[CardinalSagehen]

Nice list. My favorite memory from the story was John Hopkins getting that knock on his dorm room door weeks after kicking the game-winning field goal. The fan had one of the balls he kicked into the stands and a plate of cookies!

Awesome, David, thank you. I have vivid memories of 1990 and all its madness/weirdness.

• To accommodate a 3:30 p.m. kickoff and live regional cable TV coverage, the game was at night—all firsts for a Big Game in Berkeley. It's hard to understate how novel live college football telecasts were back then. Until losing a landmark Supreme Court case in 1984, the NCAA limited teams to six (SIX!) TV appearances in two years. 
  
• “Haven’t they learned?” Joe Starkey said on the air, after Cal drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the failed two-point attempt with 12 seconds left. This was an obvious reference to 1982.
  
• Beyond the touchdown he hauled in with 12 seconds left, Ed McCaffrey (injured calf) caught only one other pass.
  
• In 1989, Stanford overcame a 17-0 hole against Oregon to win 18-17 on a John Hopkins FG as time expired.  A successful onside kick preceded the play. How many kickers convert an onside kick into a game-winning field goal in consecutive years?
  
• Kevin Scott recovered the onside kick after Cal's Russell White (40 career receptions) let it slide through his grasp. “My knees were in, but I think my feet were out (of bounds),” Scott said. “I picked up the ball and ran downfield before the ref could change his mind.”
  
• Glyn Milburn totaled 376 all-purpose yards to set a Pac-10 record (that Maurice Jones-Drew finally broke in 2004). Cal set a conference record of its own, but paid a price for it...maybe...
  
• Anthony Wallace and Russell White eclipsed 1,000 yards for the season during the game. Never before had a Pac-10 team produced two 1,000 yard-rushers in one season. White (18 carries, 177 yards, two scores, 9.8 YPC) didn't carry the ball from scrimmage between the second and fourth quarter’s halfway points. What if Bruce Snyder, who coached running backs for the Rams, rode White like he saddled Eric Dickerson to over 6,900 rushing yards in four years?  Wallace (24-99), a senior, earned the bulk of the carries.
  
• After Cal went ahead 25-18 late in the 4Q, Stanford punted. Instead of milking the clock on a third down during its ensuing possession, Cal—thank you, OC Steve Mariucci—called a third-down pass. Mike Pawlawski threw it away.
  
• “This is The Play, Part II,” Milburn said after the game. “This is, The Sequel.”
  
  

1990 season was a wild year for college football. Six teams, Georgia Tech and Virginia among them, reached No. 1 in one of the two major polls. Stanford beat Notre Dame on the same day as Colorado's infamous fifth-down game.

“Maybe the poor teams are just sick of losing,” Tommy Vardell said after the Cardinal shocked Notre Dame, 36-31.

Speaking for all Stanford fans who were around back then, we were all SICK of seeing "The Play." That game in Berkeley, revenge was a dish served bold.

I've attended a few games with Hoppy over the years and ran into him at some Spring scrimmages. He's a very nice and humble guy. When his Stanford kicking records were being broken recently, he noted that the guys coming up today are extra impressive because the goal posts are narrower than when he played. 

But I'm still pretty impressed with 5 field goals, an onside kick and the game-winner in Big Game! Imagine the pressure, with the weight of history and The Play on your shoulders. Thank you for giving the kicker some love - they deserve more than they usually get!

[CardinalSagehen]

Nice list. My favorite memory from the story was John Hopkins getting that knock on his dorm room door weeks after kicking the game-winning field goal. The fan had one of the balls he kicked into the stands and a plate of cookies!

Awesome, David, thank you. I have vivid memories of 1990 and all its madness/weirdness.

• To accommodate a 3:30 p.m. kickoff and live regional cable TV coverage, the game was at night—all firsts for a Big Game in Berkeley. It's hard to understate how novel live college football telecasts were back then. Until losing a landmark Supreme Court case in 1984, the NCAA limited teams to six (SIX!) TV appearances in two years. 
  
• “Haven’t they learned?” Joe Starkey said on the air, after Cal drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the failed two-point attempt with 12 seconds left. This was an obvious reference to 1982.
  
• Beyond the touchdown he hauled in with 12 seconds left, Ed McCaffrey (injured calf) caught only one other pass.
  
• In 1989, Stanford overcame a 17-0 hole against Oregon to win 18-17 on a John Hopkins FG as time expired.  A successful onside kick preceded the play. How many kickers convert an onside kick into a game-winning field goal in consecutive years?
  
• Kevin Scott recovered the onside kick after Cal's Russell White (40 career receptions) let it slide through his grasp. “My knees were in, but I think my feet were out (of bounds),” Scott said. “I picked up the ball and ran downfield before the ref could change his mind.”
  
• Glyn Milburn totaled 376 all-purpose yards to set a Pac-10 record (that Maurice Jones-Drew finally broke in 2004). Cal set a conference record of its own, but paid a price for it...maybe...
  
• Anthony Wallace and Russell White eclipsed 1,000 yards for the season during the game. Never before had a Pac-10 team produced two 1,000 yard-rushers in one season. White (18 carries, 177 yards, two scores, 9.8 YPC) didn't carry the ball from scrimmage between the second and fourth quarter’s halfway points. What if Bruce Snyder, who coached running backs for the Rams, rode White like he saddled Eric Dickerson to over 6,900 rushing yards in four years?  Wallace (24-99), a senior, earned the bulk of the carries.
  
• After Cal went ahead 25-18 late in the 4Q, Stanford punted. Instead of milking the clock on a third down during its ensuing possession, Cal—thank you, OC Steve Mariucci—called a third-down pass. Mike Pawlawski threw it away.
  
• “This is The Play, Part II,” Milburn said after the game. “This is, The Sequel.”
  
  

1990 season was a wild year for college football. Six teams, Georgia Tech and Virginia among them, reached No. 1 in one of the two major polls. Stanford beat Notre Dame on the same day as Colorado's infamous fifth-down game.

“Maybe the poor teams are just sick of losing,” Tommy Vardell said after the Cardinal shocked Notre Dame, 36-31.

Speaking for all Stanford fans who were around back then, we were all SICK of seeing "The Play." That game in Berkeley, revenge was a dish served bold.

I've attended a few games with Hoppy over the years and ran into him at some Spring scrimmages. He's a very nice and humble guy. When his Stanford kicking records were being broken recently, he noted that the guys coming up today are extra impressive because the goal posts are narrower than when he played. 

But I'm still pretty impressed with 5 field goals, an onside kick and the game-winner in Big Game! Imagine the pressure, with the weight of history and The Play on your shoulders. Thank you for giving the kicker some love - they deserve more than they usually get!