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.