1982 California Golden Bears football team

American college football season

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

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.

Schedule

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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

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Stanford

[edit ]

Stanford at California
85th Big Game

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)

^[16]^[17]

Roster

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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 Injured
Redshirt Redshirt

Not listed: Mariet Ford, Richard Rodgers

1983 NFL draft

[edit ]

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

^[18]

References

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^ "1982 California Golden Bears Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ "California 2015 Football Information Guide" (PDF). CalBears.com. Cal Golden Bears Athletics. p. 166. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
^ "California opens with win for Kapp". The Modesto Bee. September 12, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Cal 28, San Diego St. 0". The Daily Herald. September 19, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "ASU defense turns Cal QB into 'fall guy'". Santa Cruz Sentinel. September 26, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Cal rips Spartans 26–7". The Sacramento Bee. October 3, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Dogs go Bear hunting and bag a biggie". The News Tribune. October 10, 1982. Retrieved February 20, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Cal edges UO on late TD, 10–7". Statesman Journal. October 17, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Bruins frustrate Bears". The Tampa Tribune-Times. October 24, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Cal no treat for Beavers". Statesman Journal. October 31, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "USC steals 8 passes in 42–0 rout of Bears". Oakland Tribune. November 7, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Ex-cager's 'circus catches' make Cougars miserable". The Daily Herald. November 14, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Wildest Big Game finish ever!". The San Francisco Examiner. November 21, 1982. Retrieved February 21, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Schedule/Results (1982 California)". NCAA Statistics. National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved May 28, 2025.
^ 2015 Football Information Guide (PDF). Cal Athletics. 2015. p. 166. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2016.
^ "Cal defeats Stanford on final play, 25-20". The San Bernardino Sun via newspapers.com. November 21, 1982. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
^ "Weird, last-second TD leads Cal over Stanford". Santa Cruz Sentinel via newspapers.com. November 21, 1982. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
^ "1983 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com . Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

v t e California Golden Bears football
Venues	California Field (1904–1923) California Memorial Stadium (1923–2010, 2012–present) Oracle Park (2011)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Stanford: Big Game (Stanford Axe) UCLA
Culture & lore	Oski "Fight for California" "Big C" History Marching band Tightwad Hill The Play
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold