cupertino.  My son Willy (whom you and Redrum met after the Rose Bowl) long-snaps, so I pay more attention to that now.

Re: 1974 Big Game - Kathy - 10-16-2012

Thanks, Oasis, for a lovely trip down Memory Lane. I'm not quite the geezer Garvin is — it was my junior year.

Curiously, that link on the SAA Facebook page leads to a 1998 Chronicle reprint of the weenies' recap in the Daily Californian.
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/The-1974-Big-Game-Last-Second-Kick-Breaks-Bears-2978731.php


Re: 1974 Big Game - Embo - 10-16-2012

Thanks for the link.
Can anyone forward this article to a certain head coach on the Stanford campus?  There's a sentence he ought to read:
-------------
"Second-string quarterback Guy Benjamin substituted for the ineffective Mike Cordova in the second half ...."
-------------
It sometimes works.  You never know until you give it a try.



Re: 1974 Big Game - Griffins78 - 10-16-2012

Thanks, Oasis for the pointer and for conjuring up great memories.

1974 was my FIRST Big Game and it forever cemented in my heart a love for Stanford football and the Big Game. We had wrestled against Cal earlier that day and somehow squeezed our way into the end zone with all the Stanford fans. I recall standing the entire game - but then that could be just a faded memory of the last few minutes.

The end zone was a perfect place to see the kick by Langford and unfortunately the earlier TD pass to Rivera and the start of our final drive. We knew Langford's kick was straight enough (he was one of the last straight on (non soccer style) kickers that I recall) and it definitely "looked" long enough. When it went through it was wild bedlam.

To this day, I believe the best, most exciting Big Games have all been played at Cal (on even years). I think the stadium with the closeness of the seats to the field of play has something to do with it.

Go Cardinal!

Re: 1974 Big Game - vataha - 10-16-2012

That was my first Big Game in Berkeley. I was 12. I believe Guy Benjamin wore #10 that season. Tony Hill was big in that game but quite possibly the biggest play was by TE Brad Williams as he caught a slant pass from Benjamin, picked up valuable yards to get into field goal distance AND muscled his way out of bounds to stop the clock. I eneded up talking to him about that play maybe 15-20 years after the fact and he remembered it very fondly. As I do still. Maybe because it was my first in their house but it remains the most memorable Big Game for me for sheer excitement. (I was there for the screw of '82 and that was a sham)

Re: 1974 Big Game - 71Bear - 10-16-2012

As I have said many times here, '74 is my favorite Big Game of the 50+ I saw.  I'm glad I had the chance to see the games when they really mattered.  Now that it is just another game in October, it has lost much of its luster.  Too bad, it was a fun rivalry while it lasted....



Re: 1974 Big Game - Oasis - 10-17-2012

You're right. BG should be the last game of the season.  I assumed that this year the formation of the new mega-conference (I would prefer a Pac Eight) disrupted the normal scheduling.  The rivalry is still there, but it's a better rivalry when the season ends with BG.  Sticking ND on at the end, while probably unavoidable if we were going to play them those years, was bad enough.  Putting it in October and playing UCLA on November 24 does tend to make BG just another game.  I hope the people that set the schedules realize that this isn't good for Stanford or C*al.

On the topic of rivalry games more generally, there's a great movie called "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29" about the Game of 1968, where Harvard made a miraculous comeback to tie Yale's dream team that included Brian Dowling and Calvin Hill.  Usually it's torture listening to coaches and players talk about the game.  ("Yeah it was a great effort and our kids really hung in there" repeated with slight variations ad nauseam.)  The player commentary in this film, by guys talking about it 40 years later, is as good as the game was itself, full of insights about the 60s (Tommy Lee Jones recalls life as Al Gore's roommate), being a football player and (most relevant for fans) the life experience of investing a lot of emotional energy in football.  The game affected the players on both teams -- and probably everyone who saw the game -- for the rest of their lives. People remember it, as we do some BGs, the way we recall where we were when we learned JFK had been assassinated.  Ironically, a Yale player whose memory is comically faulty about things he himself did in the game shows an understanding of what football means in life terms (and by extension what being a dedicated fan means) that's probably the best I've ever heard.  There are interesting parallels with the Big Game.  It's the best sports film I've seen, with only one  disappointment.  Calvin Hill, the best player on the field, isn't in it.  Still a tremendous movie.  If you haven't seen it, give it a try.

Re: 1974 Big Game - 71Bear - 10-17-2012

I finally had a chance to watch the movie earlier this year.  I thought it was well done and really enjoyed it.Â