California Golden Bears football The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California , Berkeley . The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium , however the team will play at San Francisco ' s AT & T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium is being renovated . Memorial Stadium was built to honor Berkeley alumni , students , and other Californians who died in World War I , and modeled after the Colosseum in Rome , Memorial Stadium was named one of the 40 best college football stadiums by the " Sporting News " . The team also has produced two of the oddest and most memorable plays in college football : Roy " Wrong Way " Riegels ' fumble recovery and run toward the Cal goal line in the 1929 Rose Bowl , and The Play in the 1982 Big Game with the winning kickoff return after five laterals . The current head coach is Jeff Tedford , who began his tenure in 2002 . History . Football was first played on the Berkeley campus in 1882 , albeit in a form that resembled . It was not until 1886 that American football began play . Football was put on hiatus in 1906 when it was decided by the administration that American football was too dangerous a sport and rugby once again took over the scene . Football returned for good in 1915 and Cal has fielded a team in every year since . 1920s " Wonder Teams " . The 1920s saw the first golden age of California football , as the Golden Bears went 50 straight games without a defeat from 1920 to 1925 , with a record of 46 wins and 4 ties . As of 2010 , this is the 3rd longest unbeaten ( not to be confused with winning ) streak in NCAA history . The 1920 - 1924 squads were so dominant that they were nicknamed " The Wonder Teams , " and were coached by Andy Smith . One of the stars during this era was Brick Muller and the University later established a freshman leadership group called the Brick Muller Society . Cal won four Pacific Coast Conference championships and made three trips to the Rose Bowl during this decade , in 1921 ( 28 - 0 win over Ohio State ) , 1922 ( 0 - 0 tie with Washington & Jefferson College ) , and 1929 ( 8 - 7 loss to Georgia Tech ) . One of the most famous ( or infamous ) moments in college football history occurred in the 1929 Rose Bowl Game . In the second quarter , Cal ' s defense forced a Georgia Tech fumble on their own 30 yard line , and the loose ball was scooped up by Cal center Roy Riegels . He began to run towards the Georgia Tech end zone for a score , but then in trying to get around the Tech players he inexplicably turned around and headed in the other direction . Riegels advanced all the way to the Cal one yard line before teammate Benny Lom was able to stop him , whereupon he was immediately tackled by what seemed like the entire Georgia Tech team . Cal elected to punt on the next play ; the punt was blocked for a safety , giving the Yellow Jackets a 2 - 0 lead and what turned out to be the decisive points . California football also achieved success in the 1930s , winning the PCC championship three times and appearing in the Rose Bowl in 1938 , where they beat Alabama 13 - 0 . Because of its staunch defense , the 1937 squad that went to the Rose Bowl was coined " The Thunder Team . " In 11 games , Cal limited its opponents to only 33 points and 1 , 126 total yards . 1940s and 50s : Pappy ' s Boys . The early 1940s witnessed average success , but 1947 saw a dramatic turnaround as Lynn " Pappy " Waldorf became the head coach . Known as " Pappy ' s Boys , " the Cal teams of 1947 - 1950 won 33 consecutive regular season games , earning three PCC championships and three Rose Bowl berths . However Cal lost all three Rose Bowls ( 20 - 14 to Northwestern in 1949 , 17 - 14 to Ohio State in 1950 , and 14 – 6 to Michigan in 1951 ) . Pappy Waldorf left Cal after the 1956 season , having compiled a record of 67 - 32 - 4 . Cal again earned a conference title in 1958 and subsequently played in the 1959 Rose Bowl , where it lost to Iowa 38 – 12 . 1960s to 80s : Campus turmoil and football mediocrity . The 1960s was a period of particular mediocrity . Marv Levy coached during the early 60 ' s . Levy ' s best record during his four season tenure as head coach at Cal from 1960 – 1963 was 4 – 5 – 1 . Cal had only one winning season ( 1968 ) , although in that year after beating Syracuse Cal was ranked in the top 15 . The coach during this era was Ray Willsey . Craig Morton , future Super Bowl quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos , was an All - American in 1964 . In 1972 , Mike White was hired . After two losing seasons , he brought home three winning seasons over the next four . In 1975 , behind an NCAA leading offense anchored by All American s Chuck Muncie , Joe Roth , Wesley Walker , Steve Rivera and Ted Albrecht , the Golden Bears were co - Champions of the Pacific - 8 Conference , but UCLA went to the Rose Bowl based on their head - to - head victory . Steve Bartkowski ( ' 75 ) was another noted player who started for the Atlanta Falcons at quarterback . However , White left in a storm of controversy over recruiting violations . Roger Theder succeeded him and led the Bears to three winning seasons , but each was less successful than its predecessor . In 1979 , Cal played in the Garden State Bowl , losing to Temple 28 – 17 after a 6 – 5 regular season . The 1980s saw a return to mediocrity , with Cal posting only one winning season in the entire decade . Joe Kapp was the most famous coach in this period . Kapp had been the quarterback of the 1959 Rose Bowl team , and later led the Minnesota Vikings to the Super Bowl . Even so , he was not able to overcome the recruiting drag created by the off - field notoriety of the Berkeley campus . Of note , however , was the 1982 Big Game versus Stanford , which became famous for The Play . After Stanford had taken the lead on a field goal with four seconds left , the Golden Bears used five lateral passes on the ensuing kickoff return to score the winning touchdown and turn defeat into a 25 - 20 victory . The Play has been named by numerous media organizations as one of the best football , and even American sports , moments . 1990s : A brief return of football success . Bruce Snyder arrived at Berkeley in 1987 , and gradually turned the program around . He was able to recruit a number of outstanding players , such as Russell White , away from football powers such as USC and UCLA . The reemergence of Cal football as a thriving program was signaled by the October 19 , 1991 game against the future national co - champion Washington Huskies . Cal lost 24 – 17 at home in a game that came down to the Bears ' last possession deep in Husky territory and was probably the Huskies most difficult game that season . ( The Oakland Fire erupted in the hills south of California Memorial Stadium that same day . ) Cal football had some success in the early 1990s , earning three postseason bowl berths and winning all three . Cal beat Wyoming 17 – 15 in the Copper Bowl of 1990 , Clemson 37 – 13 in the 1992 Citrus Bowl and Iowa 37 - 3 in the 1993 Alamo Bowl . Snyder resigned before 1992 bowl game to take a position at Pac - 10 rival Arizona State . The Golden Bears attempted to steal some of the Huskies ' magic by hiring away assistant Keith Gilbertson , but he delivered only one winning season in the next four . After the loss of momentum , Cal hired Green Bay Packers assistant Steve Mariucci for the 1996 season . He led the Bears to a winning regular season ( losing to Navy in the Aloha Bowl 42 – 38 ) , but the San Francisco 49ers struck yet again ( as with Waldorf ) and hired away Mariucci as head coach for 1997 , ending the promise of an early Cal revival . The rest the late 1990s saw little success , and the down period reached its nadir in 2001 when the Bears managed only one victory the entire season . The win came in the final game of the season in New Jersey against Rutgers , which was a re - scheduled game due to the September 11 , 2001 attacks . Much - maligned coach Tom Holmoe resigned in November of this season and was replaced with Jeff Tedford , previously the offensive coordinator for the Oregon Ducks . Worse yet , Cal lost seven straight games to archrival Stanford . Tedford Era . California began a renaissance under Tedford , who dramatically turned around the long - suffering program . Under Tedford the Golden Bears posted eight consecutive winning seasons , a feat that hadn ' t been accomplished since the days of Pappy Waldorf . After being ruled ineligible for a bowl game in 2002 due to academic infractions under the previous administration , Cal has also appeared in seven straight bowl games . The Jeff Tedford era began with a bang , as California defeated Baylor 70 – 22 , and went on to finish 7 – 5 , their first winning season since 1993 . The 2002 team defeated three nationally ranked opponents on the road for the first time in school history including Cal ' s first win over conference foe Washington in 26 years , and won the annual Big Game against archrival Stanford for the first time in eight years . In 2003 the Golden Bears posted an 8 – 6 record , highlighted by a dramatic 34 - 31 triple - overtime victory over No . 