The tinfoil-halo-adorned Stanford band was seated, The sound of "Its allright now" faded out. The home team's dark blue and vibrant gold uniforms visually overshadowed the predominantly white with red details Stanford away team uniforms. Stanford Quarterback John Paye's shoulder injury necessitated a short pass strategy. In the first possession of the game, Brad Muster completed and ran two passes. With a methodical drive, Stanford arrived inside the Cal 10-yard line. But the Bears' defense held. When Stanford's field goal attempt went astray, and Cal Quarterback Kevin Brown took the field, the energy shift was perceptible.

Cal starting Quarterback Troy Taylor had been injured a week ago in a USC game. A repeated buzz that Kapp should have played Kevin Brown more had echoed sporadically in the crowd of fans on the way to the stadium. Caydance wanted to alert Griff that the backup quarterback might be better than expected. But there was no way to reach him.

Spurred by Linebacker Dave Wyman, the Stanford Defense was effective in the first quarter. Surprisingly, so was the Cal Defense. Stanford Wide Receiver Tom Henley, injured in an early punt return, was replaced by Freshman Wide Receiver Ed McCaffrey.

The score at the end of the first quarter was 0-0.