3 ranked and eventual national co - champion USC . This victory revived a long moribund rivalry with the Trojans , even as the Trojans reemerged as a national power under Pete Carroll . In the Insight Bowl , the Bears edged Virginia Tech 52 – 49 on a last - second field goal . 2004 Bowl Championship Series controversy . In 2004 , the Bears posted a 10 – 2 record under Tedford and quarterback Aaron Rodgers , with their only regular season loss coming against the eventual national champion , USC . California finished the regular season ranked No . 4 according to polls , and appeared to have an excellent chance to receive an at - large BCS bowl berth , most likely in the Rose Bowl . Under normal circumstances , the Bears , as Pac - 10 runner - up , would have had first crack at a Rose Bowl berth since conference champion USC was playing for the national championship . Nonetheless , in a controversial case , the Texas coach Mack Brown made impassioned pleas to media asking poll voters reconsider their final votes . 10 - 1 Cal was mysteriously rated as low as 7th by some coaches , and Texas received an increase in votes in the last Coaches Poll of the season despite Cal ' s win in their final game , allowing the Longhorns to pass the Bears into the No . 4 spot in the BCS rankings and guaranteeing Texas the BCS berth . As a result heavy of lobbying of their reporters , the Associated Press poll withdrew from the BCS immediately afterward . The Longhorns went on to beat Michigan 38 – 37 in the Rose Bowl , while Cal was upset by No . 21 Texas Tech 45 – 31 in the Holiday Bowl and finished the season ranked No . 9 . 2005 . The next year saw inconsistent quarterback play and an overall inexperienced roster . Nate Longshore , who was chosen to succeed Aaron Rodgers , who had left for the NFL , sustained a season - ending injury in the season ' s first game against Sacramento State . He was succeeded by junior transfer Joe Ayoob , who started nine games and went 5 - 4 . Third string quarterback Steve Levy replaced Ayoob as the starter for the Big Game , leading the Bears to victory . Cal finished 8 - 4 and earned a berth in the 2005 Las Vegas Bowl , beating BYU 35 – 28 . 2006 . In 2006 , Cal went on to post a 10 – 3 ( 7 – 2 in Pac - 10 ) record . Despite falling to the Tennessee Volunteers in their first game of the season in Knoxville , the team rebounded , winning eight straight games , including impressive victories over the 20th ranked Arizona State and the 11th ranked Oregon at home . Two losses followed with a November 11 , upset 24 – 20 by Arizona and a 23 - 9 defeat by USC , which cost Cal its Rose Bowl bid . In the final game of the regular season on December 2 , Cal defeated Stanford 26 - 17 in the 109th " Big Game " for the fifth straight time . Coupled with UCLA ' s upset of reigning conference champion USC on the same day , the victory earned Cal its first share of the Pac - 10 championship since 1975 . Cal accepted an invitation to the 2006 Holiday Bowl , its second appearance there in three years . Cal routed Texas A & M 45 - 10 , the largest margin of victory for a bowl game in the 2006 - 2007 season , and finished with a No . 14 ranking , an improvement from the No . 20 spot that it started with at the beginning of the season . 2007 . Cal began the 2007 season ranked 12th in both the AP / USA Today Polls . In a nationally televised game on September 1 , the Bears defeated Tennessee 45 - 31 . The Bears rose in the polls following subsequent victories against Colorado State , Louisiana Tech , and Arizona . Cal ' s defeat of then No . 11 Oregon in Eugene 31 - 24 , combined with a series of losses from Oklahoma , Florida , and West Virginia , allowed Cal to break into the top five . Cal had a bye the following week , but as a result of Stanford ' s surprise upset of then No . 2 USC on October 6 , the Bears were ranked No . 2 in the country in the AP , Coaches , and Harris polls behind No . 1 LSU . This was the highest the team had been ranked since 1951 . With the Kentucky upset of LSU on October 13 , the Bears had a shot at being the number one team in the nation along with Ohio State , but an upset loss to unranked Oregon State that same night dashed any hopes of a top ranking . The loss marked the beginning of a reversal in the second half of the season which saw the Bears winning only one game out of the next six and dropping out of the Top 25 entirely . The Bears lost to Washington for the first time in five years and to Stanford on the 25th anniversary of The Play , which resulted in the Cardinal regaining The Stanford Axe for the first time in six years under first year head coach Jim Harbaugh . Cal accepted an invitation to the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force on December 31 , where post a 42 – 36 victory to end the season 7 - 6 . Before the season even ended , Tedford declared there would be open competition for all positions on the team in 2008 and reevaluate every aspect of Cal ' s football program . Tedford made several coaching changes , most notably relinquishing offensive coordinator duties and hiring Frank Cignetti to playcall and take over quarterback coaching duties . 2008 . Cal ' s 2008 campaign was marked with diminished expectations , as all of Cal ' s offensive stars at their skill positions ( DeSean Jackson , Lavelle Hawkins , Robert Jordan , Justin Forsett and Craig Stevens ) graduated or declared for the NFL Draft . Thus the Bears started the season unranked for the first time since 2003 . Their 2008 season would confirm this ranking , as they would finish the season undefeated at home but would only win one game on the road . The Bears won their opening game at home against Michigan State 38 - 31 and eviscerated Washington State in Pullman 66 – 3 , but fell to Maryland 35 – 27 in College Park . The Bears won two straight home games against Colorado State and Arizona State but fell in the desert to Arizona . Although the Bears still controlled their destiny in the Pac - 10 after two more home wins against UCLA and Oregon , two close losses to Pac - 10 champion contenders USC and Oregon State on the road put an end to those hopes . Cal reclaimed the Axe by beating Stanford 37 – 16 in the 111th Big Game and kept Washington ' s season winless with a 48 - 7 victory . Cal finished the regular season 8 – 4 as Tedford claimed his seventh consecutive winning season for the Golden Bears and third unbeaten home record in five years . The Bears accepted an invitation to take on the Miami Hurricanes at the 2008 Emerald Bowl , which they won 24 – 17 . 2009 . Cal began the 2009 season with early wins over Maryland , Eastern Washington , and Minnesota . However the team struggled with consistency , losing to Oregon and USC , then rebounding to defeat UCLA , Washington State , and Arizona State . Following a loss to Oregon State , Cal managed to upset Pac - 10 title contender Arizona . Cal also upset Stanford in the Big Game . The season however ended on a low note with consecutive losses to Washington to end the regular season and Utah in the Poinsettia Bowl . The loss to Utah snapped a four bowl game winning streak going back to 2004 . The Bears also did not produce a 1 , 000 yard rusher for the first time since 2002 . The end of the season saw some coaching changes . Cal hired Jeff Genyk as special teams coach to replace the fired Pete Alamar , and Clancy Pendergast as defensive coordinator to replace Bob Gregory , who departed for Boise State . 2010 . Tedford surpassed the legendary Pappy Waldorf to become the Cal head coach with the most career victories when the Bears blew out UC Davis 52 - 3 in the season opener . Despite early successes however , the team had an inconsistent season . After starting senior quarterback Kevin Riley sustained a season - ending knee injury in a loss to Oregon State , Cal had only one win in the final four games , edging out Washington State for the team ' s sole road victory . The Bears finished the season on a three - game losing streak , getting edged out 15 - 13 by # 1 Oregon , losing the Stanford Axe to archrival # 8 Stanford in a 48 - 14 blowout , and sustaining a last second defeat by Washington . The team finished 5 - 7 , Tedford ' s first losing season and the team ' s first losing season since 2001 , failing to become bowl - eligible for the first time during Tedford ' s tenure as head coach . Cal was ranked only once during the season with a No . 24 spot in the Coaches ' Poll . One bright spot for the season was running back Shane Vereen going over the 1 , 000 rushing yard mark , as he finished with 1 , 167 yards . National Championships . The NCAA ' s website states that " the NCAA does not conduct a national championship in Division I - A football and is not involved in the selection process . " It goes on to say that " a number of polling organizations provide a final ranking of Division I - A football teams at the end of each season . " California recognizes 5 national championships as recognized by other major polling entities . Cal ' s All - Century Football Team . Offense Defense Coach